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<\/a>In the past two years I have started to hear a little chirp building steadily into a large blown-out buzz among the grillers and smokers (not Camels) in our group of friends. When I first heard of the Big Green Egg, I thought it might be the long awaited sequel to Dr. Seuss’s \u201cGreen Eggs and Ham.\u201d It kind of became \u2018cult\u2019 chat. I was hearing things like, “Have you done the turkey yet?\u201d or \u201c22 hours cold smoke man and still going.\u201d Was this Green Egg thing legal? Did someone buy some pills off a late night infomercial?\nWhat the heck is it and how do I get some? Well, the Big Green Egg has arrived on my outdoor patio, and I am now a total Egg groupie, otherwise known as an \u201cegg head.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Green Egg is based on an ancient Japanese clay cooker called the kamado. The mushikikamado was a steam cooker and oven or liln that was used by Japanese families for ceremonial occasions and took the shape of a round clay pot with a removable domed lid and top damper. Americans discovered the clay pot when servicemen brought them back from Japan in empty transport planes after World War ll.<\/p>\n
Redeveloped in Georgia in the 1970s, the Big Green Egg has been around for quite some time but has really come into its \u201cnest\u201d since redeveloped from high fiber ceramics developed for the space shuttle program that allows for temperatures of up to 650 degrees.<\/p>\n
The Big Green Egg recommends lump wood charcoal, and this really is a must. Cheaper brands use additives that can contaminate your food flavors. Part of the design of the BGE results in a slow burn that uses a smaller amount of charcoal and much less ash. Tip for saving some money, when your BGE charcoal runs out, you can buy 10-pound bags of lump wood charcoal for much less at a local Wal-Mart.<\/p>\n The Big Green Egg also becomes an oven and pizza oven with a few additional parts. Trust me, the pizza comes out as if you sitting in Italy next to a wood bringing oven. Within 15-17 minutes, a simple store bought pizza crust transforms into one delicious authentic pizza pie. My son taught us to use very little sauce as to not make the crust soggy. I suggest using Old World Pizza Sauce, under the sir name of Rustic Crust. The box contains three packets of sauce, each for a 9 inch pizza.<\/p>\n<\/a>We all know that nothing beats charcoal cooking. Although I have a nice outdoor kitchen, (thank you Absolute Aluminum) the Solaire infrared grill that was installed does create a large amount of smoke if you do not invest in a back draft and is best for grilling steaks, not slow cooking and certainly not smoking.<\/p>\n