All of my life, I have used a propane grill for my outdoor cooking (sans camping… but that is a different blog).  My Weber has served me well.  However, I longed for the high heat and smoky flavors of a charcoal grill.  I found that I had better results searing a steak in a cast iron pan on my stove than I did on my Weber grill, so after many years and much debating, I finally broke down and bought the charcoal grill.

I didn’t just buy any old grill, however.  I bought the grand pooba of grills, The Big Green Egg.  Based on an ancient Chinese/Japanese oven called a Kamado, the grill is a large, egg-shaped thick ceramic oven with a multi-damper system for controlling heat to near exact temperatures from 200-degrees to 750 degrees.  On the bottom, it has an adjustable window for airflow and for cleaning out ashes.  The top has two lids, a ceramic lid that puts the fire out, and a metal cap with two discs, one that opens the chimney completely for high heat and one that controls airflow through a series of holes, to release very little air and smoke, or cook (or smoke) on low heat for a long time.  The egg retains its heat better than cast iron too!

Well, the egg arrived late Friday afternoon.  Of course, I had to break it in!  I defrosted a large spiral ham (already smoked).  Normally, I bake and glaze the ham in the oven at 250 for about 4 hours.   Friday night, I fired up the egg and smoked the ham, with a maple, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, chili powder and fresh-squeezed orange juice glaze.  

My entire neighborhood smelled sweet, like smoked ham!  

It took me a long time to get it started, but once it got going, the egg maintained an even temp at 250 degrees for the next four hours.  My cousin came by for dinner, and I felt badly because we didn’t take the ham out of the smoker until about midnight.  It was worth it though!  WOW.  Amazing!  I’m sorry I didn’t take pictures.  It was late.  We were hungry and I was preoccupied with my new toy.  

Saturday morning.  I woke up and thought about that ham bone sitting in my fridge.  I cut up some carrots, celery, onions and garlic, sweat them briefly, added homemade stock (1/2 chicken & ½ duck), and about 2 cups of green split peas, submerged the ham bone and made split pea soup.  (Sorry, forgot the pics again).

Well, my cousin came back over for dinner on Saturday as well.  I prepped some pizza dough on Friday, and had it rising in an oiled bowl for Saturday evening’s dinner.  By late afternoon, I read a lot more of the manual for my new Green Egg.  I bought the indirect heat attachment for it too.  Basically, it is a large ceramic stone that looks like a plate.  It sits in-between the grill grates and the fire, essentially turning the grill into a brick-oven.  

As you may have guessed… I set my pizza stone on the grates and planned to cook pizza in my new charcoal-fired brick oven (YAY!).  

Well, this time, I took precautions.  Because Friday night, it took a very long time for the grill to light and come up to temperature, Saturday, I prepared an alternate dinner (just in case).  

While the gill heated, I made a bowl of fresh ravioli, with homemade sauce (which I made for my pizza anyway), I added some fresh ricotta cheese and topped the whole dish with parmesan.  (I FINALLY REMEMBERED THE CAMERA)


I also stretched my dough (using my fists) into a round shape.  When it formed a large round and relatively flat circle, I took my fresh (hand-grated) mozzarella cheese and sprinkled it on the dough evenly.  Then, I spread my sauce on top of the cheese, and added a touch more cheese on top of the sauce.  I drizzled a little olive oil onto my pizza and into the oven it went.

Before….




By the time I got outside with the pizza, the grill was really kickin’ at 500 degrees.  I eased my pizza onto the stone and trimmed the parchment paper around it (I want the fire to stay inside the egg).  Michele enjoyed our pasta while the pizza cooked.  About a half an hour later, we took out the best pizza I have ever made at home in my life!   The bottom crust had a perfect crunch, the dough had beautiful air holes, yet remained thin, the sauce and cheese, both yummy.  

After…



And the best part was, the leftover slices that I had for lunch this afternoon ROCKED.  

I DO, I DO LIKE GREEN EGGS… AND HAM…  AND PIZZA… and soon, I will begin experimenting with bread…  Oh, the possibilities!!!