A Good Egg: Devotees Say Special Grill is Foolproof Outdoor Cooker

By:  Sherri Richards

Fargo – Rob Roberts has been a Dead Head and a Parrot Head. Now, he’s an EggHead.

He’s one of several grillers locally and nationwide who embrace the title, reserved for those with a cultish fanaticism for the Big Green Egg.

Yes, cultish fanaticism for a barbecue grill.

Actually, the Big Green Egg is a ceramic charcoal grill and smoker shaped like – you guessed it – a big, green egg.

Its creator, Ed Fisher, was inspired by the design of an egg-shaped, clay, Asian kamado cooker, which many U.S. servicemen shipped home after World War II. According to the Big Green Egg website, Fisher began selling the units one by one in an Atlanta strip mall, relying on product demonstrations to win over customers.

Thirty years later, the company says word (and taste) of mouth is still at the core of its success.

It’s evident online, where the grill’s devoted followers share recipes and tips at EggHeadForum.com. They buy Big Green Egg products – ahem, eggcessories – like natural lump charcoal, wood chips, ceramic plates, seasonings and even salt and pepper shakers shaped like the grill. And they go to EggFests, where EggHeads gather to cook and eat Egg-made food. Fargo is set to host its first EggFest in September.

“There’s a whole cult of local EggHeads,” says Jeff Rogerson, sales manager for Northern Plains Distributing in Fargo, which supplies Big Green Eggs to retailers across the upper Midwest.

“Basically, it stems from the way the product performs,” he says, citing its exact temperature control, consistent results and the smoky flavor it gives food.

The grill can heat up to 750 degrees to sear a steak or can hold a steady 250 degrees to smoke large hunks of meat. Two dampers, one on the top and the bottom, adjust to control the temperature. Ceramic inserts allow the grill to provide indirect heat, turning it into an oven.

“Anybody who’s really into barbecuing won’t use anything else,” Rogerson says.

Rob Roberts, owner of the Fargo Breadsmith, had heard about the Egg from a friend and fell in love with it after a product demo. He got his as a Father’s Day gift several years ago.

In recent weeks, he’s cooked marinated beef tri-tip, asparagus and pizzas.

“In winter time, I can use this, it heats up, and I don’t have to worry about it losing heat,” Roberts said. “It’s such a nice tool.”

Austen Germolus of Fargo also uses his in the winter, even grilling once when it was 30 below. “I was freezing, but what I was cooking was getting done,” he says.

In the summer, he says he uses it most nights of the week to make pulled pork, whole turkeys, pizza, cornbread, grilled fruit and vegetables.

“It’s like having a grill, an oven, a smoker in one piece of equipment,”

says Germolus, meat lab manager at North Dakota State University. “They aren’t cheap by any means, but they are worth it, and they last a long time.”

There are five different sizes of Eggs, from the 9-inch cooking diameter mini ($249) to the 205-pound XL (about $1,000). The grills can be placed in a wooden table or held up by a “nest” – basically a metal, wheeled stand.

Nodak, on Main Avenue in Fargo, has been carrying the Big Green Egg line for about 10 years, says Kurt Engquist, appliance sales manager. He says interest in the Egg has been growing each year.

The gospel of the Big Green Egg has been spread to thousands through North Dakota State University’s Barbecue Boot Camp program. That’s where Germolus, who mans the grilling station, started cooking on an Egg and realized he wanted one. So did David Newman, director of BBQ Boot Camp.

“After cooking on those for a year, we all had to have one,” Newman says.

Grillers “can consistently have a great eating experience from anything they put on the Egg,” Newman says.

“Once you own it and cook on it a lot, you realize you can’t screw something up on it,” he adds. “Anything you cook on it is awesome.”

Source: www.inforum.com