17755217:CL APRIL 2013(16)
3/26/2013
1:02 PM
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Produced in a USDA inspected kitchen ALL NATURAL | NO PRESERVATIVES LOW FAT | LOW GLYCEMIC | LOW SODIUM
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Big Green Egg fanatics Jeff and Kim Castle bought their Egg in 1997. Now Jeff devotes hours to cooking meats for dinner most evenings, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Beef briskets are one of his specialties.
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Everyone who has ever eaten some of the first-rate barbecue that Jeff makes on the Egg and gets a look at how it works has told him they want one, too. “It’s definitely a guy thing,” Jeff said with a big grin. “We can be out here for hours, doing our thing and drinking a beer. It gets us out of the house and away from the women.” He has speakers hooked up around the pool deck and listens to every Braves game while the Egg cooks dinner. In the beginning, Jeff said he used his new Egg for simple things like grilling burgers and steaks. Searing meat is child’s play for a kamado cooker because it can reach temps of 700-plus degrees, the same as in professional kitchens. “I always used to grill with gas but I very seldom use it now. The charcoal flavor with the Egg is so good and different,” Jeff said. It wasn’t until he went through Pork University, a class conducted by award-winning pit master Sam Huff of Sam’s BBQ1 in east Cobb, that Jeff ventured into more esoteric realms with his Egg. Smoking meats and fish of all shapes and sizes became a passion. “At first I was afraid of cooking things too long because I wasn’t used to let something cook for four hours,” he said. “What I learned was you smoke low and slow, at 180 to 200 degrees. “You turn on electric starter, dump the charcoal on top and let it go for five minutes. Once you get it started, you put some water-soaked wood chips in and put the grate back on top, then put the meat in there and let it go.” Temperature is controlled by vents on the lid and bottom of the cooker. “The main thing is trust,” Jeff said. “You set it right and don’t open and close it.”