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Thinking of splurging on a Grill/smoker this year.

I've listened to all of this and decided since most of you are on the BGE bandwagon that it would be shrewd to go a different direction.

Just bought a Traeger Timberline, and I'll tell you what, the thing is amazing. I'll take it 100 times out of a 100 over the egg. Smoked some pork butts the other day. It was 20 degrees outside most of the time, and it had no problem maintaining the temp. I also decided to do a rack of ribs and threw a pan of chex mix on there at one time. If I'm going to drop that kind of money on a grill/smoker it better be have some capacity to do a lot of meat.

100 time out of 100... so you want your steaks cooked at 325 degrees? The Egg is a beast an 20 degrees aint nothing. I grill way more in the winter than I do in the summer. Have cooked on the Egg in negative temps with no problem. I bought the BBQ guru and it will hold temps really steady maybe a 3-4 degree swing at the most. I will guarantee the Eggs I have will out last the Traeger 10 times over. hahaha of course I am just arguing for argument sake and I would probably buy a Traeger if someone held a gun to my head.
 
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Was at Grilliant BBQ just west on 96th St. and Michigan. Really good brisket BTW. Was talking to the owner about these grills. He said Traeger is a decent grill, but he said with the pellets your basically burning sawdust. Say's there's a reason they now add an additional smoke box because you can't duplicate the taste of burning with real wood.

Granted the experience of using a Traeger may be great and it sounds super easy, but this guy suggested I go with a BGE before using a pellet smoker for the pure reason of flavor to the food.
 
My boss has used a traeger for years. There's plenty of smoke flavor and the smoke ring rivals anything ive ever seen.

So sounds like this guy hasnt ever actually used one...
 
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HoosierMan11 been using the looflighter to start my fireplace. Thanks for heads up on this.

Me too! Great product. Best thing I've found on the OTF in years since no one even TRIES to post nipples anymore.

b1901edd5c9077f4ece3e3477e38a5c8.jpg
 
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Bump.......... Ace Hardware at Westfield Blvd and 86th street(Indy) is closing. All grills on sale 20% off including Weber, Primo, Komodo, etc. Didn't see any BGE.

McHoop
 
Bump.......... Ace Hardware at Westfield Blvd and 86th street(Indy) is closing. All grills on sale 20% off including Weber, Primo, Komodo, etc. Didn't see any BGE.

McHoop
Man that place was in biz for a long long time
 
I love my BGE.

Anyone that complains about how long it takes to get it heated up has not experienced the looflighter. Google it. I can get my lump charcoal to 700 degrees in about 10 minutes. You know, about half a cold beer.

It makes the best burgers I’ve ever made. So, whoever can light their propane grill faster is missing out on the quality. In my opinion, hot dogs are hot dogs. I will say this though, a kid told me it was the best hot dog he’s ever had.

As far as price, I live in Metro-Atlanta, the home of BGE and every year multiple hardware stores have their BGE annual “lowest price of the year” sale at the end of November, beginning of December. You can definitely save money then. Maybe Sullivan’s in Indy does the same. You can check.

Good luck! You won’t go wrong with BGE. They come with a lifetime warranty.

Wait...

It takes you 20 minutes to drink a beer?
 
Finally bought a BGE today at Sullivan's on 69th & Keystone. Went for the large size. Can't wait to get cooking on this baby.
Good choice. Bought a large at Sullivan’s a couple years ago. You won’t regret it.

You might consider taking an Egg class at Sullivan’s. Did the steak class this winter and it was both fun and educational. Also have classes on seafood, ribs, burgers, etc.
 
Second this. Sullivan has a BGE sale in the spring, maybe March? Large is the way to go.
I can get 6 full racks of baby backs on my large BGE and never do less. Once all set up and lit I want to maximize my take and properly wrapped they freeze well and are like fresh off the egg when slowly reheated.
The BGE is also superior for searing steaks at 700 and then letting them rest to drop temp to 450 for finishing to temperature preference. Medium rare for me. Oh and, cast iron grate is a must IMHO.
 
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I've listened to all of this and decided since most of you are on the BGE bandwagon that it would be shrewd to go a different direction.

Just bought a Traeger Timberline, and I'll tell you what, the thing is amazing. I'll take it 100 times out of a 100 over the egg. Smoked some pork butts the other day. It was 20 degrees outside most of the time, and it had no problem maintaining the temp. I also decided to do a rack of ribs and threw a pan of chex mix on there at one time. If I'm going to drop that kind of money on a grill/smoker it better be have some capacity to do a lot of meat.
Try searing a steak at 700 degrees+ and good luck if you ever want to knock out an AWESOME crispy pizza!
 
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I love my BGE.

Anyone that complains about how long it takes to get it heated up has not experienced the looflighter. Google it. I can get my lump charcoal to 700 degrees in about 10 minutes. You know, about half a cold beer.

It makes the best burgers I’ve ever made. So, whoever can light their propane grill faster is missing out on the quality. In my opinion, hot dogs are hot dogs. I will say this though, a kid told me it was the best hot dog he’s ever had.

