Patio Daddio BBQ - Musings of barbecue, cooking, and life -- served hot, fresh and saucy

You may recall that my first cook was roasting two chickens. This was clearly a success, but it only tested one of the three cooking methods that this unit boasts.

Last night I decided to try filling the supplied chip/pellet box with some Jack Daniels pellets while grilling some steaks. My thought was that the smoke would give me a more authentic grilled flavor.

I fired The Big Easy up and let it preheat on high for 15 minutes. I put a grill surface thermometer on the stainless steel grate (seasoned earlier) and, as you can see, it hit 525º. This is a good temperature for grilling.



I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised at how much smoke this thing produced. It was almost overwhelming for what I was after. You can easily get 75-90 minutes of smoke from one load of pellets. I don't know how chips compare, but the manual states that you can expect about an hour.

I cooked the steak to medium-rare, and the flavor was outstanding. The heat was consistent and about as even as one could expect.



Tonight I cooked several more steaks, minus the smoke box, and the results were equally impressive, as the picture at the top of this post attests. I will say that the more you load up the grill grate, the less impressive the grill marks.

My verdict on this unit is that it is great for those that want an easy-to-use cooker that will allow them to grill, roast and smoke. In short, I think it lives up to its name. It's simple to use and produces good food with very minimal fuss. The downside is that its grilling capacity is limited, with a grate that is only a 15" in diameter.

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Additional posts about this cooker:
First Look
First Cook
Big Easy Turkey