Drunk Chicken, Cheryl's first.jpg
For strictly smoking, look at these. I have the Danial Boone. It is 25X16 (400 sq. in.) The Jim Bowie has 37.5” X 16” porcelain grate (600 sq. in.), and 13.5” inside clearance.
"I rarely smoke meats. Most of my grilling is steaks and such. I want my grill HOT."
This being said, the Big Green Egg gets hotter, and from what a person at work says about his, will do steaks better than the Greem Mtn. There will be no flare up's with the BGE. I think he said his gets to 700 degrees. You will not have to wory about the BGE cracking unless ya drop it out of your pickup bed. They will last a long time, maintaince free, IMO.
"I will lose about 200" of cooking space." True. You can't have it all. Thats what I didn't like about the BGE. I think Danny told me it will take about 15 min. to get his to cooking temp. I may not have that right. Mine takes about the same. You use charcoal from BGE, but it looks like tree bark. Not what you think. Go to a BGE dealer and see for yourself what it looks like.
"Maintenance", on it is very minimal. Like any expensive item, I would keep it covered. Jon and a BGE dealer would know more. Danny keeps his covered and has made an outside wood holder for his. He is a hand with a saw.
I keep ours in our Morton building. I even cook with it inside, because it is an electric pellet smoker. There isn't any harmful gasses that can build up in that large an area. You almost have to have several type of smokers and grills to have it all. Not practical for us poor boys. Look into a trailer smoker for what you would want.
