Big Love for the Big Green Egg
The popular Big Green Egg joins our backyard crew for more outdoor cooking fun and blow-out BBQs with friends and family.
With a special milestone birthday coming up, on Kenz’ wishlist is the ever popular Big Green Egg. That said, his birthday is not until December. But Kenz didn’t feel like receiving a new ceramic Kamado-style grill in the dead of winter. So on his half-birthday, he ordered the Big Green Egg. And a few weeks later, the iconic forest green orb arrived at our doorstep in time for some late summer BBQs. This was the reason why we were in a mad rush to extend the patio area in August. It was to make room for the Big Green Egg XL!
Versatile Grilling on the Big Green Egg
We already have a four-burner gas Broil King Sovereign XL which is well-loved and well-used every summer. Of course, my initial thought of getting another BBQ was a bit silly. Upon returning from a corporate retreat in the bucolic countryside of West Sussex where the chef cooked up some delicious steaks and chicken on the Big Green Egg, Kenz was sold. This odd-shaped orb is a bbq-meet-outdoor oven. Cooking and grilling on the Big Green Egg is just another level of culinary art using lump coal wood fire.
Grilling and cooking on the Big Green Egg is extremely versatile, where you can do indirect cooking or direct grilling like a traditional coal BBQ. With two vents on top and on the bottom, you can easily control the temperature for the perfect cookout. With the ConvEGGtor, the possibilities of different styles of cooking are endless from smoking to slow-roasting. The ConvEggtor acts as a heat deflector between the hot burning coal and the meat, bringing out the natural flavours.
Restaurant Quality Food at Home
In the short time that the Big Green Egg joined the backyard crew, we have used the slow-cook smoked method several times. For his inaugural slow cook, he made a classic 4kg brisket. Slow and low at 230C for 14 hours, followed by a 3 hour rest. We treated our friends to a Texan-inspired lunch with all the fixings: sourdough bread, mac-n-cheese, southern potato salad and lots of pickles. With all the leftover briskets, we made open-face sandwiches with melted gouda and beef barbacoa tacos.
Kenz also smoked an overnight 4kg Mexican-inspired pork shoulder. The end product was soft like butter, and the pork pulled apart easily with the bear claws. Together with good friends on a glorious afternoon, we feasted on carnitas, pico de gallo, classic guacamole, grilled corn salad with feta, and coriander-lime rice. The Big Green Egg uses lump coal and is very efficient. With a slow-cook of over 14 hours, Kenz did not need to top up on the lump coal. He prepped the grill, regulated the temperature, threw on the meat, and went to bed.
It was then onto a Greek-inspired lamb shoulder drizzled with olive oil, Greek oregano, and lots of garlic. The lamb shoulder was cooked on low heat for 5 hours. This tough cut of meat turned soft and juicy. Furthermore, we were able to use the residual heat to grill up vegetables such as corn on the cob and aubergines.
Direct grilling like a traditional BBQ is pretty straightforward. We have made reverse seared rib eye steak, classic smashed burgers, Cajun-style chicken wings, and Indian-inspired chicken kebabs. All were so tasty and juicy. With the Big Green Egg, it is restaurant quality food at home.
I can see why this green orb has a loyal fan base of celebrity chefs and Hollywood A-listers. It is pretty darn amazing. We look forward to using the Big Green Egg all year round and entertaining friends and family. And hopefully share some tips and recipes!
Big Love for the Big Green Egg!
