Weekend of Grilling Went Very Well While Carrie Was Out of Town

Carrie was going to be out of town to visit our friend Corrie in Houston June 8 - 13, so I planned to do a lot of grilling while she was away. I started preparing the menu before she left and had most everything picked out prior to her departure. Although, I had to make some changes as some of the items I wanted were not available at the local grocery store (i.e. mahi-mahi), but made an adjustment and I think overall, it was a successful time grilling. 

The first night, I did a simple pork tenderloin on the grill. I did not get any pictures of the night, but the picture to the left was my basic set up for the other nights I grilled. I decided on a pork tenderloin as it would give leftovers for dinner Thursday and lunch Friday. I did corn on the cob on the grill along with the pork. It turned out really well. Using the Meater and it was cooked to a perfect temperature. It did last me through Friday lunch, so it worked out as planned. I decided on this as I wanted to workout Thursday night after I got off of work and did not want to worry about cooking or going late around the grill. Oliver and I spent time outside even though I was not grilling listening to music and drinking some good beer.

I got off of work at noon on Friday and started running errands getting ready for cooking Friday night. I stopped by Blind Tiger to pick up some growlers of beer, went to the grocery store, and then to Herman’s Meat Market to pick up a porterhouse bone-in steak along with a twice baked potato. Nothing fancy, but simple and done on the grill for the porterhouse. Put the potato in the oven and let it go for about 40 minutes before putting the steak on the grill. I also started some mushrooms on the stove to sauté to go along with the steak and of course I opened a bottle of wine to add to the mushrooms. I then also had the rest of the bottle while I ate and relaxed for the evening.  

The goal for all of the planned cooking for the weekend involved wanting to use the Meater to see how well it worked. Maybe perfect how I use it so I can impress Carrie the next time I cook. Once again, the Meater worked great on the steak alerting me to take it off from the grill, letting it rest, and knowing when it was the perfect time to start eating. Not the greatest picture, but it sure tasted good. I picked up the onion and peppers at the store that afternoon. The pepper was too hot for me to eat. I had a few bites and could not taste a thing, so I kept it until the leftovers on Saturday for lunch to go with the leftover steak. It was still too much for me. Very hot! I was very happy with how everything turned out.

Saturday was a busy day for me while Carrie was a way. I had a lot planned for the day around the house and to cook. I mowed the lawn, trimmed, and got the exterior looking good. I had errands to run for cooking that night which included picking up swordfish and I wanted to clean up to get it ready for Carrie returning on Monday night. I also wanted to try a recipe for a rum cake on the Big Green Egg. My first time trying it and Carrie and I had talked about it, but had not tried it. I figured it was the perfect time to give it a try. The recipe which I found on the BGE web site (here) was pretty easy. I could not find the correct pan, so I found one that would work. It took about 50 minutes for it to finish cooking so that a toothpick inserted came out clean. I let it cool and started cooking dinner for the night.

When I was at the store earlier in the day to get the swordfish and other items, while I was at the seafood counter, the HyVee associate suggested as I was grabbing the swordfish from her that I should get some Australian Jumbo Shrimp they had in their cooler. I almost did not get any as I was leaving and I am so glad that I did. they were delicious! Huge pieces of shrimp that I ended up eating by dipping in butter. They tasted just like lobster. So good! 

The swordfish I got two of them so I could have one for Sunday at lunch. This was only my second attempt at swordfish. I did a simple oil over them to coat, salt, and pepper which then went on the grill. My first bite tasted very fishy of the swordfish. I used the Meater to monitor the swordfish which did a good job, but I think I will try a different recipe for swordfish in the future. The rest of it was very good. Leftovers on Sunday, it was much better too. When I told Carrie about it, she thought it might have been the difference between the kind of meat in the swordfish which might be right. I will try them again as it was delicious once I got past the initial bite.

Sunday I changed my plans from doing mahi-mahi (which I could not find at the store) to doing a pork shoulder. I wanted something that was going to take a while to cook. I put it on the grill a little later than I had planned. The total amount of time it took to start to finish for the pork shoulder was about six hours. I once again used the Meater to monitor the cook. While it cooked, I tried to do some limb cleanup in our backyard, but the weather was a little odd on Sunday with what appeared to be a large storm heading our direction. As it turned out, the storm split right around Topeka and we did not even get any drops. I had two ears of corn on the cob that I had left over from the Wednesday night cook. I bought some buns at the store along with Joe’s BBQ sauce. Pulled the pork once it was done and had BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. I wanted enough to have leftovers on Monday and for Carrie to have some when she got home Monday night or Tuesday.