As far as price, I live in Metro-Atlanta, the home of BGE and every year multiple hardware stores have their BGE annual “lowest price of the year” sale at the end of November, beginning of December. You can definitely save money then. Maybe Sullivan’s in Indy does the same. You can check.

Good luck! You won’t go wrong with BGE. They come with a lifetime warranty.
Just ordered a looflighter after reading your post. I have been using an electric lighter that reliably fires things up in 15 minutes but I like the looflighter for "emergency" lights. I am pretty good at anticipating when I need to be taking meats and veggies off my Egg and usually have everything set to just plug the lighter in 15 minutes in advance. Expecting that the looflighter will expand my margin for error and allow me to respond to those emergency, spur of the moment occasions!
 
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Try searing a steak at 700 degrees+ and good luck if you ever want to knock out an AWESOME crispy pizza!

I'm guessing you've never used a Traeger to do a pizza.

I don't need to sear a steak at 700° on my Traeger. I'm not primitive enough to do a steak on a grill. Sous Vide. Then sear that bad boy on a cast iron skillet.
 
My Akorn has a 12.5 lb brisket on it right now. Purring along at 225 in a light rain.
 
Just ordered a looflighter after reading your post. I have been using an electric lighter that reliably fires things up in 15 minutes but I like the looflighter for "emergency" lights. I am pretty good at anticipating when I need to be taking meats and veggies off my Egg and usually have everything set to just plug the lighter in 15 minutes in advance. Expecting that the looflighter will expand my margin for error and allow me to respond to those emergency, spur of the moment occasions!

UPDATE and HUGE shout-out to HoosierMann11 for recommending the LOOFLIGHTER!
Just used my new "LOOFLIGHTER " to light the Big Green Egg. Had coals lit and flaming in a minute and a half. Takes 15 minutes to do that with my electric starter which is still pretty damned fast. But, there are times when that extra 13 1/2 minutes will will come in handy - like when mama is HUNGRY NOW!
12 perfectly cooked jerk chicken breasts in under 30 minutes light to shutdown.
Man, no need to sacrifice charcoal flavor by keeping a gas grill for quick turnaround anymore! I'm impressed and wanted to make sure it performed as advertised before sharing.
I still have my electric starter but it is now officially in hibernation!
 
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Good choice. Bought a large at Sullivan’s a couple years ago. You won’t regret it.

You might consider taking an Egg class at Sullivan’s. Did the steak class this winter and it was both fun and educational. Also have classes on seafood, ribs, burgers, etc.
Thinking I need to take one of the classes or more. I’ve only used the grill 3-4 times and I’m having problems get my temp up. So I finally ordered a looflighter thanks to the suggestion by @HoosierMan11. So yesterday I used the lighter, granted it lit up much faster but I had hot coals, the bottom damper was completely open and I completely removed the daisy top and still couldn’t get over 400
Degrees. So I’m a little frustrated trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong.

Starting to wonder if my temperature gauge is broken.
 
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Don't trust your temp gauge. Not sure if you can calibrate the one you have, but that would be a good first step. If you can't, buy a manlaw and replace it. I also use an oven thermometer on my grate.
 
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Good choice. Bought a large at Sullivan’s a couple years ago. You won’t regret it.

You might consider taking an Egg class at Sullivan’s. Did the steak class this winter and it was both fun and educational. Also have classes on seafood, ribs, burgers, etc.
Thinking I need to take one of the classes or more. I’ve only used the grill 3-4 times and I’m having problems get my temp up. So I finally ordered a looflighter thanks to the suggestion by @HoosierMan11. So yesterday I used the lighter, granted it lit up much faster but I had hot coals, the bottom damper was completely open and I completely removed the daisy top and still couldn’t get over 400
Degrees. So I’m a little frustrated trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong.

Starting to wonder if my temperature gauge is broken.

So, generally what I’ll do is get it lit with the top and the bottom wide open like you did. Then I’ll wait to see how hot it gets. If it’s not as hot as I want it, I’ll open the lid and use the looftlighter as more of a fan to re-stoke the fire. Generally, after the second blow on the coals it’s 700 plus. I hope that helps...
 
Don't trust your temp gauge. Not sure if you can calibrate the one you have, but that would be a good first step. If you can't, buy a manlaw and replace it. I also use an oven thermometer on my grate.
I also bought one of these Therm Pro thermometers to tell me the grill temp. I just got it and haven’t tried it yet.

So even if my gauge was wrong the steaks I cooked never got that food sear. I’ll tell you though the coals were all red hot. I’ll be real interested to use this therm pro and get a more accurate reading.

Amazon product ASIN B01GE77QT0
 
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I also bought one of these Therm Pro thermometers to tell me the grill temp. I just got it and haven’t tried it yet.

So even if my gauge was wrong the steaks I cooked never got that food sear. I’ll tell you though the coals were all red hot. I’ll be real interested to use this therm pro and get a more accurate reading.



