XXL Green Egg

[Richard Chrz]

I found a photo on Reddit that gave some insight into imagined capacity…

[tstalafuse]

FWIW, I made a "hover grate" using a 22in cooking grate with some stainless steel L brackets/nuts/bolts for around $100 that adds enough space to cook that many butts on my E6 (actually end up with about 175 square inches more than the BGE 2XL). On the plus side, alot less expensive, don't have to move grills back and forth, stores inside or underneath when not needed, and doesn't take up anymore patio space. Not as sexy, but neither am I.

[Richard Chrz]

tstalafuse most likely I’ll end up owning a second summit, but what you mentioned is what I’m trying to get away from, “creating space”, it’s too much work for me dexterity wise, and wheelchair wise to try and move second grates around to make space, it’s why I sold my 22 wsm. When I am doing a large bbq going forward, it will be single grate. I bet if you sat in a chair and looked at your bbq, and how you are going to move it and your chair at the same time, you might think differently.__

[Richard Chrz]

In total transparency, I’ve never even looked inside of egg to know how to build a fire in one, I’m doubtful on my ability to lift the grate if something goes sideways in a big cook, the lid on this is probably heavier than I want to lift up from a sitting position… I know and love my E6, but if I can manage a spot in our back yard that is level and works for my wife as well. And I can lift the grate and lid, I’d go bigger, But there are a lot of if’s…

[Huskee]

Do they deliver those by military helicopter?

[Richard Chrz]

lol, I think it is one of those moments that I would pay for white glove service!

[Thunder77]

Perfectly happy with my Primo XL

[Richard Chrz]

So, I’ve looked at those a bit too, they’re beautiful! . Curious how many Dino ribs you feel like you could cook at one smoke? (It’s how my brain measures space, that and pork shoulders)

This really is not a purchase that is for personal needs (way over kill for us), rather a smoker that would make it easier to continue to cook for my friend’s community efforts,, a local fire department and rescue team, bands kind of thing. Yet 1 smoker and efficient for my effort

[Thunder77]

Primo XL is 400 square inches of cooking area with the original grates. Add a second grate and you get much more area. I’m not sure about the Dino ribs. I have never cooked them. 3 pork butt roasts, 5 with second grate.

[jfmorris]

Richard Chrz did you ever get out and about, and go to somewhere that sells this big bad boy of a grill? Just curious.

Above you mentioned thinking about how the fire is built in an egg versus your Summit, and I wanted to share my thoughts on that.

I feel that the fire is likely down lower inside the body of most kamados, than in the Summit. Then again, I am basing that on Weber kettle experience, and how I know that SNS had to make a special low profile model to fit between the charcoal grate and the cooking grate on the Summit, implying that the space between charcoal and cooking grate is slightly less than on a kettle.

With the traditional ceramic kamado, the charcoal goes way down in the bottom, maybe 5-6 inches above the physical bottom of the ceramic body, typically filling a bowl or firebox, over a small cast iron grate, with ashes dropping below that. Your diffuser plate hanger above that, then the cooking grate above that. So for smoking, you build the fire, once it is established add a ceramic diffuser, and then add the cooking grate. Unlike the Summit, the ashes have to be cleaned out from the top, and it requires removing the diffuser, any basket contraption it hangs from, the cast iron grate in the bottom, then shoveling and sweeping or vacuuming ashes out of the bottom.

I think compared to the Summit, where the ashes go into a collection bucket using the ash sweeps, and the diffuser is fairly lightweight metal, it would be much more difficult to manage building the fire and then cleaning the ashes out the next day from a sitting position. The issue is that stuff is dropped down 18-20 inches into that ceramic body, and you gotta do it all from the top side. I think I would have difficulty doing it from a chair, unless it could lift me close and slightly above the grill, to reach down from an almost standing height. Vacuuming with a shop vac would probably be the easiest way to manage ash cleanup, but you still have to remove grates and ceramic diffusers first.

While that 29 inch cooking grate is attractive, I kinda think you already know you will end up with a 2nd Summit Kamado. The double walled metal construction is just much lighter and easier to handle than the ceramic kamados, and cleanup with the Weber ash sweeps and bucket underneath is an order of magnitude easier in my opinion. It is much quicker and easier to get my Weber Performer ready for the next cook than to get my SNS Kamado ready for the next cook. I know you manage to do amazing things but I am just thinking about how easily *I* could manage the SNS Kamado I have here if I was in a chair, versus the kettle. I could get it done I am sure, but it would be a lot more work.

[Richard Chrz]

Thank you jfmorris for taking the time to put all of that here. I have not had the opportunity to look at one in person yet. A quick dealer search, does not show an XXL in our area, but I will eventually get a chance to see one in person.

So, my chair does raise up (and I have also been working really hard on standing more while cooking, even if just leaning back against my chair while it is raised up, but I also do not always stand as standing or any walking quickly wears on my nerves and then my body starts spasming from the effort) then nothing gets done., and those setbacks keep me firmly planted in my chair or bed. Although I hope that my nerves continue to move in a positive as time passes, I am also very aware how quickly that can go the wrong way and I realize it will likely be a part of my life for a long time. So it always needs to be the primary consideration.

Quite frankly I’m getting lazier or tired and wore out as the days pass. Which is really one of the driving reasons in trying to find a larger cooker, managing one cook, rather than 2 summits at a time, to keep me engaged in cooking for friends and community,

I do cook out of my lower “Kamado zone” in my Summit more than I do from the higher grill zone, even when grilling (when grilling I remove the diffuser) . The ash sweep and catcher on the summit or kettles is definitely my preferred. I do have a little one gallon shop vac that I used for my 22 wsm. But what you mention on clean up is definitely a negative checkmark, and I’m more than a bit obsessive in grill cleaning and clean up.

[jfmorris]

Richard Chrz have you thought of other types of charcoal smokers other than a kamado style? I am thinking Hasty Bake, or the cabinet type vertical smokers. Or a gravity fed. Just brainstorming here…. The Hasty Bake will not be as efficient as a kamado, but they have some models with large grates and the charcoal pans and such slide out the side.

[Richard Chrz]

jfmorris interesting that you said cabinet smoker, as I had just started to consider those again yesterday, I still am not ruling out the egg, but again lot’s of if’s there. And I appreciate all of your thought into this.

[LA Pork Butt]

Richard Chrz I have a large Big Green Egg and a Big Green Egg MiniMax. They both cook differently. While the top diameter of the fire box is the same the depth of the fire box on the MiniMax is about half of that of the large. What that means is that the Large is better at low and slow and the mini Max is better at grilling and about the same at roasting. I am betting that on the XXL the proportional depth to diameter is closer to that of the MiniMax. So, if volume low and slow is your major consideration maybe jfmorris suggest of the Hasty Bake is worth considering even though the cold weather efficiency will be considerably lower.