I was pleased with all of the cooks. I did keep some of the rum cake for Carrie to have when she returned and she had some BBQ too. I think we finally finished off the rum cake on Tuesday. I was happy with everything I cooked. I was proud that I was able to cook everything for my meal on the grill for Saturday even though the swordfish turned me off a little on the first bite, I thought it was good and I would try it again.

I will do the pork should again as well as the rum cake. Steak on the grill is a given. So, I cannot wait to grill again and hopefully it will be soon. Carrie thought it was funny how excited I was that she was going to be out of town when I started planning all of my nights of cooking. I think it was a successful time of cooking and hanging out with my boy, Oliver. 

Until next time, have a great week!

Beer Can Chicken Cook on a Saturday Night and I will Try Again to Improve My Process

Smoke Rising from Grill on a Saturday Night

It has been a while since I have posted about a cook on the grill. We tried beer can chicken this evening. I have struggled somewhat with chicken on the BGE where I follow advice using indirect heat and end up with skin on the chicken that is not very good. Today, I searched around for different advice and recipes. I found one that had a good rub which included:

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon sea salt or kosher salt

The rub smelled and looked good. I applied it directly to the chicken inside and out. I then used a Boulevard beer as it was the only beer we had in the house that was actually a can. Cooked from 6:06 pm to about 7:30 getting the temperature to target temp of 165. I used two different probes to get an accurate temperature. The probe in the breast reached the target temperature before the second probe, so the probe in the breast got up as high as 177 before it was complete.

Whole Chicken Early in the Cook

Spent time on the patio listening to the Royals who started losing in the first inning with a grand slam by the Indians. Great! I continued to listen as the chicken cooked and monitored the probes. Even though the Royals were getting beat, it was an enjoyable evening on the patio. A few mosquitoes but a nice evening, so was battling those away while tending to the grill.

Left the lid closed for the first 30 minutes before opening to see what it was doing. Had a nice color happening on the skin and it was dripping a great deal into the lump. This would be the only reason that I would think about doing indirect and have a drip pan to try and catch some of that before it gets into the lump. But, I made the decision to cook without using indirect heat. I think the next time we try beer can chicken, I will do indirect as I had a few comments on BGE Forum and on the Reddit BGE sub that indirect is best and high in the dome works wonders for a crispy skin. Obviously, I did not do either of these as cooked direct and not high in the dome. So, ended up with skin that was not ideal but the meat was moist and good flavor.

Finished and Off of the Grill

Final product did not look bad. It had good color and smelled so good coming off of the grill. I think it does need to be attempted again using indirect heat. I like the flavor of the rub I used as the skin that we could eat we liked how it tasted. I just need to work on the process further and give it another attempt.

If you have a technique you like to use on your grill, BGE, or other, I would be interested to hear your technique. Feel free to post a comment.

Oliver Protecting the Yard and Grill

Best part of the night was how much fun our dog has while I am grilling. He wears himself out as he patrols the back yard. Once Oliver sees me getting the tools for grilling, the lump, pulling off the cover, and generally walking in and out to prepare, he can hardly sit still. Runs to and from the door and knows exactly what is happening. He specially likes it when a drip or two falls off of a tool used for grilling. Not tonight little guy, but I know it will happen again and hopefully soon.

Until next time, have a wonderful rest of your weekend and hopefully I will post more cooks that I do in the future.

Two Turkey Cook for Thanksgiving and then Lots of Leftovers

Hard to believe it has been so many months since my last update. So much has happened. Grilled a few times and got out of the habit of taking pictures, posting, etc. I am still having a lot of fun with my Big Green Egg. Still have not cooked a lot of items I was hoping to cook by this time, but we have done a lot of cooks. Still have plans for doing pizza, wings, and some of type of stew, but hopefully that will come this next year.

We decided to do turkey on the grill this year. First time we had done turkey although I had been talking about wanting to do so since we got our grill. Carrie and I decided to get turkey breasts without the extras for this cook. Overall, I was happy with how it turned out.

