I'm not the best at barbecuing, but I am not bad. People seem to really like my cooking. I have 0 problems with getting a decent bark and smoke ring on everything I have cooked with... except the egg. It also doesn't have enough smoke flavor for my taste. Cooks good, easy, but I can't get it like I like it. I have had it roughly 5-6 months.

I cook with oak lump charcoal. I have tried oak chips - they burned too quickly. I am using the oak chunks. They seem to be doing okay. I do get smoke but not much. The only thing I havent tried is soaking the wood first.

Tips?

Don't get me wrong, everything I have cooked has turned out ok (the exception of a brisket that got overcooked when the wind picked up over night and I way overcooked it). Just, not like I like.

I do have two offset smokers, but not at the house. I love them both, but damn the egg is so much easier.

Use oak chips. Soak them in water for an hour or so. When you put them in your egg, put them around the edges of your charcoal with your fire started in the middle. They'll last much longer and produce more smoke.

Here is my opinion…

First off the smoke ring…screw it. It's purely looks and doesn't matter to anyone that knows what they are doing Thats not even on the list of things that matter. The smoke profile that you are missing is just because a ceramic smoker burns very clean and also has something to do with the ring you aren't seeing. There is just not a lot of smoke to be had and personally I like that. But when I wanted more smoke, I simply added CHUNKS of wood to the smoker coal bed, made my fire in the very middle and arranged the chunk of wood from center to the outside so they'd burn as the fire spread during the cook.

If you want more smoke than that, you'll have to use the stick burner. I have a big offset with a vertical on it and a Primo XL. I use both depending what I'm cooking and what I want to accomplish. The people eating the food are your best judges. If they like what you do, you have nothing to fix. But I do agree the ceramic is easy and i think it does a fine job.

This is your answer-

I don't get great results with brisket on the BGE. It's usually due to temp issues. The basic thermometer on that thing is worthless.

Soaking wood chunks helps with the smoke issue. But nothing beats an offset smoker.

Believe it or not all of this was cooked on a Blaze NG Grill with an Amaze-n smoke tube with pellets, with the lid shut. People are in disbelief when they eat some of my stuff that it wasn't cooked on my stick burner or LGE

The bark comes from smoke sticking to moisture.

I almost always have a foil pan on the platesetter (to make the cook indirect), and I'd pour a light beer or water/apple juice/vinegar in it to help the bark. I figured out some of my foil pans were too tall and restricted airflow under briskets.

If you're doing the same try to have a shorter foil pan under the brisket, maybe make a shorter one with some foil. Only pour in half a beer! Any more than that and you're keeping a spot of your grill too cool. Use some pecan/apple/hickory chunks (I don't use mesquite in case there's some left when I do a chicken or pork) - there's a few websites who think they proved soaking them in water doesn't do much. You may want to spritz/spray the meat with a water/vinegar mix during the first few hours to help the bark. If you have enough wood chunks you'll have a smoke ring.

Don't soak anything. You get steam, not smoke.

Smoke almost exclusively on my egg. I get great bark, great smoke rings. What works for me is adding a large piece of cut, cured wood in the middle of the bowl. Think a big loaf of bread cut in half. Stand it upright, then line the bowl with lump around it. The bigger the pieces, the better, then fill in the gaps with smaller pieces. If you want to mix woods, slice them horizontally and stack them. Maybe 5-6in thick pieces. I've done this with oak/hickory before, but usually just use oak. Smaller pieces burn off too quickly.

When you wrap with paper or foil, you're not getting any more smoke anyway, so just top off the lump as needed.

Your prep also helps with bark. Lots of coarse black pepper. Some people add coffee or even brown sugar. Spritzing every hour or so helps. I tend to use beef broth.

I loved my egg. But brisket never was good..always made a tick crust on the bottom - even with the heat deflecting insert.

Like the broth idea. Hadn't seen or thought of that. I can't stand sweet meat (insert joke here). Not a fan of sweet and sour, honey baked ham, etc. And of course, no sauce. That is why I won't do vinegar or brown sugar. My personal preference.

I might try the wood stacking suggestion but think I will try that smoke tube first. Not quite sure how that is going to work after looking at the video. I guess you just place the tube directly on the coals or you won't ever get any smoke.

I'll figure it out. Have done so with every pit I have ever had. Thanks for the responses. I have some things to try now.

I have always just added 8-9 wood chunks and always get a great bark and lots of smoke. I never soak my chunks. You are just steaming when you do that. I generally smoke at 225 for about 12 hours then I'll check to see if I'm going to wrap in butcher paper or just let it ride.

Hoosegow said:

---

Like the broth idea. Hadn't seen or thought of that. I can't stand sweet meat (insert joke here). Not a fan of sweet and sour, honey baked ham, etc. And of course, no sauce. That is why I won't do vinegar or brown sugar. My personal preference.

I might try the wood stacking suggestion but think I will try that smoke tube first. Not quite sure how that is going to work after looking at the video. I guess you just place the tube directly on the coals or you won't ever get any smoke.

I'll figure it out. Have done so with every pit I have ever had. Thanks for the responses. I have some things to try now.

---

Note - it's not the white smoke you want, it's the "blue" or clear smoke. To me, pellets burn too fast, but it's better than nothing.

Big chunks work as well, but I like them toward the bottom of the bowl. Thick, vertical stacks always worked best just for efficiency of space. You can start with lots of black pepper and spritzing every hour or so. Lots of places split the point and the flat for you, so you can practice with smaller cuts and not blow $100+ "experimenting". I know HEB does this for you. Or the tried & true pork shoulder works well also.

