The Big Green Egg

Cooking outdoors is an enjoyable time for me, especially time well spent with my smoker. The best smoker I have ever found is the Big Green Egg. The Big Green Egg is not just a smoker but can be used as a grill or oven for making pizza or bread.

This is the large egg and for me is a perfect size. I've smoked as much as a full size turkey and a ten pound pork butt in the egg at the same time. I mentioned pizza earlier, the large egg has handled several 16-18 inch pizzas.

The Big Green Egg is a type of kamado oven. Made of ceramic, these ovens were invented by the Chinese around 3000 years ago. About 300 BC, kamado ovens were exported to Japan and become known to Americans at the end of World War II.

The Big Green Egg has the firebox below the cooking area that consist of a bowl within a bowl to keep the outside of the oven from getting too hot. It can get very hot with the temperature range on the thermometer going up to 750°F (400°C). Left unattended with plenty of air flow the Big Green Egg can become a blast furnace heating up several hundred degrees in a matter of a few seconds. Once the oven gets hot it can take several hours to cool down and completely through off your cooking schedule. For this reason, while cooking the lid must always be closed to control the air flow for combustion.

Like any charcoal fire a lot of smoke is generated when the fire is getting started. During cooking the amount of smoke is controlled by the fuel that is used. If you want smoke, add wood chunks. If not just stick to straight lump charcoal. I always plan an hour to get the fire started and the temperature regulated to where I want to cook the food. This period of time requires a lot of attention since airflow is open and the oven is subject to the possibility of turning into a blast furnace quickly. When this happens the smoke will suddenly stop coming out of the top of the dome as a solid fire has started in the firebox. This normally doesn't happen until the temperature gets above 250°F and all the moisture has cooked out of the fuel material.

For indirect heat needed for smoking or baking, a ceramic baffle is place over the fire. The baffle is not included with the oven and must be purchased separately. Once the temperature you want has been reached, the baffle and grate are added to support the food. The temperature is maintained where you want by adjusting baffles at the top and bottom of the oven. The lower baffle allows airflow to the fire and the upper is for exhaust. It took me about one season to reach the point of confidently maintain a set temperature. Once it is set, minimal supervision is required.

I've never had to add fuel to the fire once the food has started cooking. The longest I have gone smoking meat is about 9-10 hours. When I finished, I had only used about 1/3 of the fuel provided for the fire. After cooking the upper and lower baffles are closed and the fire goes out saving the remainder of the charcoal or wood chunks for the next time. The last few years I have gone through a full summer season buying only one large bag of lump charcoal per year.

Big Green Eggs are expensive, but in my opinion well worth the cost. Maintenance consist of emptying the first box a couple of times a year to get rid of ashes. To clean the inside, simply partially fill with lump charcoal and let it get as hot as it wants to burn everything off.

Smoked meat coming off the Big Green Egg is great. Nice char on the outside but tender and juicy on the inside. Keeping the lid closed during cooking helps keep the moisture in the meat almost eliminating the possibility of it getting dry. Here's an example of a ham I smoked yesterday. In the photo you can see how moist the inside of the ham was and I really wish pictures could carry the smell with them.

If you're interested, here's a three part series on smoking pork ribs which was done on the Big Green Egg.

Smoked Babyback Ribs - Part 1 (Prep)
Smoked Babyback Ribs - Part 2 (Smoking)
Smoked Babyback Ribs - Part 3 (Steaming)