Grill Prepped and Ready to Cook

I got up early Thanksgiving Day to get started. We discussed cooking Wednesday night, but I think it worked out better to do so Thursday morning. I will get into how long it took a little later, but this was the start of the process. I cleaned out all the old lump that had been used previously. It was pretty well broken up as I had done a few cooks since last cleaning it out. I wanted to make sure that I had fresh lump for this cook. I used an old cooler to clean out from inside the BGE and then scoop out ash from the bottom. Using the old cooler worked much better than trying to use plastic bags to get the old lump and ash into. Although, I still need to get some plastic gloves or something as my hands get filthy removing the old lump by hand. I have a shovel, but I found that using my hands works better.

Turkey Breasts Almost Done

We did a salt and pepper on the two turkey breasts. We let them thaw for about two days prior. They were 8.5 lbs each and I set the grill for 400 and put the birds on the grill. I used my Weber iGrill temp meter to monitor the birds while they cooked.

I placed the birds on the grill front to back. I think that was a mistake in terms of grilling as the back bird cooked really fast. I estimated it was going to take about 3 - 4 hours to cook, but the turkey toward the back of the grill cooked in about two hours. Target temperature of 165 degrees and the back turkey came off the grill almost two hours exactly. The turkey toward the front took a full three hours to cook. The next time we do turkey, I will put them on side to side instead of toward the back. I know that it burns hotter toward the back of the BGE so I will make sure to not do that again in the future.

Turkey is Done and Ready to Eat

The first turkey came off and we let it rest for 15 - 30 minutes before craving. Taking a few nibbles, it was nice and juicy. I was really happy with how it turned out and very juicy meat. The second turkey cooked another hour and finally removed it from the grill, let it rest, and then carved it up. It too was moist and good flavor. I was concerned that cooking another hour it was going to be dry, but it turned out great.

We wanted to cook enough turkey to have leftovers long after Thanksgiving Day and we accomplished that task. We had turkey with dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Oh so good! For lunch a few days, we had turkey sandwiches which were also very good.

Happy with the cook and the process. I look forward to cooking turkey again next year.

I trust you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and time with your family. We had an extra day off here in Topeka with a winter storm that came through causing blizzard conditions. Tomorrow, it is back to work and back to eating food other than turkey meat. I do hope to start posting more often and not have a long gap between this and my next post. I know Eunice will be happy to see I am finally posting after a long time off. Or, at least she will stop giving my brief in our fantasy football league about not posting.

Pork Shoulder (Butt) Six and Half Hour Cook Turned Out Great!

Prepping the Grill

I have been looking forward to this day since we bought the grill last August. A day of cooking all day long. OK, I am also excited that it is March Madness and college basketball is on all day long.

Up to this point with the grill, I have only done cooking that takes a few minutes or tops an hour. I have done a few of those (see grilling) and those are fun and good, but I have wanted to do an all day cook from the start.

A short video below to show lighting of the grill. My technique which while it takes a little longer works well. Basically, I let the wood fire starters burn which then lights the rest of it on fire too. Take about 30 minutes for it to become completely lit. When I first got the BGE, I was trying to figure out how to make this light time go faster, but now I realize that is not necessary... I just have to make sure if we need to eat at a certain time, I need to start lighting the fire earlier.

Fire Lit and Wood Chips Added

Cleaned up the leftover lump from previous cooks. Removed ash and then added more lump to the fill line. I did not let the fire get really hot as I did not want to have to battle getting it back down to target temperature of 250 for the days cook. I let it get up to about 350 - 400 before I started closing vents and taking it back down. Once the fire caught, I added wood chips that had been soaking in water for about thirty minutes. Finally, added on the ConvEGGtor along with drip pan.

I let the fire go for a while before adding the meat. This was mainly done as I was trying to keep the temp right around 250. Adjusting the vents the temp went up to 300 and had issues getting it back down. Finally shut all vents and finally got it back down to 250. Once vents were opened and the temp stabilized at 250, I cleaned the grill grate and we were ready to put on the meat.

Pork Butt 5.67 lb with Mustard
and Rub Ready for the Grill

The meat is a 5.67 lb Pork Shoulder (Butt) that we purchased at Hy-Vee back in December. It had spent the past few months in our freezer until last night we decided we would cook all day today.

We started thawing it yesterday afternoon and by this morning it was ready to start preparation. We did a covering of mustard and then applied two different seasonings that we had in the cupboard. While we were preparing the meat, the grill was getting ready. Finally put the meat on the grill about noon.

A few pictures early in the cook and then one at about two hours into the cook.

