Big Green Egg BBQ

[Carrie76]

We need a new barbecue, I’ve been looking at the big green eggs. Does anyone have one are they worth the cost? There are a lot of replicas out there, I’m wondering if they’re as good?

I think they’re a bit hype and pretty wanky. I laugh a bit whenever I see someone has one. We have a business built around open fire cooking and smoking. We don’t have one and wouldn’t buy one.

I think they suit people who are going for a certain stylistic look for their outdoor area. Or people who are obsessive about the science around cooking. There are people who use all sorts of thermometer apps to real time plot the temperature of their food while it’s cooking. They make that sort of approach easier.

What is it you are actually wanting to cook? Burgers and sausages? You don’t need to spend ££££ on a bbq. If you are interested in smoking, I’d get a proper smoker. I think the claim to fame of these is you can cook bread in them or a pizza or whatever. Most people aren’t going to be cooking bread over charcoal on the like 10 hot days we have every year.

We do most of our cooking over fire on an open grill. No lid. Retails for £360. I can cook a whole chicken on there plus some grilled veg. Or sausages and burgers for probably 10 people. I’m a bit of a traditionalist so not sold on the new fangled stuff, but again I think it’s really aesthetics and status symbol that are their selling points.

We have one. Obvs husband wanted it.

I don’t get the big deal tbh. It’s heavy as fuck, expensive as fuck. Also, beware their ridiculous delivery: some bloke will deliver your £1000s barbecue BUT ONLY TO THE BOUNDARY OF YOUR PROPERTY. I had to do a cheeky £20 for the guy to move it from the pavement (in London!) to our front garden. My husband then got home and dealt with his toy, moving it piecemeal to the back garden. Same thing happened to a friend who bought one too.

We have one. Don’t live in the UK though. Husband is Iraqi, an avid BBQer and absolutely loves it. Cook far more than just BBQ on it. Have done beef wellington, chilli, pizzas - all sorts. He did look at a Komodo, but went with the BGE in the end, and loves it. They have replaced parts of it over the years free of charge. Absolutely no complaints.

Only if your going to use it for its true purpose as a smoker. If your just going to grill just stick to a normal bbq,
Wouldn’t get an egg tho, look at cheaper ranges. Komado Joe are good but there are many others too.

My (wealthy but not a status symbol type) friend has one, she does do the scientific stuff (experiments, measurements, notes for next time) and uses it for smoking and all sorts of things. Some of the food we've had from it has tasted amazing.

We (well DH) have the Aldi knock off version. We use it a lot in the summer for slow cooked roasts. We also occasionally use it as an extra oven for celebration meals. Christmas for a crowd is a lot easier if you do the turkey outside as you have the oven for everything else.
We also have a grill BBQ for burgers and steak. DHs cave man gene is strong.
Wouldn't pay for the real one though. Aldi was expensive enough.

We have the Aldi knock off one and love it. Wouldn’t pay Big Egg prices though.

Style over substance, I think. We know a few Aussies and South Africans who are serious about barbecue, and they don’t recommend them. We have a Weber kettle, which is also a great smoker, and it’s great - we grill several times a week spring to autumn and it’s also virtually smokeless and stink-free.