Grilling - The Big Green Egg

big green egg grill and smoker Big Green Egg

A 1970s Atlanta invention likened to the culinary equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife expands its fan base, as 'Eggheads' flock to classes to learn how to grill, smoke and make enchiladas on the Big Green Egg.

By Hanna Raskin

First came the Egg, then the chicken, and now it's escargot.

The Big Green Egg barbecue grill has attracted legions of devoted fans since its debut at an Atlanta strip mall in the early 1970s, with the company reporting double-digit spikes in sales almost every year. Aficionados -- the proper term is "eggheads" -- are infatuated with the ceramic grill's capacity to quickly attain temperatures that approximate Venusian weather (think 800-degree heat) and its knack for being easy to clean.

Indeed, ease and simplicity define the Egg experience: Company spokeswoman Donna Myers says some buyers use their Eggs to stage full-scale dinner parties the very day they buy them.

"It doesn't take very much skill at all," Myers says.

Continue the article after the gallery.

Grilling Gadgets

Spielglau Beer Glasses -- $29.90

What's a cookout without beer? Spielglau's lager glasses will bring a hint of sophistication to your next beer-budget affair.

Buy at Amazon

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Fusionbrand's Food Loop Flame -- $17.99

Finally you can slow cook that roast without worrying about your string burning to ash. The Food Loop Flame is stainless steel designed to take the heat.

Buy at Amazon

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Williams-Sonoma Jalapeño Roaster -- $19.95

Stuffed jalapeños reach new levels of deliciousness with Williams-Sonoma's genius jalapeño roaster. Place up to 18 peppers upright in the steel roaster, set on the grill, and seal in the smoky goodness without losing any chilies to the coals.

Buy Williams-Sonoma's Jalapeño Roaster

Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma Vertical Chicken Roaster -- $30

For a generously juicy chicken, fill this vertical chicken roaster with water, beer, or your liquid of choice. Fat drips away while the meat remains moist, and the perforated base pan lets you grill veggies simultaneously.

Buy Williams-Sonoma's Vertical Chicken Roaster

Williams Sonoma

Ice Orb by Fusionbrand -- $15.95

It's an ice maker that will freeze 21 cubes, can store double that and then triple as a cooler for your vino or that dip you want to keep out on the picnic table.

Buy at Amazon

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Weber 7416 Rapidfire Chimney Starter -- $17

Never use lighter fluid again. A chimney starter can get your grill fuel going without the need for chemicals that alter the flavor of your food.

Buy at Amazon

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Oregon Scientific Grill-Right Talking BBQ/Oven Thermometer -- $49.99

Don't be a slave to the grill! This long-range wireless meat thermometer reaches as far as 100 yards from the grill so you can set your target meat temperature and walk away. The receiver provides progress reports and an alarm sounds when the food is finished.

Buy Oregon Scientific's Grill-Right Talking BBQ/Oven Thermometer

Oregon Scientific

Solutions Kabob Basket -- $7.95

Know what we love about kabobs? Everything! And with this new kabob basket, you can enjoy the speedy cooking without the fuss of skewers. Just toss chunks of meat and veggies into the basket, rotate, and voila! Food won't stick to the grill or fall into the barbie.

Buy Solutions' Kabob Basket

Sky Mall

GrillWise WiseHooker -- $19.95

The user-friendly WiseHooker is a tong, fork, spatula, and grill-cleaner in one. Its prongs grab meat with one swift prick, while its bull horn shape promotes easy cleaning of the grates. Plus, its long handle lets you maintain a safe distance from hot surfaces.

Buy Grillwise's WiseHooker

GrillWise

Brookstone MLB Licensed Propane Cover -- $12.95

There is no pairing more patriotic than grilling and baseball! Now you can root for your home team while flipping burgers with this weather-proof MLB Licensed Propane Cover. (NCAA and NFL teams also available.)

Buy Brookstone's MLB Licensed Propane Cover

Brookstone

Unlike most grills, the Egg apparently doesn't require backyard cooks to precisely arrange charcoal briquettes, scatter grapefruit peels beneath its grate or utter any spells to produce delicious results. To compensate for the lack of inherent challenge, Eggheads have sought to prove their prowess by adapting every known recipe for their beloved cookers. Having mastered chicken and steak during the Carter administration, veteran Big Green Egg owners have lately moved on to escargot, moose and baked brie.

"It's very competitive," Myers says. "We see lots of unbelievably creative folks."

While the Big Green Egg in its current trademarked form is a relatively recent innovation, inventor Ed Fisher drew inspiration from Asia's kamado cookers, which many U.S. servicemen first discovered while stationed on the Pacific front. The Big Green Egg's direct antecedent -- Japan's mushikamado, a close cousin to India's tandoor -- likely evolved from a clay pot cooking method pioneered in China more than 3,000 years ago.

Like the mushikamado, the Big Green Egg is controlled through vents, which Myers says accounts for the cooker's tremendous versatility. The Big Green Egg, a culinary version of a Swiss army knife, can grill, smoke or bake. Eggheads -- who spend between $259.95 for a mini Egg to $999.95 for the XL model -- are doing all of the above.

"There used to be a joke that you could cook anything on an Egg but ice cream," says chef Bobby Cresap, who helms the Big Green Egg Academy. "Well, I cooked a baked Alaska."