Almost Two Hours into the Cook

Almost Four Hours into the Cook

We continue to wait at this point. As of 5:26 pm, the internal temp of the pork butt is 185. The temperature of the grill is about 340 degrees.... about 40 degrees higher than I want it to be, but the temperature of the meat started moving again. For the fourth hour, it was stuck at about 180. It just started to move again as we approach 5 hours and 30 minutes of cooking.

Removal from BGE

Finally took it off the grill after 6 hours and 27 minutes. Now, we let it rest for an hour before we start pulling it apart. It smells so good!

I am happy to report that it turned out great! The bone came right out with a little wiggle. Meat fell off of the bone just as I read it should after a good cook. Turned out perfect!

Very happy with the whole day. At the end when I was taking final temperature readings of the meat, I had the thermometer in at one spot where the temp got to 202... I took out the probe and put into a different location and the reading was about 185. So, I let it cook for a while longer until the temperature in that location got back up to about 195. By that time, Carrie and I were checking forums to see if multiple locations should be read; we found a discussion saying to take the average of different locations. In the end, we pulled it off, wrapped it in foil, and let  it sit for an hour.

Dinner is Served

We ate the pulled pork with sweet potato fries and green beans. It was perfection! We have a  lot leftover, but happy to report that the first try and an all day cook went very well!

Enjoyable day of grilling. I could not be happier with how it turned out. Granted, I did have to cook a little past the start of the Seton Hall vs. Kansas game, but that too turned out OK as Kansas moved on to the Sweet 16... so it was a great day!

Until next time, have a great week and happy BBQing...

I forgot to add a closeup picture of the final cook off of the grill, so, here you go....

Pork Butt From the Grill with Nice Bark

Super Bowl Sunday Cook on a Snowy Sunday in Topeka

Snowy Day for Grilling

Sunday night we grilled out again after what was supposed to be flurries fell earlier in the day on Sunday. Cleared the snow off the back patio so could get to the grill without tracking snow in and out of the house. We did boneless turkey breast again (see Cooking in Late January Boneless Chicken and Turkey Breasts) and then also a pork tenderloin. Yes, it was cold, but it was enjoyable grilling. I took a few pictures before, during, and then the final product. Too cold to spend much time out by the grill. Oliver was having fun running around the back yard as I started, so you can see him in the picture to the left.

Fire is Ready!

We used a seasoning that Carrie got for me for Christmas. Once again, I used the thermometer that I can check remotely with my iPhone. Turned out very nicely!

After the cleanup of the BGE for the cook last week, it started quickly. The temperature got up to about 600 degrees before I started closing vents to bring the temperature down. I cooked right at 350 degrees for both the chicken and pork tenderloin. The chicken breast estimated it will be about fifteen minutes to cook and the tenderloin was about 20. Both took about 30 minutes total to cook. It was not bad though as I was able to watch the Super Bowl during most of the first half. I think I finished about the time half-time was starting, so worked out great!

Finished Pork Tenderloin and Chicken

Enjoying a glass of Johnny Walker, I managed to stay warm and cook what turned out to be a great meal. The temp was perfect with the meat being juicy and tender. I was happy with the outcome of the meal. The rub we put on also worked out great too. Once again, we made enough to have leftovers throughout the week. I think we will have enough leftovers for three or four additional meals during the week. I am hopeful that Carrie and I can continue to plan and prep so I can continue to grill on the weekends. Looking forward to doing whole turkey, pork butt, or smoke on a mild spring day with the Royals playing on the radio. I cannot wait!

Dinner is Served

The meal was good with sweet potato, zucchini and onions, and then sliced pork tenderloin. It was a good evening! Even better later after we finished eating, the Patriots lost. So that was fun and good evening of grilling so we can eat at home and have leftovers for a few nights too.

Have a  great night and I look forward to cooking something new soon!

Cooking in Late January Boneless Chicken and Turkey Breasts

A little late with the update from cook that I completed on January 28. It had been about a month since the previous grill which was in late December. We decided to grill a few boneless chicken breasts and then a few turkey breasts. It would be our dinner for Sunday evening and then for two more nights later in the week.

Boneless Chicken Breasts Following
January 28 Cook

I had not cleaned the BGE since I purchased it back in August, so I decided to clean it out. When I cooked back in December, I had difficulty getting the temperature high and following that cook I accounted it to be because it needed to clean it out. Sunday, January 28 was a cold day and my hands were feeling the temperature. I managed to get all of the old lump removed from the BGE so it could be loaded and prepare for the evening cook.