My personal favorite are smoked chuck roasts ("Chuckies"). Cook about as long as a shoulder: 6-8 hours

• Prep and coat like you would a brisket
• Spritz, all of it. Cook open. Not covered
• When it hits 165+, add to a foil pan with an inch or so of beef broth, a rough-cut onion, and I like either diced, hatch chilis or spicy banana peppers
• Cover with foil - ride it out until it hits 203+
• Pour out all the veggies/broth and save
• Shred chuckie like you would pork, add back in broth/veggies to taste
• Nothing better for sammiches. Like pot-roast brisket. Great for tacos also

I have both a stick burner and a BGE and have just accepted that while the egg makes perfectly good bbq, it just won't quite fully equal the elevated level that the stick burner gets for flavor/taste. I don't hate on anybody cooking with pellets, charcoal, whatever. There just is a better taste to a well cooked piece of meat off a stick burner that can't be matched.

I think it's noteworthy that even in Aaron Franklin's third book, Franklin Smoke, he has an entire section dedicated to BGE brisket, that comes after his main section on how to cook brisket. He makes several modifications to the egg to get a better product. I didn't think it was worth the time or effort to try them out myself, but he does several things that he claims gets a ceramic brisket closer in taste to an offset (but still says it's not quite the same).

For better bark, make sure you're getting a good layer of seasoning on the brisket with plenty of pepper and don't wrap too early, or even at all. I usually will use the foil boat wrap on briskets in the BGE as it helps protect the bottom from getting too crispy, and lets the bark keep building on top. Look up a YouTube video if you aren't familiar with that method.

I also agree to forget about the smoke ring, it's just an aesthetic thing that doesn't really correlate much with actual smoke taste. Throw the brisket on cold, straight out of the fridge, don't let it warm up any before the cook, and that'll help with ring development if it's really bothering you.

I use chunks. Hickory. Pecan. Apple. Whatever you want. But chunks added after I start the fire and before I put on the plate setter as the temps stabilize.

From personal experience I can never get bbq on the BGE to taste like good offset bbq. Meat is just too close to the charcoal IMO. Always has a charcoal taste to me that overpowers any smoke flavor you are trying to get.

I always point people towards the weber smokey mountain. Its cheap, and just works man.

Which charcoal are you using? I mostly use the kamado joe brand.

I can get a brisket just right but I've made a bunch and kept tweaking.

Prep it the night before then wrap in foil. I coat in mustard then a lot of coarse salt and pepper plus a bit of Montreal steak seasoning.

Make sure the bottom of the egg is clean. I use a kick ash basket. I think it helps air flow but makes cleaning easier. Put in a big load of charcoal. Then I sprinkle in a Dixie cup of treager pellets plus several large pecan chunks. Get the fire going and burn off most of the gray smoke and get the temp stable around 250. I use a temp controller.

I also use a water pan on top of the plate. I found a pan that's fairly thin and just a bit smaller than the plate. I don't refill it.

Put the brisket on fat side down with a probe in the thickest part. Then as long as there's no issues, don't open until the meat temp is over 195 then probe it to see if it's done. Most of the time 202 seems like the magic number.

I don't wrap while cooking. I've tried foil and pink paper but I get better results without it. But when you're done, pull it, wrap in foil and an old towel then put it in a cooler.

That works for me. I get great feedback. Smoke ring is hit or miss. I feel like it's the meat or the weather but oh well. Then some briskets just don't turn out the same but rarely bad for any grade. If you get one that's not as great then make chopped beef.

I cook on a kamado joe which is basically the same as the BGE. There are a few things I do yo try and enhance the smoke flavor.

1. I put 2 large oak chunks in the bottom. One in the front and the other in the back. Then cover with lump charcoal.

2. I use a double indirect setup. Ceramic plate just above the coals. Then I add another ceramic plate a few inches above that. Then the grill grates.

3. I don't use a water pan but that is only because the Houston air has plenty of water in it already. If I were in a dryer climate I would.

4. After about 2hr I add wood chips into the ash pan. As the hot coals drop they get the chips going and add more smoke.

5. I have a temp controller that uses a fan to maintain an exact temperature. Once I get up to temp I close the top vent until there is about 1/4" open on each vent area.

This method will burn more of my charcoal and add time to the cook vs just a single ceramic plate, but I think I get more smoke flavor.

Queso1 said:

---

I loved my egg. But brisket never was good..always made a tick crust on the bottom - even with the heat deflecting insert.

---

Same here. Even tried bringing it down to 200 for the duration prior to wrapping and still got the crust.

Nm.

Howdy, been a BGE man since they came out, what 20 yrs, makes me feel old, and I am. I agree with all above about the BGE and it not being a stick smoker. That said, for me at this age the ease of use vs. stick smoker is the overriding factor.

To each their own and I'm not being critical, but some of y'all really know how to ruin a brisket. Mustard? Sugar? Sauce?

Just poking fun. I'm a salt and pepper guy. Let the cooking do the talking. Just with my BGE, not been all that proud of what my cooking has been saying.

Gonna try some things mentioned.

Mark and others - I figure you are probably on point with what I'm thinking. It will never be as good as my stick burner, but the ease of cooking sure can make up for that. Same thing with my old pellet grill. Damn good, but just not as good.

In my outdoor kitchen/my back yard I have- an XL-BGE, an electric smoker, a stick burner on a trailer, a NG built in Blaze Grill, a built in Blaze flat top, a huge air fryer, a large double well deep fryer and a big easy, if it swims, flies or walks we can cook it! We use all of these at least once a month.

All of them have their specific uses and some of them crossover, we aren't snobs about it. Cooked Korean BBQ thighs on the gas grill last night and they were amazing!