Temperature Setting Basics

After I purchased my large Big Green Egg®, I was itching to start immediately, but I was also a little worried that I would ruin expensive cuts of meat.  To be honest, I did ruin a couple before I finally figured out how to run the Egg.  Looking at the Egg, you would think it would be the easiest thing in the world to use.  After all, it is just a giant ceramic vessel with two vent openings to control the temperature, what could be easier.  People have been cooking with this method for a thousand years.

My Setup

I have a Large Big Green Egg® ("BGE") that I purchased from my local organic butcher.  The BGE is only sold through authorized sellers so this means you need to find an authorized seller near you.  These are also heavy and very breakable, so it is best to have it delivered if you can.  My authorized seller delivered the BGE and set it up for me right on my deck.

Lobster/Clam/Mussel Bake

As much as I like pork goodness, there is no meal on this blog as good as a lobster, clam, and mussel bake.  This also happens to be one of the easiest meals to make and it will feed an army.  For this meal we used a fire pit and cooked a couple dozen lobsters, 4 dozen clams, and 3 dozen mussels.  The food tasted just like the beach based lobster bakes from my childhood.

Pork Belly

Pork belly is amazing because it is basically thick bacon that can be cooked so that it has the perfect combination of juicy fat and a crispy bacon outside.  Pork belly also is a great vessel to absorb your favorite flavors.  Below is a picture of the meat side of a 10 pound pork belly.

Pork Butt

Pork butt is fairly straightforward to cook except for the cooking time.  If you read the post on brisket you will understand "the stall."  This is a period of time when either evaporation or rendering of fat causes the temperature to hold still rather than raise.  This stall seems to completely depend on fat content.  Therefore, as with brisket, you should make sure that you add an extra 4-5 hours to your estimated cook time to account for the stall.

Pork chops

Pork chops are best if brined.  However, since pork chops are already salty, I usually only brine them for 4 hours rather than overnight.  I also do not add any rub to my pork chops.  See my earlier posts for brine recipes.  Reduce the brine time appropriately if you are using a more concentrated boiled brine rather than a simple cold mixed brine.

Baby Back and Spare Ribs

Next to smoked wings, ribs are my favorite meat to smoke.  Not only because they are delicious, but because they are easy to cook.  With ribs, you cook to a certain time, rather than temperature.  This means no guesswork as to when your meal will be done.