Turkey Breasts Done Following
January 28 Cook

I only took two pictures of the cook on January 28 of the final product. I did use a new thermometer I got for Christmas. It worked great! It syncs bluetooth to my iPhone and then with my new Apple Watch, I am able to see the temperature for up two two separate cuts of meat. Easy to use and worked out great!

Letting the grill get to high heat to start to cook off previous cooks, I brought the temperature back down to around 300 - 350 degrees. Keeping it around that mark throughout the cook. Turning the meet regularly, it took longer than I had anticipated for the meet to finish and reach being cooked. I was using a menu that I found on a Google search that said about eight minutes each side, but I would say it took probably closer to thirty minutes to cook both cuts of meat. I was afraid it was going to burn, but had no issues with the burn marks.

The meat was extremely moist and cooked nicely. There was not any smokey flavor as the temperature was higher than what would allow the smokey flavor to get into the meat. Overall, it was a very enjoyable process and we enjoyed the meal the cooked meat provided for three additional meals.

I will be cooking this evening after a snow storm came through this morning. Tonight will be a pork tenderloin and more chicken breasts, so I will once again be able to utilize the new thermometer and monitor it from inside.

Happy grilling and I will be back on here soon....

Cook for Start of December was Pork Roast

BGE Getting Ready

On Sunday, December 3, we did a pork roast on the grill. First time I tried doing a pork roast. We did two so we could have extras for the week. I did not plan well, so did not start preparing for the cook until mid-afternoon. I put a nice rub we had from the store.

Took a while to get the grill ready, but worked out as I was preparing the pork roast for the grill. I never did get a high heat going with this cook. I have not cleaned out the lump since we bought the grill. The highest the temperature would go was about 300 and that was not until about the end of the cook. I added more lump before I lit the grill, but still could not get a high temp. I need to spend more time in the forums to see what others say. I am guessing that having the lump in there since the start and sitting in the elements is the issue. Granted, it is covered, but probably moisture still gets into the lump. I need to get some containers to hold new lump (instead of keeping in the bags) and then container to remove lump. I saw someone early on in my BGE experience with someone recommending this technique for dealing with new and old lump.

Pork Roast Ready for the Grill

I let the pork roast sit out on the counter for about two hours with the rub before grilling. I found various recipes that talked about brining the meat the day before or at least 5 - 6 hours before grilling. Not having started preparing the meat until a few hours before it was needed on the grill, I was left with doing a quick prep.

The rub we used was Jack's Gourmet Seasoning. We had picked it up at the store prior to planning this cook. The bottle said it was perfect on steaks, seafood, pork, etc., so figured we would try it out. I thought it had good flavor. It went on nicely and did not add olive oil or anything else to make it stick. Even through the cook, the rub remained on the meat. Gave it a nice almost crust to the finished pork roast.

Reading through how long others had cooked the meat, I thought it was going to take about an hour. It ended up taking about and hour and half. Again, I think this was due to the heat not being as high as I had wanted. Others had said they grilled at about 300 - 350, but the highest the heat would get this day of cooking was only about 300 and again it was at the end of the cook. Most of the cook it was about 250 degrees. Even though it took longer to cook, I thought the pork was nice and moist; easy to cut with a knife or fork with good flavor from the rub. Carrie was a little grossed out at first as she was not sure it was done. The color looked odd in a few places, but the internal temperature was well above what was recommended of 140 internal.

Pork Roast Off of the Grill and Ready to Eat

To the right is the picture of the final product as well as the rub that was used. I think it had nice color inside and the color outside with the rub turned out nicely too. After removing from the grill with internal heat of around 140 degrees, I covered with aluminum foil and let stand for about twenty minutes on the kitchen counter allowing it to cook further.

We served the port roast with a salad although I do not have a picture of the plated pork and salad. It was a good way to start December. I am hoping to do much more grilling before the end of the year.

I still have not cooked a chicken breast, whole turkey, or ribs on the BGE yet. I have so much to learn about cooking and grilling with the BGE... I am having a blast with it so far. No disappointments with anything I have cooked so far on the grill.

Enjoy your weekend and happy grilling!

Cook from October 29 Cook of Steak Filet and Turkey Steaks

After a busy couple of weeks without any grilling, we finally grilled on Sunday, October 29. The weeks leading up to this day to grill were kept busy by completing a eight class which has ended. Still, posting this the week after, I am not grilling as much as I would like. Hoping to do more grilling over the next couple of weeks before the end of the year.