According to Cresap, the Egghead community is periodically seized by fads that dominate cookers' imaginations and online forum discussions. This summer, the object of Egghead obsession is enchiladas, a multi-part preparation that brilliantly exploits the Egg's various functions.

The most ambitious enchilada makers are conscripting their Eggs to serve as tortilla ovens, baking fresh corn tortillas in which to wrap their Egg-smoked pork. "Then they're putting it all in a lasagna pan and throwing it back on," Cresap explains. "It's just always something new."

Enchiladas will likely make an appearance at Eggtoberfest, the biggest and most well-known of the regional extravaganzas on the Egghead calendar. Many dishes have been struck from the Holy Grail list at the annual celebration in Atlanta, including dog biscuits and Philly cheesesteaks. A team of Alaskan Eggheads one year showed off their whole salmon recipe, while another size-minded team whipped up a 10-pound hamburger.

"These people live, eat and breathe Big Green Egg," Myers says. "They would give you their first-born, dog and truck before they'd give you their Egg."

For the Egg-curious who haven't yet been fully indoctrinated in Egghead culture, the Big Green Egg this fall plans to roll out its first-ever national schedule of company-sponsored classes. While classes have long been offered at the Atlanta campus, Cresap called the initiative "a new opportunity."

"Basically, what happens is a lot of people are running classes," he continues. "But they do one or two and then they're out of ideas."

Cresap has formulated the curriculum for the two-hour classes, which include Big Green Egg 101, in which students are taught how to load charcoal, light the Egg and cook a chicken, and Big Green Egg 102, which delves into pizza and ribs.

"Some people want to be spoon fed the information," says Cresap, who uses his Egg when competing on the professional barbecue circuit.

Cresap says the classes' big draw isn't necessarily his material, which is parroted on the DVD included with every Egg sold, but his samples.

"They start smelling charcoal, and, before you know it, everyone's having a good time," he says. "Literally, everyone who leaves here wants to come back."

Buy a Big Green Egg at Amazon.

Grilling Disasters

Problem: You bite into your meal only to get the intense flavor of lighter fluid -- "undertones of petroleum distillates" -- or you have singed hair and second- to third-degree burns.

Diagnosis: You used lighter fluid or a charcoal product impregnated with lighter fluid.

Solution: Stick to a charcoal that isn't saturated with lighter fluid and isn't billed as easy-to-light--use a chimney starter instead. Never spray lighter fluid onto an open flame or hot charcoal.

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Problem: Instead of a luscious barbecue glaze, your chicken comes off with a burnt, black coating.

Diagnosis: You brushed barbecue sauce on your chicken too early. Sugar-heavy sauces burn very easily.

Solution: Don't brush your chicken with sauce until just before you're ready to take it off -- just keep it on the grill long enough to heat the sauce through.

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Problem: You expected your food to come out tasting of those expensive hickory/cherry/cedar chips you bought, but none of that flavor or smell comes through.

Diagnosis: You didn't soak your flavor wood or used pieces that were too small, meaning the wood burned up too quickly to suffuse your food.

Solution: Soak your wood for about a half hour before you throw it on the charcoals. Avoid using chips of wood -- use chunks or larger pieces instead.

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Problem: Your grate catches fire or the fire suddenly becomes huge and engulfs your food.

Diagnosis: Too much fat is falling onto the coals.

Solution: Trim meats of excess fats. Don't put too much oil on vegetables or breads. If the flames pop up, don't spray water on the fire -- simply move the food to a cooler portion of the grill until the flames subside. You can also put on the lid and partially close the ventilation holes on the lid and bottom of the grill to control fires.

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Problem: Your food's covered in ash or grit, or is simply sooty.

Diagnosis: Your grill is dirty, or your coals aren't ready.

Solution: Before you put anything on it, get the grill hot and scrub it of any gritty residue with a clean grill brush.

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Problem: You open your grill up expecting the delicious scent of sizzling food to waft up, only to find cold meat.

Diagnosis: The coals aren't lit.

Solution: This happens more often than you might think. Make sure coals are well on their way before you move onto the next stage (they should be covered in grey ash). Make sure the grill is hot before you cook anything on it. Use a chimney starter, if you have one.

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Problem: Everyone feels sick after eating your food.

Diagnosis: You created cross-contamination when you got raw meat drippings on cooked food.

Solution: Be strict about keeping separate the areas you use to prepare raw meat and cooked and other foods. Use two different tongs to handle food -- one for raw meat, the other for cooked meat.

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Problem: Half your veggies end up in the coals.

Diagnosis: You're cooking small foods without taking precautions, and they're falling through the grate.

Solution: Put small foods on a skewer or line part of the grill with perforated tin foil.

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Problem: Your guests asked for hamburgers but got hockey pucks.

Diagnosis: You patted down on the burger too much, forcing out the juices.

Solution: Don't touch the burger except to turn it or take off the grill (or move it in when the flames act up). Never pat it. Make sure you keep an eye on it and don't let it overcook.

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Problem: That juicy-looking hunk of meat you cut into ends up dry, and leaves a puddle of liquid behind.

Diagnosis: You carved the meat too early after taking it off the grill.

Solution: The juices in cooked meat have to redistribute after you take it off the heat. After you take meat off the grill, let it rest under the cover of aluminum foil for 10 or 15 minutes before cutting into it.

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