Big Green Egg grills are one of the more popular and best quality grills on the market today. You can use this grill to make a huger variety of foods and cook them to perfection.
But one thing that is on many people’s minds is, can you use a Big Green Egg as a smoker? Does it do a good job with this cooking practice?
Big Green Egg grills do make for good smokers. These grills are highly durable, they can withstand a wide temperature range, and they offer a large cooking surface, so you can use this grill to smoke almost any piece of meat perfectly. They are a bit expensive, but they are good at what they do.
What are the benefits and drawbacks that you need to know about Big Green Egg grills and using them for smoking? Is the Big Green Egg grill good for grilling your meat to perfection?
Let’s find out!
Is the Big Green Egg a Good Smoker?
The Big Green Egg has been around for a rather long time in the grilling industry. This grill has been in the market since the Big Green Egg company was founded in 1974.
The Big Green Egg company took advantage of their product’s unique and memorable shape to maximize their marketing efforts and increase their sales, which is part of the reason why they are still in business today.
From their great marketing strategies and their length of time in the industry, this company has gained some die-hard fans that like to go by the nickname Eggheads.
The grills this company makes are high quality. The company has stated that their grills are made from NASA-inspired ceramics that are vegan-friendly, 100% organic, and good enough to be used in Michelin star restaurants. This also makes their grills highly durable.
This has made the Big Green Egg grill regarded as the gold standard of kamado grills. The Big Green Egg grills are offered in many different color options and size options, so you can certainly find a grill that fits your yard.
So, even though the Big Green Egg has been around for so long and has many different colors and sizes to offer you, does the Big Green Egg Make for a good smoker?
The Big Green Egg’s legendary grills are ideal grills for smoking different cuts of meat. These grills can reach extremely high temperatures of 600 degrees Fahrenheit, and they can easily hold lower temperatures as low as 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
This makes the Big Green Egg a great grill that offers versatility as you can easily sear a steak or smoke a brisket using one. If you buy a larger Big Green Egg, you will have an 18-inch cooking surface to work with. This means you could easily smoke a 15 to 20 lbs brisket in this grill.
So, you can use a Big Green Egg as a smoker, and it works pretty well as a smoker. However, let’s go through some benefits and drawbacks of Big Green Eggs so you can easily make your decision about buying one yourself or not.
The Benefits of a Big Green Egg Grill
Now that you know more about the Big Green Egg grill and that it does surprisingly make for a great smoker, we can go over a few of the benefits of owning one of these grills, so you can weigh up buying one is worth it for you.
The Big Green Egg has some good advantages that can benefit you due to the material the grill is made from. Big Green Egg grills are made from construction-ceramic, which means that these grills are exceptionally durable and will be perfectly capable of handling everything you throw at them.
The ceramic shell covering the Big Green Eggs can withstand a large range of temperatures. This means that you won’t need to be concerned about your Big Green Egg cracking if you use it for smoking when it’s cold outside.
Another great benefit from the ceramic shell is that the heat is held inside the grill, so the outside stays relatively cool and easy to handle. So, if you buy a Big Green Egg for yourself, you will most likely have it for many years, if not decades, as this grill is that durable.
One benefit is that you can use a Big Green Egg grill as a stand-alone unit in your yard for smoking your favorite meats or for a good family BBQ. However, you can also incorporate one of these grills into a built-in outdoor kitchen if you have the space. Meaning this grill is exceedingly versatile in its capabilities.
The Big Green Egg grill offers you reliable temperature control as the grill has an easy-to-use air vent and thermometer built into the shell. You can easily observe the temperature of the inside of the grill while you are smoking your meat.
Another fantastic benefit of the Big Green Egg grills is that they have many customized accessories on offer to you as the customer at an additional fee, so you have the opportunity to really do a lot with this grill.
The Drawbacks of a Big Green Egg Grill
Even though the Big Green Egg grill has some excellent advantages that can most certainly benefit you while smoking your favorite cut of meat, the grill also has a few drawbacks that you should be informed of before buying one for yourself.
A few of the drawbacks of the Big Green Eggs can put a few people off buying the product. That is not to say that the product is bad or anything; people just have their preferences. So, let’s go over some of the drawbacks to see if you think a Big Green Egg grill will suit you for your smoking needs.
The first drawback to cover is that Big Green Egg grills tend to be more expensive when it comes to grills for backyard cooking. Even though these grills are of extremely good quality, they are a bit more expensive than they should be.
Their price can put some people off as you still need to buy the accessories you need for your smoking separately, which does mean that you will spend a lot of money on getting the Big Green Egg ready to be used as a smoker.