Steak filets and turkey steaks Ready for Grill

It had been a while since I had grilled, so we decided to grill not only for our dinner that night, but to have leftovers to have later in the week too. We went with steak filets for Sunday night and turkey steaks later in the week.

Seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and Worcestershire sauce. Typical seasoning used that I got from my father-in-law and tastes great with steaks. Usually use soy sauce too, but we were out of soy sauce.

Preparation of the Big Green Egg went much better too. Still takes a little while to get it lit and ready for grilling, but I cannot complain when I have something cold to drink and we are not in a hurry. We had a lazy Sunday afternoon on October 29, so I was able to let the grill reach maximum heat before cleaning and preparing to grill.

Steak Filet Resting

Grilled the steaks first. Got the Big Green Egg nice and hot to around 700 degrees before reducing slightly to about 500 degrees. Put the steaks on and grilled on each side for about ten minutes. Turned out great!

The steaks had been in the freezer and were from Omaha Steaks that my mom had given me for my birthday. I thought they were really good with good flavor although mom said the ones she got from his batch were not good and would not be ordering again from them. Carrie and I really like steaks from Hy-Vee although I cannot complain about the meat from Omaha Steak either. My dad started getting me steaks and other assorted meats from Omaha Steak before he passed and my mom kept it going the past few years. I think last summer was the last time we got steaks from there when she said she would not do them any more.

Steak Filet and Risotto is Served

Carrie made mushroom and pea risotto. Turned out great and went well with the steak. I have not done any vegetables on the Big Green Egg yet, but I plan to do some soon. I cooked on a gas grill the next week at my moms and did steaks then too (no pictures), but we did do veggies on the grill which tasted really good. I need to those on the BGE sometime too. I think the flavor would be really good with the smokey flavor. Usually when we have veggies to cook, we simply do them in the kitchen on the stove, but plan to do then the next time on the grill. The risotto, steak, and a bottle of wine was a perfect night!

Turkey Steak for Later in the Week

After the steaks came off the grill, we put on the turkey steaks for us to eat later in the week. Marinated in the same they tasted very good. I believe we ate these on Tuesday or Wednesday of the next week and tasted very good.

I am hoping in the next month or two to be able to post and document how a whole turkey cook goes for me. We did buy a pork butt that was on sale at Hy-Vee last week, but it will be a little while before I have a chance to cook the pork butt. I cannot wait though to spend a weekend cooking. I am happy with the Big Green Egg purchase and have been pleased with how the food comes off the grill.

Have a great week and hope to have another post of my grilling soon!

Boneless Pork Chops Done on the Green Egg

Boneless Pork Chop from the Grill

Tonight we did boneless pork chops on the grill. Low and slow was the setup for tonight. Kept the grill between 250 - 300 and cooked them for 90 minutes one on side. After 90 minutes, flipped and started lathering on BBQ sauce for another 30 minutes. All told, did them for about two and half hours. We could have left them on longer and turned down the grill a little more to get it below 250, but we were hungry and decided to take them off.

They turned out great! Not as tender as I was hoping, but good flavor. Carrie was concerned about the BBQ sauce I was using, but she liked it in the end. Happy with how they turned out.

This was the sixth cook from the Big Green Egg. Another low and slow cook with another one planned for Sunday. Planning on doing our first brisket on Sunday, so I will be spending time on the Big Green Egg EGGhead Forum gathering hints and information. I see another person just posted that they were doing a brisket and getting a lot of pointers from others on the forum. I believe that will be about an eight hour cook, but need to research further before Sunday.

Starting the fire tonight went much better. Got the temperature hot within about 30 minutes. Stopped by Patio Pool and Fireside on Saturday to pick up another bag of lump along with a new tool to scrape the grill between cooks. The scrapper I have had few a few years is falling apart and the high temps from a week ago (Fifth Grill Opened up Flame and Cooked Steaks) made it about disintegrate from the heat. Bristles falling out of it and no longer useful.

Looking forward to another cook on Sunday. Until then, I will be working on homework with two forum posts due Friday night and a paper due that night too. A lot to do and instead here I am posting an update on what I cooked tonight.

Have a great week and I plan to post pictures of preparation, cooking, and final product Sunday evening.


