I’m still getting my sea legs with my new (to me) Big Green Egg. Last night I roasted a whole chicken per one Chris Sussman at The BBQ Buddha recommended in 2016 for BGEs. Really simple, straightforward, and (for BBQ), pretty fast. It’s called “Million Dollar Chicken”, and can be found here: https://thebbqbuddha.com/big-green-egg-million-dollar-chicken/
Based on taste, it’s aptly named–delicious. If there’re secrets to it, they are: (1) roasting the bird on thick slices of sourdough bread; (2) stuffing the cavity with lemon, garlic and thyme; (3) and making a basting sauce of creme fraiche, shallot, lemon and zest and harissa. After an hour in the Egg, the seasoned bird is twice basted with the sauce, which browns up beautifully. The bread slices soak up the drippings and the sauce, and become caramelized and quasi-charred. The chicken is then rested, parted, and drizzled with the reduced remaining sauce on top of the soaked, browned bread.
I substituted Basque pepper (Espelette) for the Harissa.
This one goes in the starting rotation for its lemony flavor, color, ease and simplicity. The only complication is that Sussman calls for flipping the bread slices at each baste, which requires moving and replacing the bird each time. But it’s well worth the smallkine trouble.
What are you cooking (or looking forward to) for Memorial Day and summer 2024?
That looks like a winner for a chicken dinner😆
I think I’ll go with the standard lemon marinated ‘grilled on the barbie’ cut up chicken (lemon slices and juice, fresh ground black pepper, maybe some garlic and oregano) and either mom’s potato salad made by the roomate or the Italian baked potato casserole I’ve made for years. Gone from the menu will be my favorite cole slaw (cabbage is no a no-no now). Thinking of a corn cake or a non wheat strawberry short cake kinda dessert. No family gathering this year. We’ve had sooooo much rain, which is great, dinner might be an indoor thing this year.
I will be in a similar boat when we start tackling our Primo XL in July & August. I’ll probably start with ‘easy’ or easier things like thick steaks, spatchcocked chickens (that recipe sounds incredible, btw), pork souvlaki, burgers…
Help a newb out here… Are there any practical differences between a Primo and a BGE? I know the Egg is round and the Primo ovoid, but can one do anything the other can’t? What made you choose the Primo?
Easy. When I was in the market for a charcoal grill, but perhaps also a pizza oven & a new smoker, I think I asked here for recommendations, as well as in a cooking group I run on Facebook.
A member (now friend ) mentioned a used Primo XL that she was trying to get rid of FOR FREE, as she hadn’t used it since her partner died 5 years ago.
Transportation was a bit of a bitch, but how do you say ‘no’ to a free grill? I also checked out a few youtube videos where the BGE goes up against the Primo, and peeps seemed to like the Primo better.
The main difference seems to be more ease for low and slow roasting / smoking, as it apparently makes it easier when you two different heat zones in an oval vs. a circle.
I’m a total newb myself, still haven’t gotten to playing around with it. The size is kinda ludicrous for just the two of us, but it’ll come in handy if we ever need to roast 2 turkeys at once, or 4 chickens, or grill 20 (?) burgers for a crowd
The ovoid shape of the Primo appeals to me. I’m not sure, though, how much more area/distance they offer over a round. Comparing L models, Primo claims to have 300 sq inches, and the L egg supposedly has 270.
From what I’ve seen, the optional Primo pizza oven, rotisserie, kebab, etc. accessories are better-designed.
I mostly do pork products in my cookers (butts for pulling and spares I cut down to St Louis, plus char siu out of boneless country-style ribs for Chinese applications), but a recent Cook’s Country article and episode got me hankering to try beef plate ribs. I ordered a couple of racks (3 bones each) from a friendly meat purveyor, rubbed them up with a basic Dalmatian rub, and fired them up in a Weber kettle per the CC instructions. Five hours later, this was the result:
When I removed it from the bone, the meat weighed in at 2 lbs. Spawn1 said, "I think I can eat a whole one," then proceeded to gorge himself until he'd eaten just over half a rib. Mrs. ricepad and I split a rib, and we were stuffed. We now had little doubt why they call these "dino ribs". The leftovers were vacuum sealed (sans bones) for some later use.
Mrs. ricepad said she enjoyed it much more than any of my pork ribs, but she hasn’t seen the price tag for the two racks yet! Due to the cost and their sheer mass, I may not try plate ribs again unless I’m smoking for eight people or more, but our local Costcos sometimes sell single racks of beef short ribs that aren’t quite as meaty, and at fewer bones (four vs six) per package, are a much more manageable size for us.
ETA: It’s hard to tell from the photo, but there was a substantial smoke ring all around. I used Kingsford Competition briquets, and some chunks of apple wood for smoke from a tree we cut down a few years ago.
Today I found a local retailer who carries a plethora of the BGE-branded accessories, and stocks the XXL unit. The add-ons are obscenely expensive, and there are SO many, it’s off-putting.
For grilling something like those ribeyes, what grate height do you like? I see you can grill low, a/k/a “cowboy”, higher at the Plate Setter level, or even higher up at the gasket (with the Eggstender). You have me wanting to try steak!
The salesman at the retailer was telling me about doing his Thanksgiving turkey in his Egg. I have my 2023 “spare” turkey still hogging room in my freezer, so I think I’ll trial-run that soon, too.
For steaks, I like the lowest grate setting, lid open, with almost white coals. I like to brush the steaks with olive oil after turning, which usually leads to a few flames licking the meat (a good thing, in my book).
OT, if doing something like a tri-tip at low temp, I pefer a raised grate, lid closed. No flames.
I ran out of char siu in the freezer, so I made some more to restock. Started with about 12 lbs of boneless country style ribs and ended up with three freezer bags (gallon size) of char siu, which should last about 6-8 months.
Tomorrow I’m going to bbq a couple of bone-in pork butts using a rub from Jamison & Jamison’s book to restock my depleted freezer supply of pulled pork.
) mentioned a used Primo XL that she was trying to get rid of FOR FREE, as she hadn’t used it since her partner died 5 years ago.
