New to Green Egg

[Compressor59]

I have a large BGE I purchased used from a friend at church for a decent price. I've done a ew cooks and have a pretty good handle on controlling temperature and am very happy with how long it will maintain temperatures.
This past weekend I did a pork butt and the pull was great but it has no smoke flavor to it. I started it out with some chunks of oak in with the lump charcoal but like I said no smoke flavor.
Whats the secret?

 

[flatbroke]

only thing I know about green eggs are don't eat them with ham

 

[Inscrutable]

only thing I know about green eggs are don't eat them with ham

But I know you will like it.
Sincerely
Sam-I-Am

 

[Inscrutable]

I have a large BGE I purchased used from a friend at church for a decent price. I've done a ew cooks and have a pretty good handle on controlling temperature and am very happy with how long it will maintain temperatures.
This past weekend I did a pork butt and the pull was great but it has no smoke flavor to it. I started it out with some chunks of oak in with the lump charcoal but like I said no smoke flavor.
Whats the secret?

I’ve found I need to sprinkle in some chunks/chips every so often. A bit of a pain having to lift the grate and drop into the gaps in the plate setter.
Just got an AMAZN tray to use in my electric smoker and will be trying it in the egg. Probably a tube would be better than the tray given relatively limited real estate.

I do however love that it holds temps rock solid.

 

[Jonok]

we had a "California Kamado" that was like 7' high and weighed nearly a ton. It had a gas ignitor insert that fit into the space for the lower air intake. I eventually just chucked a couple of sticks of white oak firewood on top of the pile of natural charcoal that accumulated on the bottom grate before each cook. Once it was lit, you could shut off the ignitor, and dial your temperature with judicious attention to inlet and outlet vents. Just the couple sticks of white oak made for all the smoke you wanted over a 12 hr cook.

 

[motocrash]

Welcome to the forum.
Oak is mild compared to most all other nut woods.Either try some hickory next time and see if it suits your tastes,or use more oak chunks.Hickory's what most use for butts/pork in general.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Like motocrash says, Oak is the least flavored wood to use for smoke flavor. Use large chunks of Hickory and place them in your lump charcoal pile around where you start the fire. You can also get some Pecan, Cherry, Peach and Mesquite chunks and see how you like those flavors with other things. I really like an Pecan and Cherry blend for ribs and Peach works well for poultry, just don't use very much, poultry really soaks up the smoke flavor. Hard to beat Mesquite for steaks. You will catch on to your desired flavor profile quickly enough.

 

[bluebombersfan]

In my egg I will start with some wood chunks in the charcoal and if I want more smoke I will sprinkle some pellets in during the cook.

 

[Jonok]

+1 on peach.
Even with a mismanaged fire and underburned peach flavor wood, it can smell really smoky, but doesn’t get bitter.

 

[dr k]

I’ve found I need to sprinkle in some chunks/chips every so often. A bit of a pain having to lift the grate and drop into the gaps in the plate setter.
Just got an AMAZN tray to use in my electric smoker and will be trying it in the egg. Probably a tube would be better than the tray given relatively limited real estate.

I do however love that it holds temps rock solid.

I put a small pile of lit charcoal in the center and unlit around it and scatter small chunks to over lap lit and unlit. I have a pellet AMNPS tray for the MES mailbox mod and 12" AMNTS tube to grill with. I gave my Brinkmann tank of a grill that's in my avatar to my buddy a couple weeks ago and I'll stick with my Akorn Big Red Kamado Kooker I've had for seven years and Mes. I have culled all my grills/smokers down to these two.

I can fully open the Kamado vent in the ash pan or release the lever locks and let it hang by the center post or remove it completely for cold smoking with the AMNPS depending on wind. So cold smoking is no problem with the AMNPS it's hot smoking that maybe challenging on placing the AMNTS tube and still finding if it can get enough air to stay lit in low airflow insulated Kamados. I have a cured boneless pork loin for back bacon that is ready to be smoked. I think I'll cold smoke with Pecan pellets in the AMNPS tray since it's a lighter smoke than with the tube and hot smoke to finish with Cherry pieces/chunks. I will see if the tube can be placed at the platter setter level to the side. My platter setter is a charcoal grate with a 15" pizza stone on it. I know a full tube would be too much smoke but maybe filling half way and holding sideways and shaking to level pellets maybe best. I'll have to test it before hot smoking food with it in the Kamado. Since Kamados are a vertical layered smoker this tube needs to be flawless or disassembling an reassembling to get smoke is a deal breaker.

 

[motocrash]

I'm surprised @Holly2015 hasn't chimed in,he's an Egghead.

 

[GuitarKidd]

Maybe I can help. I just signed up, but have had my BGE now for 5 years. Wood choice, IMO, is about flavor preference, but as long as you using enough wood, you should be able to get a nice smoke flavor.

Keep in mind too, that wood chunks/chips will burn faster than the lump charcoal, so you may need to add some wood over the course of a 6-8 hour cook. It's not uncommon to remove the meat and add wood to the BGE. You may also need to stir up the coals and wood too. This helps to make sure you're using all the fuel in the BGE, but also this will usually start to generate smoke as you introduce un-burnt wood/charcoal to the fire.
To help smoke adhere to the meat and give it that nice bark, spritz it every 45-45 minutes with apple cider vinegar or some other spritz of choice.
On pork butts make sure you're not wrapping too early as well.

 

[GuitarKidd]

I've never had to add wood to the BGE if you properly stage the lumps chunks or sticks as you are laying in the charcoal.

The charcoal will burn from the center down then outwards. If you stage the wood as the charcoal burns the fire will continually encounter a new piece of wood and continue to give off flavorful smoke for a very long duration.

If you lay in chunks on top of the charcoal it will burn off very fast.

Yep, that's how wood and charcoal should be laid, and it probably depends on the mix of charcoal and wood too.

The brisket I just smoked over the weekend was 14 hours. On long smokes, I've always had to add some wood/charcoal.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Adding wood after 4hrs is just a waste of time, The meat has soaked up all it is going to in about the first 3 hrs, it's not going to take but very little more smoke flavor, after that. As stated, just lay your wood chunks around the pile, mixed in with your lump and start the pile in the center, with a couple of chinks right next to the fire.

 

[Compressor59]

Thanks for all the info. I did add wood at the bottom but not enough. The main reason I picked this egg up was for doing long cooks and not babysitting it. I'm very impressed with how the heat is managed with so little fuel. I have a reverse flow smoker that I built that works great but for long cooks it is labor intensive.

 

[bluewhisper]

I admit I don't know much about the eggs. I've watched someone run one, but I wasn't close enough to see all the management.

Earlier today I was in a garden store, and they had a display of eggs. I didn't know they came in so many sizes. I saw some that were much smaller than I've seen before. Still some $$$.

I don't know how to run them. I need to be an assistant and watch how to fuel them and monitor them, etc.

 

[retfr8flyr]

I admit I don't know much about the eggs. I've watched someone run one, but I wasn't close enough to see all the management.

Earlier today I was in a garden store, and they had a display of eggs. I didn't know they came in so many sizes. I saw some that were much smaller than I've seen before. Still some $$$.

I don't know how to run them. I need to be an assistant and watch how to fuel them and monitor them, etc.

It's very easy and there are lots of youtube videos on everything you would need to know. Jump in and start enjoying Kamado cooking, it's great. Just get a Kamado Joe instead of the BGE, better bang for your buck.