Well I picked up a BGE on Friday (the Big Green Egg). For those who don’t know, this is a ceramic, egg-shaped smoker/grill. It uses lump charcoal and can run for over a day on one load of charcoal so you can smoke food for a very long time. It can also grill at temperatures as high as 750F so you can sear meat really well.
Here is a photo of it immediately after I got it setup.
So what have I cooked? I made a beef brisket on Sunday. It smoked from 8am to 7pm and turned out to be very good. Very tender. I did a basic rub with equal parts Lawry’s Seasoning Salt, Garlic Gourmay Garlic Pepper, Cumin, and Garlic Powder. I rubbed it all over the brisket. I used 4 lumps of applewood to add a light smokey flavor. The temp consistently stayed between 225 and 250 for the full 11 hours. Once done, I wrapped the brisket up in foil, a towel and placed in a cooler for an hour so the juices could continue to permeate the meat. When I pulled the brisket off the grill, the large fork shredded effortlessly through the meat.
Finished brisket on the egg.
Some things I want to try: Searing Filets or Rib-eyes, smoking a turkey, smoking a pork butt (for pulled pork sandwiches), and cooking tri-tip.
The most impressive thing about the grill is its ability to hold a steady temperature with no effort. I did very little to maintain the temperature. I also never had to add any charcoal.
As for the rest of the weekend, Steph and I went to dinner with Jan and some of my work friends at Jak’s Grill. We had an enjoyable time. On Sunday, the boys played soccer (they are signed up at the local community center). The coach runs them through drills and games (no real soccer games) and the boys seem to have a good time (once Nate’s little 20 minute meltdown ended).
Some photos of the boys.