Fifth Grill Opened up the Flame and Cooked Steak

Fifth Grill Steak Cooked to Perfection with Brussels Sprouts

Following the first four grills of keeping the temperature under 350 degrees, we were finally able to open it up and grill steak. We are actually doing our fifth and sixth grills tonight with another pork tenderloin going on here shortly. After getting the grill temperature up to between 600 - 650 degrees, I realize now I should have done the pork tenderloin before the steaks. Taking a long time for the temp of the grill to come down so we can do the pork tenderloin.

At one point while getting the grill ready, the temperature went all the way around the dial which I am estimating was a 950 - 1000 degree temperature. I had gone inside to prepare mushrooms for the steak and came out and realized the temperature continued to climb after I went inside. Hoping that did not cause any damage as I brought it back down closing vents further and the temp dropped to around 650 - 700. Doing additional fine tuning with the top and bottom vents I was able to keep it between 600 - 650 degrees.

Getting Ready

Still taking me a little while, it seems, to get the grill started. I know some people on the EGGhead Forum suggested getting a weed burner to start the grill. I have not done so yet and using fire starters we got from the shop. They work, but it takes about 25 - 30 minutes to get the grill ready to cook.

After finishing the grilling of steak that took two minutes each side, it seemed odd it took longer to get the grill ready than it did to actually cook the food. Although we are doing another cook tonight with the pork, but seemed odd. I am sure I will get the hang of starting the grill and maybe it will get faster.

Using advise I got from the forum, I did leave the lid open until I made sure enough lump was lit. That did seem to make the process better and got the temperature up. I will continue to monitor and fine tune the process of lighting and see if I can increase the time it takes to get started.

Kept Temp at 600 - 650

I snapped a picture of the temperature gauge simply because it got so hot. I could not believe how hot it got. I had read descriptions of the heat that Big Green Eggs can get extremely high temperatures. As I mentioned earlier, the temp got so hot that it basically circled around and 950 or 1000. The needle on the gauge was pointing at the 200 mark when I closed vents and started taking the temp back down. Again, hopefully I did not cause any issues for the Egg or the gauge by getting it so hot. The plan was not to get that hot. I thought I had it pegged at the 650 - 700 mark, but it started going up and got very hot. As they warn, I did the burp when opening it which is good as a ring of flame came out each time I opened it. I had an oven mitt on which was good because it was very hot even when I got it down to the temp I wanted to cook at for the steaks. Impressive!

Pork Tenderloin Cooked at 300 - 350

I just took off the pork tenderloin. Took a while to get the temp down so the pork did not burn. Looks like it turned out great! Cooked for 14 minutes each side to start. The temperature was about 150, so left on for another minute or two each side. We will have this over our salad tomorrow night for dinner, so decided to take it off before it got to 160. Leave it juicy and then hopefully will not dry out when we heat it up tomorrow.

Impressive evening of cooking. Had a good day! Got up and went for a run. We went shopping and then came home to study a little bit. Finished my reading for the week, but struggling to get writing done for this weeks posts. Hoping to knock them both out tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day and long weekend. Have a  great rest of the week!

Fourth Grill of the New Big Green Egg

Pork Chops for dinner with forth grill

A simple night of grilling. Carrie wanted to cook the pork chops in the fry pan, but I told her I could do them on the Big Green Egg instead. After thinking about it for a little bit, she decided that would work.

Took about an hour from lighting the fire, grilling, to plating the finished product. Not too bad!

I used a new technique that I used that someone told me on Big Green Egg EGGhead Forum with their suggestion being that light the brick and leave it open a bit longer until more of the lump lights. Worked a lot better tonight lighting the grill. Temps before I started lowering it got up to around 400 degrees. Actually, at one point it went up to about 500 as I was inside and came back out to close things up and lower it back down to about 300. The temperature was still climbing when it was at 500, so I have no doubt I will be able to reach high temperatures in a few more grills.

Cook pork chops with a stir fry style veggies. Good way to start the week.

Have a great rest of the week and hope to post more grilling pictures soon. I am off to study and work on my class.

Green Egg First Cook through Third Cook

Picture of me with Big Green Egg
August 19, 2017

Purchase of Green Egg

After years of thinking about getting a Big Green Egg, I finally got one on August 19, 2017. I had been going back and forth thinking about a Traeger Grill or Big Green Egg. Finally, Big Green Egg won out. I like the idea that it is only me cooking and not relying on power to make the thing work.

So far, I have cooked twice on the Big Green Egg. We cooked the day after we purchased and then again on that Monday. The only pictures we gathered were from Instagram where Carrie took pictures of the completed food.

