Grilling is one of the best ways to cook and eat in the summertime. When the weather is nice and the sun is shining, cooking up a whole bunch of meat and veggies on the grill is just what the doctor ordered. The food is healthier and the clean-up is way simpler. The only problem with grills is there’s sort of only one thing you can do with them — grill and char your food. Don’t get me wrong, it’s delicious, but wouldn’t it be great if there were grilling machines that were a big more… versatile?
The Big Green Egg is the answer to our multipurpose grilling prayers, and it’s ready to elevate your summer cookout experience to a whole new level. If you’ve never heard of the Big Green Egg, don’t worry, we’ll explain everything about your new favorite cooking machine and make sure all the bases are thoroughly covered.
What is the Big Green Egg?
Well, the Big Green Egg, as the name so aptly puts it, is a large green egg-shaped charcoal grill. More specifically, it’s the #1 Kamado-style charcoal grill that’s been killing the grilling game since 1974. The Big Green Egg is a versatile cooking machine, with oven, smoking and grilling capabilities all packed into one machine. Depending on the accessories you buy you can also sautée a wok in your EGG, bake the perfect pizza crust or make a delicious rotisserie chicken all in the same device.
We got the chance to sit down with Big Green Egg‘s CEO and Managing Director Ardy Arani and hear all about the mission behind the Big Green Egg, what’s special about it and what he wants everyone to know about this versatile cooking machine.
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“The Big Green Egg is a modern evolution of an ancient tradition. If you go back in India it was called Tandoori cooking, in Asia it was called Kamado cooking, it involves using an earthen clay vessel usually with a dome and the idea is that the heat stays inside.”
The Big Green Egg is made of the same ceramic materials that have been treated with extreme heat and are extremely durable, unlike their older predecessors of high-heat, high-moisture cooking that had a tendency to crack.
Arani explains that “to this day [The Big Green Egg is] still the only cooker of that type using ceramic to that level” that can heat food to extreme temperatures in a way that’s easy for the user to maneuver and won’t produce food that’s less than superb.
How Big is the Big Green Egg?
The EGG comes in a bunch of different sizes depending on your allotted space and desired cooking needs. The sizes range from the MiniMax that’s about 13 inches long and can handle a 12-pound turkey all the way up to 2XL, the biggest EGG of them all, large enough to accommodate an entire suckling pig. Whether you’re looking for a gizmo to take camping or want a backyard staple that you’ll cook most if not all of your meals on, Big Green Egg has a machine and the accessories you need to get you there.
Once you find the EGG size that suits you, you’ll need to pick housing for it as well. It can sit on a simple handler web or you can upgrade to a designated table, or extended cooking island if your egg will be living in your backyard full-time.
The EGG is built to last, with a lifetime warranty and a whole community of users ready to offer advice, tips and back you up to any of the nay-sayers out there. The EGG couldn’t be easier to cook with — it heats up in minutes and will never jam, rust or wear out, you’ve got their word.
The EGG cooks food beautifully with the help of all-natural hickory oak lump charcoal that’s specific to their brand. You’ve got full temperature control, with an easy adjustment of their patented airflow convection system you can adjust your EGG between 150 and 750°F. The rEGGulator Vent Cap controls the airflow through the air-tight ceramic chamber base, and the Floor Draft Door controls the amount of air moving in and out of the Sealed Fire Box that uses 100% natural lump coal.
The EGG has grilling capabilities for the perfect sear at a wide range of temperatures easily, and you’ve got full control with two dampers designed to raise and lower the heat as needed seamlessly.
One of the best selling points of the Egg is its versatility. Arani explained how the Egg “is so versatile that you can grill, you can smoke, you can roast, you can bake, you can sear, we have chefs that will do a brisket at 200 degrees for sixteen hours or in the same vessel sear a steak at 800 degrees.”
The oven function happens via the convEGGtor indirect cooking method that can bake bread, cobblers, pizza and pies even better than your standard kitchen oven. It’s built to retain heat and moisture so your baked goods don’t dry out and keep the flavor packed inside.
“You can bake a turkey, you can bake a pie, you can grill vegetables so that’s really the Egg today. It’s this extremely versatile device that will cook just about anything to an incredibly high level.”
The Egg is one of the best cooking machines for today’s modern obsession with healthy, farm-to-table eating. The Egg is very organic-friendly in how it cooks in that it’s pure ceramic, runs on natural lump carbonized wood charcoal that contains no additives, fillers or anything else. The starters are also all-natural products, you’d never use lighter fluid or a briquette or other chemicals in an Egg, according to Arani.
He explains “really, it’s about the versatility, and how you cook becoming an extension of your lifestyle.” Cook and eat some of the highest quality and best tasting food of your life in this all-in-one, easy to use machine.