Big Green Egg

It seems like we have been waiting forever to the nice weather to get here.  Finally it seems like we will be able to enjoy our outdoor living spaces.  I know I fired up the barbeque a couple of times in April, but I do not think the weather allowed for much barbequing in May.  Last night we had our first hamburgers grilled on our Big Green Egg of the year.  I do not think you can get a better hamburger than one cooked over natural charcoal, using your own ground beef, and homemade barbeque sauce. 

When we first started selling Big Green Eggs I actually resisted getting one for myself.  I could still remember having to wait for my charcoal barbeques to light, and for the coals to be ready to grill.  It seemed like we were always cooking well before the coals were ready, but I was assured that the Big Green Egg was different, and that it can be ready in around 15 minutes, which is not much different than your propane barbeque.  I finally brought one home a couple of years ago, and it is now my barbeque of choice.  Grilling on a Big Green Egg adds flavour to everything you cook. 

So last night on the way home, I picked up a 2 lb Prime Rib Roast, I figured I really wanted to enjoy those first burgers of the year.   When I got home I lit the Big Green Egg.  I chopped up the roast, and ran it through the meat grinder.  I added an egg, some Bad Byron's Butt Rub, salt and pepper, mixed it up and made 4 patties.  By this time the Big Green Egg was at 600 degrees and ready to grill.

The Burgers needed about 5 minutes per side, and they were perfect, nice and moist, and ready for the plate.  I finished them off with a great Barbeque sauce recipe that I found a few years ago.  We used to make fun of our eldest daughter and how quickly she could devour a fast food hamburger.  She would have hers finished before anyone else even had theirs unwrapped, but I think we would have given her a run for her money eating ours last night.  There is something about eating food that is cooked outside, it just seems to taste so much better.

Here is the barbeque sauce recipe

4 cloves minced garlic

3 TBS Olive Oil                                                           

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup water                                                            

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar 

2 TBS Paprika

1 TBS Chile Powder

1 TS Cayenne Pepper

Heat the oil, and then add the minced garlic, sauté  for a couple of minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and then reduce heat.  Simmer for 15 minutes until thickened.

This is great on ribs, or pork, but also works well with chicken and hamburgers.                                      

 Enjoy-Mike vandenHof

Big Green Egg in Action at our 30th Anniversary!