The Big Green Huh?

One of the best ways to end a day of adventure is with a really great meal, and one of the best ways to prepare a really great meal is on the barbecue. And, according to one of my friends that I visited with on my recent trip home—and she's a fabulous cook, so I trust her opinion completely—THE best way to barbecue is with the Big Green Egg®!

This ceramic grill, that also doubles as a smoker, is based on an ancient clay cooker, developed in Japan, called a “kamado.” I had a quick look at it at her house (unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to taste anything cooked on it), and it's quite an interesting design.

The EGG® has a flue at the top and a vent at the bottom, both of which you can adjust to allow more or less air to flow through it. It's this design that that lets you choose the optimum temperature setting from 200° for long, slow cooking to 750° for searing the juices inside your favourite cut of steak.

The cooker uses charcoal (which would probably take some getting used to for me, now, since I've become so accustomed to the speed of a gas grill), but my friend swears that she's never tasted a better grilled steak in her life than the one she cooked on her EGG.

Apparently there's also a huge global community of EGGheads who are major devotees of this type of cooking, including someone who bills himself as The Naked Whiz and who is considered one of the main authorities on the subject. The Whiz's Web site offers a plethora of helpful information such as recipes, product information, and even reviews of various brands of lump charcoal!

If any of you have any experience with the EGG, we'd love to hear about them! I also have to say I'm impressed by the company itself. I wrote to their media contact to see if they could provide me with a couple of pics of the product to accompany this post, and I received them in less than 24 hours. I take this as a sign that the quality of their customer service probably matches the quality of their products.

Regardless of what type of grill you do have now, I hope you have an opportunity to take advantage of it while enjoying a fabulous holiday weekend. And since the holiday is Memorial Day, I'd also like to take a moment to express my appreciation to all those members of the armed forces who have selflessly sacrificed their own lives to protect the lives, lands, and liberties of the rest of us.

Blog of the Day

I don't know if she's an EGGhead or not, but I do know that fellow Canadian (yes, another one!) Charmian Christie, who publishes Christie's Corner, is a fabulous cook and food writer, who generously shares many a drool-inducing recipe—like Lemon-Loaded North African Dressing and Mysteriously Good Sour Cream Apple Pie—on her blog.

Also be sure to check out her ongoing mellow-drama about home liquoring, Whisky Works: As the Barrel Turns.