Any tips on buying a BGE?

I 2nd the "Adjustable Rig" recommendation... Easily doubles the capacity of the Egg and gives more cooking options like "raised direct"... Forget the plate setter...The AR is designed to be used with a 13" pizza stone (or oval stone) when cooking indirectly.

The Ceramic Grill Store is your friend. Most accessories for the Egg will fit the Kamado Joe as they have the same size cooking grate. Kamado Joe comes with more accesories than the Egg (side shelves, for one) so it would benefit you to compare the cost of an Egg to a comparably equipped KJ.
 
Best way to buy an egg and all the stuff you need to go with it is at an egg Fest.
Where are you? In northern Va June 7 at Dizzy Pig
10% off on a demo egg- cooks cook at these fests with your egg 1 time, you wait for it to cool and take it home.
But keep in mind you are going to need other stuff - like woo ring / pizza stone - my preference for indirect - more grates! spices! lump! whatever it is a good thing - all is usually 10% off so if you buy then you do save a bunch

I prefer the large - depends how much you smoke at one time - large good for a packer but will not do 4 racks of ribs / but when you want to sear a single steak it's still easy

Note that I have an offset and a big weber kettle - which I use all the time as well
The weber is great for some things but will not do in place of my large BGE
Totally different cookers . . . . .
Have fun!
 
How many you cooking for? I have a large, and for me, it's the right size since typically I am cooking for 2.

Tips for buying??? Go look at them so you can see the size. If you don't mind not being the first one to use it, an Eggfest is a good way to go. It's also a good way to see how folks use theirs.
The adjustable rig is really helpful.
Get a pizza stone - once you start making your own pizza you won't go back.
 
energyzer said:
Maybe I have the name wrong. There is an off brand...maybe that is the Joe?
Click to expand...
Eggs are very nice and is one of the oldest makers of kamodos. Because they are one of the oldest they have a large following and dealer network. They have a Lifetime Warranty. (So do many others). There are many other makers of kamados. Just google kamado and you'll come up with easily 8 or 9. It all come down to what you want to pay for one and if having a dealer close by is important to you. I first purchased a Vision from Costco as that is what my budget would bear at the time. (Still have it and it's a very nice kamado for the money) Later I wanted something larger so I purchased a Primo XL Oval. (Very Nice!) Do a little research and buy whats best for you.
 
LMAJ said:
How many you cooking for? I have a large, and for me, it's the right size since typically I am cooking for 2.

Tips for buying??? Go look at them so you can see the size. If you don't mind not being the first one to use it, an Eggfest is a good way to go. It's also a good way to see how folks use theirs.
The adjustable rig is really helpful.
Get a pizza stone - once you start making your own pizza you won't go back.
Click to expand...

At this point, I have three kids, and a forth on the way...thinkin' XL might be the way to go eh?
 
Dont over look at BKK4000. It holds temps like no other, you can actually touch it when it's 700 deg and you can trailer it.
 
You won't be sorry if you buy a BGE. They are absolutely amazing cookers that are incredibly versatile.

My Large gets the most use of all my cookers and I have a wife and 5 kids to feed in addition to myself. In saying that, the XL BGE is also a fantastic cooker that offers a lot more capacity. If you get a charcoal reducing ring you will use the same amount of fuel as the large. I don't have one but I do plan to pick one up someday.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
 
If I was going to spend the money that a BKK4000 costs, I would just get an Egg since the BKK4000 only comes with a 10 year warranty.
 
I have a large BGE. I like it. I bought in off craigslist for way, way, way, cheaper than retail. That being said, I had an alert set on my phone for about three years before I found one that cheap. People don't sell these cookers once they buy them unless they are moving out of town (they are hella heavy), so there is something to be said for that. I could afford one, just couldn't see myself spending that kind of jack on a piece of ceramic. I still feel the same. Like the cooker, use it a bunch, still think they are pretty overpriced retail (as well as all of the extra additions that you need to buy along with it to maximize it's abilities).
 
Question...heard that the XL BGE doesn't work as well as the large. Agree? Is the XL worth the extra money?
 
Big Green Egg- Nope

BGE's are cool, almost Art- well they are very functional artwork. All my friends and family that have the ceramic cookers have BGE (I have a mini BGE). But when it came time to buy a ceramic I remained the Black Sheep of the family. Primo XL Oval stainless cart fit my needs. There are lots of reasons I chose Primo, do your homework and decide what's important to you.


Peeps your hero status expired I'm turning the Longhorn around ;-))
 
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I've worked for big green egg doing demos. Get the XL if you're cooking for anything more then 2-4 people routinely.

I've easily fit 6 racks of ribs in my large egg. I have the adjustable rig in there with 3 levels. I had a small for about 2 days, until i sold it to a friend. It was so small it was useless.

If you're in the market for an egg. Check craigslist or ebay, find a good used one.
 
Egg capacity

3 slabs of babybacks on 2 levels of Adjustable Rig, oval stone on lowest level.
6 slabs of BB's will fit easily on 2 racks... 9 if you used all 3 levels and used the spider/round stone as the heat deflector. Smoking unntrimmed spare ribs, you could get 4 or 6 slabs using the same setups.

IMG_0680a babybacks.jpg
 
I have the Costco Vision. Love it but would like a larger ceramic in the future. One day a Primo XL will move in. Since I just built a UDS that day is pretty far in the future.
 
I finally bought my first Kamado a few weeks ago after falling in love with a friends BGE close to 8 years ago and never being able to justify spending the money. I still couldn't justify spending the money on the BGE, so went with a Vision Grills Kamado at a fraction of the cost. So far I love my new Kamado and have been extremely impressed with the customer service from Vision. What really made me take a chance on the Vision instead of the BGE was the fact it came with a lot of the accessories that were extra with the BGE - stand, double rack, heat deflector/pizza stone, electric starter, cover.

Good luck with your new purchase, I'm sure you will be happy with whatever you get.
 
Eggfests are a great bargain, because you get the lifetime warranty as well. Recently, at an eggfest in Salado, the large was going for $759 - large BGE, nest, bag of lump, starters, and I think the platesetter was included too.

If you find a really good CL deal, then it may be worth it to buy without warranty. Don't believe any CL seller who tells you it comes with a lifetime warranty, since the warranty only applies to the original owner.

A local dealer here has 20% off sales regularly throughout the year, and BGE's and accessories are included.
 
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