Setting the Temperature on your Big Green Egg
Setting the temperature on your Big Green Egg is quite simple. Some books tell you to do it all using the draft door, some say to do it all using the metal top, I say use both in combination and make it really easy for yourself.
The following are guidelines to setting the temperature on a large Big Green Egg, the most popular model. Every size though works in roughly the same way so experiment and learn where each of the air vents needs to be on your Egg to achieve the required temperature.
Temperature
Daisy Wheel
Draft Door
rEGGulator
400°C (~750°C)
Setup your Egg with the vents like this if you want to get it really hot. This is great for cooking pizza.
Please don’t forget to burp your Egg at temps above 200°C.
250°C-300°C (480-570°F)
Setup your Egg with the vents like this if you’re looking to cook steaks. The bottom vent is about half closed, the top daisy wheel full open and slide to reveal a 1/4 moon.
Please don’t forget to burp your Egg at temps above 200°C.
220°C (~430°F)
The perfect setup for bread baking. The top vent is showing a mew moon while the daisy wheel is full open. The bottom draft door is about 1/3 open.
Please don’t forget to burp your Egg at temps above 200°C.
180°C (~350°F)
Sunday lunch, roast chicken, a rib of beef, all can be cooked at 180°C. The daisy wheel is fully open but slid so the main vent is shut, The draft door at the bottom is 2 fingers wide.
110°C (~225°F)
This is what low and slow is all about. Hardly any air is needed to keep your Egg ticking over. The top is one to a ‘cocktail stick’ width, the bottom about 5mm.
This is the perfect temperature for cooking all those tougher pieces of meat that require you to melt the connective tissue.
Monitor your temp
It’s always a good idea to monitor the temperature of what your are cooking and also the temperature of your BBQ. There are many great products out there but the one I like to use is the MEATER+ or MEATER Block.
You can buy both of these from my shop:
