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Read On and Keep Smokin'!

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BGE a Serious Grill for Serious Pit Masters!

 I started grilling on a Weber kettle style grill in 2003. Living in Florida, I'm originally from the Carolinas. I longed for that slow smoked Carolina style pulled pork BBQ. Florida's definition of BBQ was different from mine, so I set out to do the task myself. I researched the internet, read many books, purchased a few essential tools and off I went! Little did I know, I would fall deeply in love with the grill. I have spent the past three years trying to perfect my BBQ beef brisket, ribs, pork shoulder, pork butt, whole chickens, turkey, steaks, veggies and more. 

Currently, I'm grilling on a Big Green Egg, ceramic kamado type grill and smoker. Besides being an impressive piece of art, the BGE is incredibly fuel efficient! I've smoked four racks of spare ribs 4-6 hours without adding additional coals. The egg does a wonderful job keeping the meat moist, has easy temperature control and stays just warm to the touch on the outside. Great if kids are around! I recently grilled for over 60 people at my daughter's school. That was very rewarding!

Here are some personal tips that have made my experience with the Big Green Egg quite successful:

The Right Tools For The Job

While I don't have many BBQing tools, the ones I do use are essential to smooth, hassel-free grilling.

• Chimney Starter - lights coals faster and easier
• Grate Grid Grabber - lifts grate/grid if needed
• Long Handled Garden Hoe - spreads coals evenly
• Small Garden Spade - removes any spent coals and ashes prior to lighting grill
• Wire Grill Brush - scrapes cooking grid clean
• Grilling Gloves - protects hands and wrists from heat
• Grilling Apron - looks cool and protects clothes and body from heat
• 12" OXO Tongs - soft rubber grip handle, spring loaded steel, will not slip even when wet
• Meat Thermometer - remote wireless thermometers are great, I use the Brookstone GrillAlert.

The beauty of cooking on the BGE is simplicity. Because the coals are some distance from the the actual cooking grid, you don't need to worry about setting up the grill for direct or indirect grilling. Temperature is controlled by adjusting the air flow using the bottom and top vents. Less air, low and slow! More air, hot and fast! Now that's simple.

Lighting The Perfect Fire

It isn't necessary to use a chimney in the BGE to get a fire going. However, I have found that a chimney gives me a consistent even fire and the perfect amount of coals every time. One chimney full of coal is more than enough fuel to grill or smoke for hours.

Before you begin, use the garden spade to remove any spent coals from the firebox. Coals that have not burned can be reused, just rake them to the center of the firebox. Check the air holes in the grate, making sure they are not blocked. Open the lower vent and empty the ash below.

• Loosely crumple two or three pages of newspaper and place into the bottom of the chimney.
• Open the BGE lid and lock it into place (see owner's manual)
• Remove cooking grid and place chimney on grate in the fire box of your BGE.
• When lighting two chimneys of coals, use an inexpensive table-top sized kettle grill ( Wal-Mart) in which to place the second chimney. Never try to light a chimney in a non-fireproof container or on the ground, very dangerous!
• Fill chimney to top with lump charcoal , lump charcoal is  100% hardwood, gives a long burn time and low ash.
• Light the newspaper in the bottom of the chimney. After a dark black stream of smoke and about 10-15 minutes, you will see nice glowing coals in your chimney!
• Wearing protective gloves, dump the hot coals into the fire box.
• Use the garden hoe to spread the coals into an even layer.  
• Replace cooking grid, leaving the top damper off  and the bottom vent fully open, raise the temperature to clean the cooking grid. (about 2-3 minutes or 400-500 degrees)
• Standing to the side, wearing protective apron and gloves, slowly open the egg and use the wire grill brush to scrape the grid clean.

Barbecuing and Grilling

It's no wonder there is a bit of confusion when it comes to differentiating between barbecuing and grilling. Heck, even dictionary.com fails to really define and distingquish the two! While yes, both techniques do require food to be cooked over an open flame, there is a world of difference between grilling and barbecuing.

Barbecuing is cooking at lower temperatures for longer periods of time. Depending on the cut of meat, I usually BBQ at temperatures between 180-225 degrees. This technique is usually used for larger cuts of meat like whole chicken, pork shoulder, pork butt, brisket and of course ribs. Smaller cuts of meat can be BBQ'd as well. I love BBQ'd smoked chicken wings!

Grilling is cooking at higher temperatures for shorter periods of time. Grilling usually takes place at temperatures between 400-500 degress. This technique is usually used for cooking quick foods like hamburgers, steaks and hot dogs. I also sear big cuts of meat at grilling temperature prior to barbecuing or smoking.

The Big Green Egg makes both Barbecuing and Grilling easy! While cooking on the BGE, the temperature can be easily raised or lowered simply by adjusting the top damper and bottom vent. Remember, more air = more heat and less air = less heat.

Cooking On The BGE

If you're like me, the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions BBQ is a huge slab of tender smokey ribs or a melt in your mouth pulled pork BBQ sandwich. Now that your fire-making skills are perfected, time to impress the guests!

 Carolina Pulled Pork BBQ

(Low-n-Slow: allow 10-11 hours cooking time)

Before I give you this recipe, I want to say one thing about meat. I buy meat from a butcher or meat market. I do not buy meat from chain supermarkets, Wal-Mart, Sams or Costco. I don't like the idea of my meat being injected with anything, unless I'm the one doing the injecting! O.K...'nuff said about that.

You will need:

1. 7-8lb Bone-In Pork Butt (actually cut from the shoulder)
2. BBQ Dry Rub (preferably without MSG)
3. 2-4 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar
4. 1 Onion
5. 1 Lemon
6. Jalapeno Slices (jar in the pickle department)
7. (Optional) 1 Jar Sam's Choice (Wal-Mart) Pineapple Salsa (vinegar based)
8. 4 cups Hickory Chips (soaked in water for 30 mins)
9. 1/2 cup turbinado sugar (Sugar In The Raw)

Marinate butt in about 1 cup apple cider vinegar with the juice of one whole lemon for two days in the fridge. (You can also add 1 jar of Sam's Choice Pineapple Salsa to the marinade.) I've done both with and without salsa. Both are great! Use a non-reactive (non-aluminum) container, like a plastic bag. I use the plastic bag the butt comes in from the butcher.

After two days: Sprinkle butt liberally with dry rub. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for a couple of hours.

Light Grill: Using your uber pit-master lighting skills, light two chimneys full of coals, fill the fire box and adjust the damper and lower vent to bring the temperature in the Big Green Egg down to a steady 225 degrees.

Place meat on grill: Place the butt, fat side up, on the center of the cooking grid. Drop about a cup of soaked hickory chips down into the firebox. Close the BGE and cook two hours at 225 degrees.

Mop Sauce: While butt is cooking, make your mop sauce. In a bowl, add one small chopped onion, 1/2 cup turbinado sugar and ten jalapeno slices (if you like spicy, add some jalapeno juice to the mop sauce!) to 2 cups apple cider vinegar. Using a clean white dish cloth, "mop" or squeeze mop sauce over butt and add 1/2 cup soaked hickory chips to the coals every 2 hours for the first 6 hours.

After First 6 hours: Close the BGE, keeping temperature at 200-225, cook for 2 more hours.

Do I need more fuel? At 8 hours, check the BGE's temperature and take a look at the coals. If temperature is below 180 degrees, adjust the damper and lower vent to bring the temperature back up to around 200 degrees. If you see little or no red coals after adjusting, it may be necessary to light another 1/2 chimney of coals for the last 2 hours of cooking. (I have an inexpensive, small kettle grill in which to light my second chimney) If you need to add more coals, simply remove the butt from the grid, lift the grid using grid grabber and add coals. Return cooking grid and butt to grill.

At 10-11 hours: At 10-11 hours, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the butt. 190-195 degrees would indicate the butt is done. You'll see a nice, dark crust (called "the bark") on the outside of finished butt.

Pull the pork: Remove the butt from the grill. You'll want to wear gloves ( I use clean rubber gardening gloves) to pull the pork, it's hot! Remove the bark and place in a pile. Serve the pork with the smokey bark on the side. The pork should easily pull apart. It's easiest to pull the pork while it's still hot.

Impress the guests: Serve the pulled pork on buns with carolina savoy coleslaw and pickles. Provide a varitey of BBQ Sauces for your guests, sweet, hot and mustard based. BBQ sauces should be room temperature.

Check out Steven Raichlen's book, How To grill for great BBQing tips, a super Carolina Style Coleslaw recipe and step-by-step color photographs of how to cook Carolina Pulled Pork!

Happy Barbecuing and ebay Adventuring!

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