Big Green Egg - do you recommend?

I have seen postings in this topic from time to time but have not been able to search and find the threads

I am thinking about picking up one of these - anyone want to share their views? Are they hard to assemble? Note - I HATE assembling things.

TIA for your help

John-
There have been quite a few discussions about BGE in the past. Use the search function on this Kitchen form and type "green egg" and you should get plenty of hits. Don't forget the quote marks.
BP

[Jenise]

John, everything I've read here about BGE's as well as seen over the fence from my neighbor's has me convinced that if I were going to buy a charcoal grill I'd go big and buy a BGE. Their owners love them and wouldn't have anything else. For whatever that's worth.

How's life in India?

I have seen postings in this topic from time to time but have not been able to search and find the threads

I am thinking about picking up one of these - anyone want to share their views? Are they hard to assemble? Note - I HATE assembling things.

TIA for your help

John, buying a grill such as the BGE is a little like buying a wine cabinet, check out the size you think you need, then buy the largest size available and affordable.

I like mine, Large Egg, very much and yes the assembly was difficult. BGE won't ship to private homes anywhere so you have to find a dealer, who will often deliver to your home within reason for free or minimal cost. The only assembly is connecting the top (lid) to bottom with their hinge and metal strapping system. I'm pretty good at assembling things but this was a P.I.T.A.
Two person job for sure. I love the way it cooks and retains a consistant temp. You might want to look at the "Grill Dome" cooker and compair. They'll ship to your house, completely assembled, have a better hinge system, imho, and come in different colors and are less expensive. There is a web site video showing a side to side comparison where the Grill Dome edges out the BGE but I don't know how "scientific" the test was. If you buy the Egg, look to have a cart built to contain it which you can find at a reasonable cost. It makes the cooking experience so much nicer. Lastly, for me,the Large Egg was the perfect size.

Drew

Has anybody here had experience with both Green Eggs and Kamados and can suggest which would be the best deal. I need one of the fairly small ones, the right size to cook whole chickens and ribs. I've owned a Kamado that size for 35 years and I used to use it about once a week and it has been great but now the firebox is broken and you can't get replacements as they don't make Kamados exactly that size anymore. I also own a large 35year-old Kamado that I use for turkeys and oversized roasts and such about once a year but that one is still going strong despite sitting out in the rain.

So, what should I buy, another small Kamado or a small Green egg, just the right size for, say, roasting chickens?

Has anybody here had experience with both Green Eggs and Kamados and can suggest which would be the best deal. I need one of the fairly small ones, the right size to cook whole chickens and ribs. I've owned a Kamado that size for 35 years and I used to use it about once a week and it has been great but now the firebox is broken and you can't get replacements as they don't make Kamados exactly that size anymore. I also own a large 35year-old Kamado that I use for turkeys and oversized roasts and such about once a year but that one is still going strong despite sitting out in the rain.

So, what should I buy, another small Kamado or a small Green egg, just the right size for, say, roasting chickens?

Clint,

If you are speaking of http://www.kamado.com/ when you say Kamado then I would not ever recommend anything from the company. I have a Kamado #7 and am EXTREMELY happy with the way she cooks, but the company customer service is almost non existent. If I were to need a replacement I would likely go with a BGE even though I do not think the egg is quite the equal of the Kamado right out of the box. The main reason I say that is the difference in thickness of the two,. The K is 2" thick and the Egg is 1/2 inch thick. I just do not believe the 1/2 inch wall is as good heat sink as the 2" wall. I picked up a pork butt just today to cook on the K. Usually I do a low and slow butt for 18 hours, and this time I will try a higher temp and cut that time by perhaps 75%. I will report back when I do that. Whatever you decide let us know.

Yes, Bob, that's the Kamado. (I'm capitlizaing because it's now a company nme, like Kleenex). They had been in use in parts of rural Japan for centuries. I bought my first one, let's see, ages ago and it cracked in a couple of years when I overheated it. I bought my second and third ones when I went back to Japan and by then the state of the art was much improved, and my little one functioned like a charm until the firebox broke a few years ago, and the much less frequently used big one is still humming along just fine. What you say about service is alarming, though. The company that owns the Kamado name is now in the US and as far as I know there is no longer any source of kamados (small k) in Japan. Both of them -- the Green Egg and the Kamado -- aren't cheap and ought to outlast me, so your advice is appreciated.

I have four BGEs and would recommend the large as the best all around grill. You can get all the info you want at eggheadforum.com, the people there are knowledgeable and friendly. -RP