Even the smallest grill option in the Big Green Egg range can cost you quite a bit of money to get it smoking ready. The price of the grill and the accessories will depend on where you live and where you are buying everything from. However, these grills are generally more expensive than the other grill and smoker options.
Another drawback of these grills is that the Big Green Egg only offers a single-tier cooking system, which can make it slightly more difficult to smoke in the grill as you don’t have a place for two-step smoking.
This can also cause dissatisfaction with the product if you want to use your grill in an outdoor kitchen. It can seriously restrict the unit’s versatility for preparing full meals at once.
Is the Big Green Egg a Good Grill?
Now that we have established that the Big Green Egg is more than capable of being used as a smoker to smoke your favorite cuts of meat to perfection, and you know the benefits and drawbacks of this grill, you might be wondering if Big Green Eggs are good grills.
After all, if you are spending so much money on one piece of equipment, you need it to be versatile and good when used in other ways too, and not only good at smoking. Big Green Egg grills are just as good at grilling as they are at smoking your favorite meats.
As previously mentioned, these grills can reach temperatures up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit, which means this grill can easily grill your steaks, hamburger patties, and hotdogs to perfection at your next family BBQ.
So, if you buy a Big Green Egg grill for yourself, you can use this grill in many different ways and cook many other meals using the grill.
Considerations Before Buying a Big Green Egg
Big Green Eggs Seem to be the ultimate outdoor cooking appliance as you can use it for simple BBQs and use it to smoke your favorite meats over a long weekend perfectly.
You might already be ready to buy one of these grills as you like what you have read so far, and you won’t be bothered by the drawbacks that bothered some other people who bought this grill.
However, there are considerations you need to go through before you buy a Big Green Egg grill for yourself. These are neither drawbacks nor benefits of the Big Green Egg grill, but they are things that you will need to deal with and know about if you own one.
These considerations aren’t really a big deal to most people, but you still need to be aware of them, so you know exactly what you are getting yourself into if you go and buy a Big Green Egg for yourself.
Durability of Big Green Eggs
Even though the Big Green Egg is marketed and labeled as a highly durable grill that will last you years, it does have some problems you need to watch for.
Generally speaking, the Big Green Egg grill is more durable in the long run when compared to many other grills on the market today, and you won’t be required to replace various parts of the grill if you take care of the grill well and follow all the care instructions in the manual.
However, the shell of the grill is made from ceramics, which means you need to be extra careful with it when you are moving it around your yard or home as the ceramics could crack.
If the ceramic shell of the grill cracks, you may as well buy a new grill as the repair to the ceramics might cost the same as buying a new one.
So, in the grill structure itself, the Big Green Egg grills do have a slight flaw, but the Big Green Egg grills still tend to be more durable than others if you are careful when moving them.
The Grill Gates Of Big Green Eggs
When you are going to be using the Big Green Egg Grill for smoking, you will need to know about the grill gates of this particular grill as these could help or hinder the smoking process.
All the Big Green Egg grill options have grill grates made from stainless steel. Stainless steel is a high-quality material perfect for cooking and smoking meat, as stainless steel is great at retaining heat for perfectly cooked meat.
So, when you are smoking your meat, you need to keep the heat retention of this material in mind as it may decrease the length of time required to cook your piece of meat.
The one downside of the grill gates being made from stainless is that this material can be difficult to clean. This can impact the time it takes you to put the grill away after use as it can take half an hour to clean each grill with a good degreaser.
Is the Big Green Egg Worth It As a Smoker?
Deciding on whether a Big Green Egg grill suits your smoking needs can be a challenging task. So, here are guidelines that could help you make your decision.
If you are not on a budget, need a lot of cooking space as you will be smoking large pieces of meat, and you what a traditional ceramic grill that will be able to cook a large selection of foods and be used as a smoker, then the Big Green Egg grill is perfect for you.
If you are on a budget, like to grill hamburgers, and aren’t worried about cooking fancy meals or even the versatility of your appliance, then you should rather buy a regular smoker to smoke your meat as it will be cheaper.
Final Thoughts
Big Green Egg grills are the perfect grills for smoking as they can withstand extremely high temperatures, but they can also keep low temperatures steady and constant. This means you can smoke just about anything in a Big Green Egg grill, and it will come out perfectly smoked.
This grill has some benefits and disadvantages that you should consider before buying your own, but if you like what you see and the disadvantages don’t bother you, then go for it. Enjoy your perfectly smoked meat from your Big Green Egg!
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
--
If you want more backyard tips including recipes, how-tos and more, make sure you subscribe to my youtube channel