Call me an a-hole for asking, but are you using your diffuser?
 
Call me an a-hole for asking, but are you using your diffuser?
I think you're referring to the BGE Conveggtor that turns it into a convection oven? No I'm not using it as I'm trying for Direct Grilling. I'm gonna head over to Sullivans in the next day or so and see what they say.
 
I think you're referring to the BGE Conveggtor that turns it into a convection oven? No I'm not using it as I'm trying for Direct Grilling. I'm gonna head over to Sullivans in the next day or so and see what they say.
I don't know what BGE calls it, but it's essentially a ceramic plate that let's you use indirect heat for slow cooks. It doesn't sound like that's your issue based on your response. it's weird that you can't get it hot enough with both vents/dampers wide open. It should get screaming hot. The only other thing I can think of is that you're not letting the charcoal completely catch before closing the lid. Lump or briquette charcoal?
 
I don't know what BGE calls it, but it's essentially a ceramic plate that let's you use indirect heat for slow cooks. It doesn't sound like that's your issue based on your response. it's weird that you can't get it hot enough with both vents/dampers wide open. It should get screaming hot. The only other thing I can think of is that you're not letting the charcoal completely catch before closing the lid. Lump or briquette charcoal?
I'm using the BGE provided charcoal. Ive yet to even use the ceramic plate for indirect cooking. If I ever want to use my pizza stone I'm gonna need to regulate heat at higher temps.

I was able to cook the steaks, but there definately wasn't the sear I was looking for and it took longer than what I expected.
 
I'm using the BGE provided charcoal. Ive yet to even use the ceramic plate for indirect cooking. If I ever want to use my pizza stone I'm gonna need to regulate heat at higher temps.

I was able to cook the steaks, but there definately wasn't the sear I was looking for and it took longer than what I expected.

How long have you had the grill? I think i ran into a similar situation early on. Now I just need to make sure that the lower vent is clean. If I am going to sear at a really high temp or do a long smoke i clean the lower unit with a shop vac, shuffle the old charcoal around and knock all the ash out. Also may want to test a different charcoal I had some issue with "bad" charcoal from BGE switched it up for a bit then went back to BGE and it was fine. But I do remember early on I struggled to get the temp high enough to sear. Now it isn't an issue and actually I have forgotten I had started it a few times walked out and temps were around 900-1,000 YIKES...
 
I'm using the BGE provided charcoal. Ive yet to even use the ceramic plate for indirect cooking. If I ever want to use my pizza stone I'm gonna need to regulate heat at higher temps.

I was able to cook the steaks, but there definately wasn't the sear I was looking for and it took longer than what I expected.
How long have you had the grill? I think i ran into a similar situation early on. Now I just need to make sure that the lower vent is clean. If I am going to sear at a really high temp or do a long smoke i clean the lower unit with a shop vac, shuffle the old charcoal around and knock all the ash out. Also may want to test a different charcoal I had some issue with "bad" charcoal from BGE switched it up for a bit then went back to BGE and it was fine. But I do remember early on I struggled to get the temp high enough to sear. Now it isn't an issue and actually I have forgotten I had started it a few times walked out and temps were around 900-1,000 YIKES...
This. There is a BGE tool which is essentially a long piece of metal with a 90 degree bend at the end, that you use to rake the old charcoal around, knocking all the small pieces and ash into the bottom chamber. Then you use the tool to pull/scrape all the ash out the bottom vent.

It’s essential that air can flow through the bottom vent and up through the holes in the firebox to keep fueling the fire.

2 short-cuts that I’ve come across that might help you:

Fold up paper towels stick them in a Ziploc bag and saturate them with vegetable or peanut oil, rip them into long thin strips stick them down into the charcoal before lighting it, and use those as your fire starters-works way better than me BGE fire starting bricks.

If you have a leaf blower, you can use that to help force more air in through the bottom vent and get your fire going quicker. I noticed that on windy days my fire would get going a lot quicker because there was wind being forced into that bottom vent, and the leaf blower works even better. But make sure you do this BEFORE you put your meat on the grill, unless you like ash all over your steaks or burgers LOL.
 
I'm using the BGE provided charcoal. Ive yet to even use the ceramic plate for indirect cooking. If I ever want to use my pizza stone I'm gonna need to regulate heat at higher temps.

I was able to cook the steaks, but there definately wasn't the sear I was looking for and it took longer than what I expected.

Suggestions:
1)Buy a "Kick Ash Basket" for your BGE. Make sure to remove the bottom grate to allow better air flow. Just shake out the ash and small pieces with the basket before lighting up each time. https://www.kickashbasket.com/
2) Clean out the bottom chamber every 3-4 cooks (and always before indirect cooking). I tired of using the BGE raking tool and associated mess so I bought a small stainless steel ash vacuum at Lowes. a regular small shop vac may have sufficed as I don't vac until before a new cook but the ash vac wasn't much more expensive. Sure is easier (and more thorough) than using the BGE rake and ash pan and much less messy.
 
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