Gary Willson's
Big Green Egg
For years, I smoked meats on a classic offset pit BBQ. I mostly cooked briskets and chickens. It did a great job, but was not only limited in the type of cooking I could do, but was also very labor intensive, because I had to constantly monitor and regulate the fire. It was also relatively expensive, because I used hardwood logs for the fire. Here is my method for cooking on the pit. Click here.
NOW
I am the proud owner of two Big Green Eggs. BGE's are ceramic cookers that burn lump charcoal. The technology is about 3,000 years old from Asia. WWII servicemen brought back the first ceramic/clay ovens from Japan, and the method has been growing ever since. Owners of Eggs form a(jokingly) cult following, share recipes on the Egghead forum, and have Eggfests all over the country and abroad.
Cooking food directly on the grill makes the Egg a simple grill, and temperatures can reach 1,000 degrees or more, which allows for great searing of meat. If you put a plate setter down (a ceramic barrier between the fire and the grate) and cook indirectly, the Egg becomes a roaster, a firebrick oven, or a smoker.
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These are my two eggs. The one on the left is a Large Egg. The one on the right is a Medium Egg. |
This is the setup for a straight direct cook, or grill. |
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This is the setup for an indirect cook. The ceramic is called a plate setter and provides a barrier between the fire and the meat. Roasting, smoking, breadmaking, and pizza are cooked with a place setter. |
The two boxes here are a Stoker and a wireless bridge to my computer. At my computer, I set the desired Egg cooking temperature and the desired finished food temperature. |
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If the temperature of the Egg is less than the set temperature on the Stoker, a small fan comes on at the air intake and the fire is "stoked" to raise the temperature. When the temperature is reached, the fan shuts off and closes the air flow. |
At my computer, a graph is produced showing the Egg(s) temperature and the food(s) temperature. I can also change the desired settings from my computer as the food is being cooked. This particular graph shows a brisket cook for Superbowl Sunday, 2010. I started the 15# brisket at 7:30 Saturday night with a desired temperature of 225 degrees. After a while, the temperature steadied, and kept it within a couple of degrees throughout the night and the next day. The meat temperature stalled at about 160 degrees, which is nomal for brisket while converting collagens to geletan. This lasted for 7 hours. I became concerned around noon that the brisket would not be ready for kickoff at 5:25, so (at my computer), I upped the desired temp to 250 degrees. The Stoker responded and kept the temperature at 250 for the remainder of the cook. The meat responded and was ready just in time. |
Some things I've cooked on the Egg
Click on any picture to enlarge
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Chicken |
Cornbread and grilled andouille sausage |
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Pork Crown Rib Roast |
Hearth Bread |
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Kung Pao Shrimp and Fried Rice |
Mongolian Beef |
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Pizza |
Pork Chops |
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Prime Rib |
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Prime Rib |
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Shish Kabob |
Steak |
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Salmon |
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Char Siu |
Bourbon Soaked Smoked Chuck Roast |
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Pinto beans |
Brisket |
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Stuffed Pork Loin |
Beef loin & Stuffed Pork loin |
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Chinese BBQ ribs with Snow Peas, Tomatoes, Pork Belly and Thai Chiles (also shrimp fried rice) |
Ciabatta bread |
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Bool Kogi (Korean sesame grilled beef with Asian Pear Dipping Sauce) |
Sukiyaki To see raw ingredients, click here |
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Rack of lamb in Red wine sauce |
Crawfish Etouffee |
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Migas |
Scaloppine al Marsala |
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Red Snapper Ponchartrain For table decorations, click here |
Linguine allo Scoglio For table decorations, click here |
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Beef Stroganoff Crȇpes For stroganoff, while cooking, click here |
Cashew Chicken For plated meal, click here |
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Grilled Scallops & Shrimp in Curry Sauce |
Filet Mignon in a Pinot Noir Sauce |
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Stir Fried Ginger Beef |
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Shrimp & Scallop Scampi |
Stir Fry Chicken with Raspberry Chipolte Sauce |
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Tacos al Pastor |
Peppersteak |
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Sweet and Sour Pork |
Egg Roll |
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New Orleans BBQ Shrimp While cooking, click here |
Honey Glazed Chicken Wings |
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Jalapeno Shrimp Rumaki in Szechuan Sauce |
Crab Cakes with Chipotle Chiles and Corn |
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Puffy Taco |
Crab Stuffed Shrimp |
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General Tso's Chicken |
Cheese Enchiladas (partially done on Big Green Egg) |
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Slap Ya Mama Red Snapper & Twice Baked Potato For a picture on the Egg, click here |
Cannelloni Crepes |
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Chicken with Orange Sauce |
Spicy Ginger Teriyaki Wings |
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Smoked Sous Vide Bourbon Chuck Roast Marinate in bourbon and sauce overnight, sous vide at 148* for 49 hours, smoke on Egg at 225* for 2 hours |
Shrimp and Scallops with Ginger Caramel Sauce |
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Vongole Casino (Stuffed Clams) For another picture, click here |
Yaki Udon (Beef with pasta noodles)
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Tonkatsu & Sauce (Japanese Fried Pork Cutlets) |
Beef Negimayaki (green onions rolled in beef with teriyaki marinade) |
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Shrimp Wontons, Crab Rangoon, & Shrimp Balls with Sweet Chili Sauce For a better picture of the shrimp balls, click here. |
Scallops topped with Bacon Jam on a Spinach & Manderin Orange Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette For a picture on the grill, click here |
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Baby Back Ribs for plated picture, click here |
Shrimp Gumbo Cajuns have told me it is the best they've ever eaten |
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Steak Fingers and Cream Gravy aka Chicken Fried Steak |
Onion Strings |
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Shrimp Burgers with Wasabi Sauce |
Kung Pao Shrimp and Won Ton Soup |
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Sweet & Sour Shrimp (Same recipe as Sweet & Sour Pork) |
Spicy Thai Lemon Shrimp (Plated with Thai Spicy Chicken Soup - click here) |
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Braised Tritip steak with Red Wine Sauce |
Crepes aux Crevettes (Shrimp Crepes) |
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Pork Chops with Garlic and Wine |
Szechuan Beef |
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Szechuan Prawns |
Szechuan Pork |
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Korean BBQ Beef Short Ribs (Kalbi) |
Chicken Cordon Bleu |
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Ants Climbing A Tree (A Szechuan dish - Ground pork with rice noodles) |
Taquitos |
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Lasagna Cupcakes "Pasta" is wonton wrappers |
Cantonese Filet Mignon |
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Firecracker Shrimp |
Tequila, Mexican Cream, and Chipotle Shrimp |
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Mongolian Pork Chop |
Beef Stroganoff |
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Stuffed Jalapenos |
Ginger Miso Red Snapper in a Shiitake Mushroom broth
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Garlic and Red Miso Porterhouse Steak |
Yuzu Kosho Scallops and Shrimp |
