Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
I am trying to get this to at least 80-20 for the XL. I was faced with the same decision a couple of years ago. My dealer even said the large would be enough for my usage, but I went for the XL. It is simply more versatile. You can do lots of small cooks on the same load of lump, so that is not a disadvantage, but you can sure do a lot more bigger cooks than on the large, and you don't run the risk of things over hanging the protection of the platesetter as much as on a large. I have a very good gas grill and a PBC (which is a rib making machine!) but I still enjoy the real estate of the XL. And I don't mean to argue with Dave, but the Egg is an excellent smoker. Maybe a tad less efficient than a dedicated wood burner, but easily the equal of anything else if you know what you are doing. If the size of your BBQ area and your wallet permit, you will never regret buying the XL.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
One thing the XL advocates never mention is more space equals more lump. The large has the most readily available accessories at a better price point (hint: the Joetisserie is awesome). After I had my large for over a year, I actually went to a small so I could spend less money on the lump, and less time getting my hands on it. You do want to have the fire box full of lump to cook on a kamado with few exceptions. I am willing to burn $ 8 worth of lump on $ 5 worth of meat, but very seldom have wished I had a bigger kamado. I have cooked on the XL a handful of times doing cooking demo's and never regretted the large. I will conclude with the same advice I have given many times. When buying an Egg, KJ, Primo, Vision, Akorn, or any outdoor cooker, buy the one which will never make you wish you had gotten the other one you were eyeing.
allsid Obviously an XL will hold more lump than the smaller models but it doesn't really use significantly more lump when used for smoking. It might use a bit more lump when grilling but not really a huge difference since you can close the vents to kill the fire and save the remaining lump for next time.
XL! Unless money is a serious object. The "burns more lump" is almost irrelevant, especially at low smoking temps. As others have noted, if you don't need the space sometimes, or most of time, the XL will still be fine. When you do need more space, the L just won't be adequate.
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
******************************************** Grills/Smokers/Fryers Big Green Egg (Large) X3
Blackstone 36" Outdoor Griddle 4-Burner
Burch Barrel V-1 Karubeque C-60 Kamado Joe Jr. (Black) Lodge L410 Hibachi Pit Barrel Cooker Pit Barrel Cooker 2.0
Pit Barrel PBX
R&V Works FF2-R-ST 4-Gallon Fryer *******************************************. Thermometers
FireBoard (Base Package)
Thermoworks ThermaPen (Red)
Thermoworks MK4 (Orange)
********************************* Accessories Big Green Egg Plate Setter
Benzomatic TS800 High Temp Torch X 2 Bayou Classic 44 qt Stainless Stock Pot
Bayou Classic 35K BTU Burner Eggspander Kit X2 Finex Cat Iron Line FireBoard Drive Lots and Lots of Griswold Cast Iron Grill Grates Joule Water Circulator
KBQ Fire Grate Kick Ash Basket (KAB) X4 Lots of Lodge Cast Iron Husky 6 Drawer BBQ Equipment Cabinet Large Vortex Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum Marquette Castings No. 13 (First Run) Smithey No. 12 Smokeware Chimney Cap X 3 Stargazer No.10, 12 ******************************** Fuel FOGO Priemium Lump Charcoal Kingsford Blue and White B&B Charcoal Apple, Cherry & Oak Log splits for the C-60 ************************************************* Cutlery Buck 119 Special
Cuda 7' Fillet Knife Dexter 12" Brisket Sword Global Shun Wusthof ********** Next Major Purchase Lone Star Grillz 24 X 48 Offset
I have a large BGE and a Kamado Joe Jr. I love them both. I live alone, so originally, I bought the KJ Jr. because I wanted to save on lump when I was doing a small cool or a quick sear. The KJ Jr does use less lump, but I find myself using the BGE much more often.
When I first started looking, I was going to buy an XL, but the BGE I ended up buying was on CL for $400.00/w grilling center, I couldn't pass it up. There are times I wish I had an XL, but not that much. As far as I am concerned, if you can fit whole packer in the unit, and you can with the large BGE, you are good to go. That being said, an XL would be nice too. If you are going to need the extra space 20% or more of the time you cook, get the XL. Otherwise, I'd with the Large BGE.
Spinaker After doing some more shopping I am going to go Kamado Joe jr. tad taller, tad more space and a tad lighter. Comes with the place setter. Based on what I have seen KJ is a little better fit and finish than bge.
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
Whatever you decide to get you definitely need to get a charcoal basket for it. It make ash clean up a breeze plus it helps on wasting your lump charcoal.
Fer shure. The Kickash basket and the conveggtor are the two mandatory accessories IMO, plus extra shelves/racks if the need arises.The little, expensive ash scooper is a waste of money. I use a fireplace tool to clean out ash. Most BGE accessories are overpriced and not necessary.
Great advise here. I had a medium BGE and loved it. Because of a deal I couldn’t pass up I’ve upgraded to a KJ Classic. My circumstances are similar to yours mostly for two of us. The medium was fine but with larger cuts, brisket etc I always wanted a little more room. Now that I have the larger KJ I couldn’t imagine going back. That being said with the larger cooker I don’t feel I use more lump because of how great they are at being able to shut down when the food is done to save the unburned lump for another day. Except for the extra cost of accessories I cannot imagine going XL would cause you to wake up one day saying "what the hell was I thinking I should have gone smaller?" Just my 2 cents. Either way your in for some fun times and great smoked, seared, or baked live fire cooking. Also don’t forget to get a smoke pot it will change your life.
I'm going out on a limb here and postulate that a given amount of heat for a given amount of time would take an equivalent amount of fuel regardless of the size of the vessel, with small differences due to heat soaking a larger volume. If someone with a better understanding of thermodynamics (VERY LARGE population!) would care to step in on this, it might be beneficial to us all. fzxdoc, maybe you can tear yourself away from the PBC thread?
Thanks, everybody. The discussion's been really helpful. I've shifted over the past few days, and I'm leaning about 80% towards getting the XL right now -- I'll make the final decision on Monday when I fax in my order form.
So I pulled the trigger on ordering the XL this morning. Now I just have to wait until May 5 (DizzyFest, the EggFest in Northern Virginia) to get it. Thanks for all the advice!
You'll likely be pleased with your XL. I have a L and love it. The only limitation I see on the XL is the height of the dome, but you make up for that with more grate space.
I have had a large bge and the pit boss from costco which is larger, not as good quality as the bge. I never felt I needed a XL the pit boss was bigger and did not seem to cook as uniform also took longer to heat up. My opinion is the large is the perfect size. However I never owned or cooked on a bge XL.
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