To start, we did a pork tenderloin. It is recommended that the first 4 - 6 grilling we keep the temperature 350 or below. This is to allow the Green Egg to seal and do it's thing. After those 4 - 6 grilling, then we can do higher temps.

We are both dying to do a steak on the grill, but recommended to do those after a few grills as need a temperature of 600 or more. So, we are hoping to be able to do steaks next weekend.

Pork Tenderloin

The pork tenderloin took about 30 minutes to grill. It took me a little bit to get the grill started, but once it lit it was easy to keep the temperature targeted right around 200 degrees. Open vent a little and it would shoot up or close it and it would go down. It will take me a little bit to get use to how it works.

I thought the pork tenderloin turned out really well. Especially for my first try and using the Green Egg.

Grilled pork tenderloin, roasted brussels sprouts, potatoes. #whole30supper #whole30 #whole30food #whole30dinner #whole30meals #biggreenegg #whole30af

A post shared by CarrieloulouEats (@whole30loulou) on Aug 20, 2017 at 6:37pm PDT

Chicken Breasts

Monday night, we grilled four chicken breasts with bone in. This night, it took me a long time to get the fire started. I had watched videos on YouTube about lighting and did exactly what they said not to do... I got the starters going and poured more charcoal and put out the starters. So, that extended the grill time a bit. Because the time was extended we did not eat until about 8:30 or 9 that evening. The only picture we got was of the chicken salad we made with the grilled chicken. Let me tell you, that was delicious though as the smokey flavor could be tasted in the chicken salad.

Chicken salad, sugar snap peas, honeydew and cucumber. #50shadesofgreen #whole30dinner #whole30supper #whole30 #whole30food

A post shared by CarrieloulouEats (@whole30loulou) on Aug 22, 2017 at 6:22pm PDT

The grilling of the chicken breasts was also fun because with about twenty minutes left in the grill, it started to downpour. I had an umbrella and continued to cook. The rain did not seem to have any effect on the grill as it kept the same temp and I continued to grill. It was worth the wait as the chicken was moist and delicious.

Chicken Breasts Part Two

Chicken Breasts Bone-in... Ready to Prep for Lunches

Catching us up today, August 27, I started off the afternoon doing four large chicken breasts bone-in. I did these at 300 degrees over indirect heat. They appear to have turned out perfectly. Internal temp got to about 160 before taking them off of the grill. These are actually for lunches this upcoming week.

We used a simple salt and pepper coating on these and put them on the grill. When we did these the first grill last week, we coated them in Olive Oil and then coated in salt and pepper. That was recommend as we were using direct heat. This afternoon, we were able to skip the Olive Oil and use only salt and pepper with it being indirect heat.

Carrie will take these and make chicken salad. I am not sure what else she has planned for these, but she said cook and I cooked. 

The indirect heat was done using the convEGGtor. First time trying it. I also used a drip pan. Smelled really good as they were cooking and I could hear the grease being caught by the drip pan as these cooked. Odd to be grilling and hear the sizzling of grease. The only thing we were wanting was the skin to be a little more done, but not sure how I can get that done with the indirect heat being used. I will browse the forums to see what people suggest to get a crispy skin for future grills.

Leg Quarters 

Leg Quarters Final Few Moments of Grilling

Finishing off the afternoon grilling were the leg quarters. Another hour and half grill. Set the Green Egg and forget about it. Turn every 45 minutes. These are dark meat, so we need to make sure the internal temperature is at least 200 degrees. The grill is set as before with indirect heat and a grilling temperature of 300 degrees. Early in the grilling the temperature did get to as high as 350, but the past forty minutes it has been right at 300.

This finishes up the third grill for me on the Big Green Egg. It was a fun afternoon of grilling and after lots of chicken is done, we are ready to eat.

Dinner is Served with Leg Quarters, Brussels Sprouts,
and potato salad. It was good!

Final dinner picture from the leg quarters tonight and they were delicious!

Let's Feast

Fun day and I learned more about how to grill on the BigEgg. This finishes up our third grill using the Big Green Egg. Two or three more to go and I can open up the heat to see how hot I can get it to go. So far, not very hot even when preheating. I was warned to keep the temperature below 350 as I mentioned, however, even when preheating the hottest I have seen it go is 400 and not much over it.

Until next time, have a great rest of your Sunday and I look forward to grilling again soon!