What once began in the Far East as a simple steamer to cook rice in, has now evolved into one of the most versatile cooking tools of our time. Meet the Big Green Egg.

Text: Gerben Bijpost, Elise Glaudemans Photography: Big Green Egg

Kamado (stoof) is the Japanese word under which the originally Chinese device eventually began its advance around the world. First from China to Korea and Japan. Later, after World War II, via US soldiers to the United States - where the device is mainly used as a regular barbecue. And only fairly recently to Europe. The latter all the way through the Netherlands. Wessel Buddingh, owner of Big Green Egg Europe, was alerted to the device and saw a use for it.

Iconic

"That was around 1999. A relation had brought an EGG to the Netherlands from America. Initially I was told it would be 'a kind of barbecue' and I wasn't immediately interested in that. But when I saw it and started cooking with it, I was sold. This was something completely different. This was a lifestyle product, super versatile and much more than a barbecue. At the time, I saw it mainly as a 'by-product' for our company (architectural firm and importer of luxury bricks, GB). That beautiful iconic shape, the simplicity, the high-quality ceramics... That appealed to me. Money was not a driving force. For me, it was mainly as a fun niche product to market. So I flew to America and a year later the first container full of EGGs arrived in the Netherlands."

Duration

But then the challenge really began. Because how do you market such a relatively expensive EGG, when you can buy a BBQ at any garden centre for a few tenner? "The first few years were difficult. We walked around a lot of lifestyle events and gave demonstrations. To show that this was something completely different from an ordinary barbecue. Only a small club of people found it interesting and had the money for it. But there weren't many of them, because little was known about the product.

Until about 11 years ago Jonnie Boer of De Librije (*** restaurant in Zwolle, GB) came across the Big Green Egg. He wanted to bring back grilling, barbecuing in his kitchen and was very enthusiastic about it. He then bought a bunch of Minis and I sponsored a few, which in turn were placed with fellow chefs. With that, we suddenly found ourselves in a completely different market. Not just that of top restaurants, but also of 'foodies', lovers of sophisticated cooking. And we gained access to new dealers. From then on, things started to grow enormously. We now serve more than 40 European countries from De Lier."

Fakes

With that success also came the cheaper competitors, the imitation EGGs. "Imitation does not exist, because they are all real. But not the same. Big Green Egg is made of patented ceramic, developed by NASA, and produced in Mexico. Most other brands you see on the market come from China. We are the only one to give a lifetime guarantee. The composition and density of our ceramic is also much higher quality. This is important, because it determines how well it is able to keep the heat in the pot. You can already feel that when you touch the outside. The hotter it is, the more heat you lose. And thus a piece of control over the cooking process. Good quality is also important to be able to heat it up to great heat.

Even in winter!

And you can leave it outside all year, ready for use. At most, put a cover over it. But don't drive it into the shed, because out of sight is out of mind. Actually, you should see it winking at you continuously from the terrace, so that you will use it a lot. We use it all year round. Favourites? I love seafood. But a good chicken from France is not to be sneezed at either. Or Côte de Boeuf. And in winter, beautiful vegetables like celeriac. And I make the children very happy with a pizza or a juicy Black Angus-citizen."

For real enthusiasts

So will every household in the Netherlands soon have a Big Green Egg? "No, because the Big Green Egg will not push the traditional barbecue out of the market. The target groups are different. People who have an ordinary BBQ just buy their stuff -meat, fish, vegetables, charcoal, briquettes, whatever- at the supermarket. Nothing wrong with that. But those who love really good food, beautiful, seasonal produce, they are more likely to make the move to the EGG. For many people, it is a life-changer. It makes them cook differently, buy different ingredients and are more conscious about their food. So if we manage to convince at least all cooking enthusiasts who have a garden or terrace about our beautiful product, then I'm already a very happy egg."

Expert tips

Smoking

Want to smoke a piece of meat or fish? You do this with special smoke chips. Throw a handful on the glowing spot and make sure you soak the chips in water beforehand. The effect is a lot of steam, which adds to the flavour!

Shelf

For smoking, use a cedar plank to lay the fish on. At that low temperature, it's quite possible and it produces an even finer flavour.

Grilling

Use a cast-iron grill instead of stainless steel. This retains heat and gives those nice, delicious-tasting grill edges on the meat. Tip: after half the grilling time, turn the meat a quarter turn on one side to create a diamond pattern and the grill edges will soon be present on all parts of the meat. 

Pulled pork

Procureur can be cooked just fine on the Big Green Egg. If you cook it slowly (think about 17 hours at 90 degrees), the tendons get a lot of flavour. They turn from tough tendons into soft gelatine so you get deliciously tender meat.

Charcoal quality

Charcoal is the main seasoning. So always choose good quality. Cheap supermarket charcoal sometimes contains leftover wood that contains chemicals. And briquettes do not react to oxygen (so you cannot play with the temperature) and can give off toxic fumes. So do not use it. The special charcoal for the Big Green Egg consists of two types of wood: beech and hornbeam (until recently these were oak and hickory, but this has been adapted to the Dutch and German markets in recent years). So it now comes from Europe, making it -because no more transport from North America- more eco-friendly than before. These eco-friendly coals (without chemical ingredients, fragrances and flavourings) quickly reach a high combustion temperature and also hold it well. The large pieces burn for a long time, generate little ash, unlike many other types of charcoal, and provide a subtle smoke flavour. With one load of charcoal, you can EGG for an average of 8-10 hours at a constant temperature.

Reuse

Unlike other barbecues, in which the charcoal burns out completely to ash, you can keep 'reusing' charcoal in the Big Green Egg. When you're done, you close the slide on the bottom and top side, so that the fire goes out. The next time you use the EGG, stir through the charcoal with a poker to let only the ash sink in. Then refill the charcoal a little.

Lighting

Place one to three firelighters on top, depending on how much heat you want to create quickly. Once they burn, the slider at the bottom can open. You can work immediately if there is a small glow. So the charcoal does not have to turn white.

Braking & accelerating

This makes it easy to remember the operation of the two sliders you use to control the fire and temperature: the bottom slider is the 'gas' you use to stoke things up. The upper slide is the 'brake'; this is how you temper the fire.

Pizza

This is how to bake a pizza on your Big Green Egg: you use the convEGGtor, the stainless steel grid and the pizza stone. Place the pizza on the stone and bake it at 275 degrees in six minutes. If you do it at a higher temperature, the following pizzas may burn.

Chicken

Delicious: cook a whole chicken for 2.5 hours at 100 degrees. Then butterfly the chicken and grill it for five minutes at 'full throttle and the brake off' for a crispy skin.

Apple pie

Dessert from the Big Green Egg. That too is simple. Fill an aluminium tray with some fruit (e.g. apples, pears, raspberries, figs, blackberries) and top with a crumble dough (flour, butter and sugar). Twenty minutes in the egg at 180-220 degrees. When the fruit bubbles on the sides, it's ready. Delicious with a dollop of whipped cream.

Indirect heat

If you are preparing a piece of meat that needs to cook for a long time at a low temperature, use the convEGGtor: a ceramic heat shield that provides indirect radiant heat. This makes it easy to convert the Big Green Egg into an oven.

Cleaning

After the cooking session is over - once the EGG has cooled down - run a brush over the grill and wipe off any dirt/oil with a piece of kitchen paper. That's it. The next time you fire up the Big Green Egg, put the grid on top and after thirty seconds all the bacteria will be dead, even at eighty degrees!