Anybody own a Big Green Egg?


 
Teddy J.

Teddy J.

TVWBB Pro
I’ve been watching the classifieds for a deal on a Weber Ranch, and come across cheap BGEs from time to time. I’ve only known one friend who owned one, watched him cook a couple times on it, but never ate any food from it. Being in front of one I understand why people like them, they are a good quality piece and seem fun to cook on, although more ceramic to worry about than I’d prefer. However, I’ve been in the Weber camp for many years and something feels wrong even talking about this.

And for a decent deal, I’m calling it a well equipped in good condition Large or XL egg with a nest of some sort for $400 or less.

I was mainly looking for a lot of cooking area hence the ranch, but an XL egg is almost comparable to a 26” Kettle (which I’ve almost bought before). Maybe a fair trade off?

Any feedback? And Chris - if this not an appropriate post here no hard feelings if you delete.
 
I never cooked on an egg, but I recently got the Summit Charcoal which has a 24" grate like the Kamado Joe XL and BGE XL. I can cook plenty of food on that and the Performer style table is handy. The extra insulation makes temperature management a breeze.

I need to move my charcoal grills around, so the ~100lb steel Weber with big wheels is much better than a ~300-400lb ceramic with small wheels for me.
 
Mack Manning said:
I never cooked on an egg, but I recently got the Summit Charcoal which has a 24" grate like the Kamado Joe XL and BGE XL. I can cook plenty of food on that and the Performer style table is handy. The extra insulation makes temperature management a breeze.

I need to move my charcoal grills around, so the ~100lb steel Weber with big wheels is much better than a ~300-400lb ceramic with small wheels for me.
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Any difference in taste of food vs kettle or WSM?
 
I have 3 or 4 friends who own BGEs they love them they have had them for many years when they were not so pricey as they are today. All of them built carts so the Egg sits inside none to my knowledge every move them around, they are all on decks. I have had food off those eggs more than a few times difference in taste not to me I have a Performer to me charcoal is charcoal its more about you can grill as well as smoke so one less grill lying around.

Same with the Summit Charcoal saves a grill, will the food taste any better on it probably not and I lust for a Summit.
 
I'd be inclined to consider a Weber Summit Charcoal Kamado instead of a ceramic grill.

I was going to buy a used XL BGE a few weeks ago for $800, but when I saw pics of it, it was actually a large. $800 was too much for a used large BGE with weathered side tables and a nest.

If you purchase a used XL BGE, think about logistics of loading that 300-400 lb. grill on your vehicle, safely securing it during transport, then unloading the BGE and getting it off the vehicle and potentially up some stairs and/or through the house to the back patio or deck.

If you're young and have plenty of strong friends, no problem. For me, I'd have to use something like this "chariot" (or maybe make your own):

ceramicgrillstore.com

CGS Chariot - Ceramic Grill Mover

After delivering our first ceramic grill (years ago), we recognized one important thing: we needed to come up with an efficient way to move the grills. We tried numerous moving methods but it did not take long to recognize our chariot mover was/is the quickest and easiest way to move a kamado...
ceramicgrillstore.com ceramicgrillstore.com
 
I have a large Big Green Egg. I use it a fair amount. It is only an 18 inch grate which is why I bought the Summit Kamado E6 so I would have more cooking area. I use the E6 more for grilling, and my BGE for lower temp cooks and med temp indirect cooks.

I can't recommend getting an XL BGE. I don't have facts, just what I've observed through reading, but I've read about more XL bases cracking than all the other sizes, and it's been observed by others in the comments. If you can't get the lifetime warranty on the ceramics ( Base, Dome, Fire Box and Fire Ring) then you should factor in a what-if cost if one of these parts cracks.

Personally, I think some cooks are better on the BGE. It has high moisture retention so lower temp, indirect cooks are excellent. I don't have a ton of this vs that comparisons, but the BGE was clearly better than my pellet grill, and I thought the ribs on the BGE were better than ribs I cooked on my WSM. Overall I'm really happy with my large BGE, but I'm not sure I could recommend it over the E6.

edit: I should add I expect my low-and-slow will evolve to use the E6 as I learn it more. I've had a decade on the BGE and only a few months on the E6.
 
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Mack Manning said:
I'm no expert and I never cooked on a WSM, but Summit Charcoal food tastes the same as food from a kettle to me. It's just easier with the air insulation and rapid fire top vent.
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my food tastes better on my WSK than any previous charcoal grills i've owned; WSM 18 and a Smokey Joe, eons ago. but i've also improved in skill and experience.
 
I converted from a BGE to my Webers years ago. The BGE cooks great food, not better than my Kettle and 18" WSM and not worse. It was nice to have a single cooker for everything but it does have downfalls. It is heavy so not taking it anywhere and it takes forever to cool down (could also be a positive if the fire goes out over night though). Mine was given to me used so I wasn't too worried about the warranty but if buying know the warranty does not carry over to the new owner. The base and lid will cost you just about the same price as new to replace and do crack. My medium base was going to be about $500 to replace before COVID, no clue what they cost now but I'm assuming more. A nice side is once you replace a piece it is now under warranty though. That is when I switched to WSM.

The general rule in the BGE community was never pay more than half of what a new egg would cost when buying used and make sure you get all the insides. The best way to get a used BGE is wait for one of the Eggfests or other BGE sanctioned event and buy one of those. It will cost less, come with all the insides and still carries the warranty.

If you buy an XL assume the base is cracked or will be by the time you get it home. The base on those always crack, the large not so much and is more common.
 
This might have been posted somewhere else awhile ago but it is interesting. No BGE info but does pit the rest of the Weber line against each other.

 
One of my friends who is large in the local BBQ community is an avid BGE enthusiast. 3 days ago he sent me pictures of the base (inside and outside) of his Large egg, cracked. He said it was “bound to happen.” And while I think the BGE appears to be a fantastic grill, I am much happier knowing I went with the WSK / E6 / Summit Charcoal.

But for the right price, I could deal with a crack here or there.
 
When I was shopping for a BBQ I looked at a bunch.
The BGE looked nice.
What really caught my eye was the extra large Primo.
I really wanted it bad but I had to pass.
The price was more than I was willing to spend and the darn thing weighs a ton.
BGE are less expensive and weigh a bit less.
I gave them a second look and passed as well.
I ended up with a Weber Performer and have never looked back.
I‘m fine with not being as efficient burning the fuel.
I think my performer made me a better cook than I used to be too.
 
I know a lot of people like ceramic cookers but don't understand how/why the Weber Kamado isn't completely taking over that market. It's a lower price, higher value grill. No ceramic in the Weber Kamado to ever crack, and exterior paint (weber black) is nearly indestructible vs BGE or Kamado Joe that will eventually crack and fade.....It's lighter (safer and easier to move).... I even saw some people using them on a bbq competition video... Probably not much of a used market for Weber Kamado unless it's an estate sale or divorce scenario....

Wifey and I never had a prenuptial agreement till I got my Weber Kamado..... 🤣
 
John K BBQ said:
Probably not much of a used market for Weber Kamado unless it's an estate sale or divorce scenario....
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I’m in touch with 5 people who’ve expressed interest in my E6. It only takes one buyer with cash to do the deal. I’m not desperate so I’ll wait for my price.
 
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