- Scott Brison Has One, The Virtues Of BBQing On Big Green Egg
This article is about a popular but mostly secret society of barbecuing enthusiasts, cooking on a Big Green Egg — or on one of the 30-some knockoff versions.
By Andrew Macdonald
Scott Brison and his handsome husband Max St. Pierre entertain friends and visiting dignitaries at the Brison ancestral home on the Noel Shore, Bay of Fundy, in the tiny enclave of Cheverie with gourmet BBQ meals on a Big Green Egg.
Brison even bakes yummy loaves of bread on his BBQ.
Here is an archived story on the virtues of cooking on a Big Green Egg:
John Rance talks the virtues of the Big Green Egg to so-called Egghead enthusiasts at Egg demonstrations across the nation, and not so long ago was at Truro’s barbecue and fireplace store Warmth By Design, attracting hundreds to an Egg demonstration there – in pre-pandemic times, of course.
Rance’s official title is Eggman, and 20 years ago brought the Egg to Canada from its birthplace in Atlanta, Ga. The company is 40 years old, and founded by a Vietnam veteran who brought the technology back to America after the war.
Rance is based at the Egg’s Canadian headquarters in Newmarket, Ont.
The Egg is now at the heart of a mostly secret society of BBQ aficionados. The company bills the product as the ultimate outdoor cooker — a BBQ and smoker that also has the qualities of a brick pizza oven.
I caught up with Rance during his visit to Truro, where the Egg Fest was held, the only such event in the Atlantic Provinces.
A similar Egg Fest in Toronto tends to attract upwards of 1,000 folk, while October Eggfest celebrations attract several thousand out West, and a UK version attracts upwards of 2,000 fans.
“These events centre around food, and people demonstrating good food. When people buy a Green Egg and they see how easy it is to use, how reliable it is to cook on and how forgiving it is, it turns people into a hero. It’s a success story from when you learn to light it to sitting at the table with the food you decide to have,” says Rance.
The Big Green Egg family, sell from $500 to $5,000. Founded in 1974 in Atlanta, they have retailed in Canada for the last two decades.
“I’ve had an Egg for 20 years,” he says, and he now has three of the costly Eggs, which retail between $700 and $5,000.
He has dipped an Egg into each coast, and Eggs have even been sold in the Arctic.
Because of its tile qualities, an Egg can be used throughout the seasons, even performing well in harsh winter conditions.
“Our BBQ Egg season does not have the spikes found in the grilling industry. Our season is longer because of our grill. We perform so well cold weather, including the depth of winter,” he tells The Macdonald Notebook.
“I’ve seen these Eggs make bread at 40-below Celsius in the Arctic.”
Yes, you can bake bread on an Egg, and even pies and other sweets. And because it acts like a brick pizza oven, you can churn out gourmet pizzas with ease.
It tends to seal in juices on meats, while a propane barbeque tends to dry out the meats, even if cooked at medium-rare.
The tiles are from a Mexican factory that once supplied heat-resistant tiles on NASA’s Space Shuttle. The Egg can withstand temperatures from 200 degrees to over 1,000 degrees.
I own a $799 Mini-Max Egg that I bought at Chester Home Hardware. It’s the portable version, the second smallest Egg version, with a 12-inch grill, and you can carry it around to a park or beach with ease.
I took a whole year to make my Egg buying decision because of the steep price.
“The Egg seems like it is expensive, but we can’t determine what is expensive or not because we don’t know people’s income brackets. I tend not to look at it as a price tag,” says Rance.
A Big Green Egg outdoor cooker uses the same tiles the NASA Space Shuttle deployed to re-enter Earth.
“This is a high-quality item that has a huge performance window of things it can do— pizzas, lambs, a turkey, chicken or pork roast or even bread.”
Rance won’t talk about how many eggs are sold in Canada, “but we sell many thousands” annually, although the eggs are not sold at big box stores.
Well-known PEI chef Michael Smith cooks on an Egg at his Island resort on the North Shore.
There are about 30 Egg knock-off versions, including Kamado Joe, but Rance said there is no comparison to an Egg and its competition. The Big Green Egg is the only one built with ceramic tiles to ISO standards and is guaranteed for life.
Antigonisher David MacDonald is now a Texan – he took his NS bought winter jacket out of the attic of his Texas home last winter – and is seen here cooking on his Big Green Egg, behind him. ” I was grilling a Tri Tip Roast in -25C weather”, he said of last winter’s deep freeze in Texas, where he lives the Texas motto “Living Large in Texas” with his family.
“The Egg I bought 20 years ago is still on my deck. I use it all the time, it’s my go-to even though I have three of them”.
The Egg is styled after kamado smokers invented by the Chinese 2,000 years ago.
