Big Green Egg (Large) Charcoal Grill and Smoker

This unit is marketed as a charcoal grill, but its ability to hold low temperatures for an incredible amount of time has made it and other Kamado cookers very popular amongst smokers. This "smoker" is based on an ancient Japanese design, made of ceramic and looks a little like a vertical water smoker. The ceramic shell absorbs heat and holds it. The top and bottom vents allow you to control the temperature and easily hold it at the ideal smoking temperature for many hours without attention.

Pros

Cons

When the Kamado Charcoal Grills started showing up in the American market a few decades ago people quickly noticed that you could hold a great, low and slow, temperature with them. Suddenly barbecue cooks of all types started turning to these units for use as smokers. Since then these type of grills have started turning out some truly great barbecue. The ceramic shell holds heat virtually eliminating temperature spikes. The excellent ventilation allows for great temperature control with charcoal, lump and hardwood.

The Big Green Egg is the most successful and available of the Kamado style cookers. This, the most popular sized unit is perfect for smoking as long as you are not planning on preparing a lot of food. You can smoke a large turkey, a full brisket, a couple racks of ribs or two chickens, but not much more. If you need the space you'll have to look elsewhere for a smoker. However, since most smokers don't prepare that much food this is an excellent choice.

Be aware also that there are several competitors to the Big Green Egg who also make excellent units. This "grills" also work great as charcoal grills, giving the ability to grill a wide selection of food, so this is truly a very versatile unit.