Like many people, Brad McCall would much rather walk to his backyard than to his kitchen to cook chicken wings, steaks, ribs, burgers and other favorites. But you won’t find him using a propane-gas or standard charcoal grill. Instead, he fires up a Big Green Egg, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The 35-year-old Boca Raton, Florida, resident, you see, is passionate about his “EGG.” As it turns out, so too is basically everyone who owns one of the sturdy, glazed-ceramic pods, which you might understandably mistake for some sort of sculpture. For McCall, the EGG is simply the ultimate grill, and nothing else even comes close. His “conversion” from gas griller to EGGhead, as they affectionately call each other, took place five years ago after he received one as a Christmas gift from his wife and parents.

“I joined the EGGhead Nation,” McCall says with typical EGGhead enthusiasm while tending to an EGGful of spicy wings during a pre-game tailgate feast at Sun Life Stadium in suburban Miami. (He transported his EGG from home on a new carrying device—available only at EGG dealers—that attaches to a trailer hitch and can be lowered and raised with the crank of a handle, much like a boat.) “It makes the whole cooking process fun, plus you get to make a fire, and it looks cool,” he adds, grinning. “I can’t tell you how many of my friends have gotten one since I got mine.”

That, it seems, is how EGGs proliferate, instead of through traditional advertising in print or on the air. They virtually sell themselves via old-fashioned word-of-mouth, typically preceded by “what’s that?!” inquiries such as those made by a couple of passersby at the stadium tailgate. Ed Fisher, president of the Big Green Egg Company that he founded in Atlanta in 1974, says EGGheads are “the company’s strongest marketing tool with their effective one-on-one selling to friends and neighbors,” according to the BGE website.

McCall, who frequents EGG forums online, where participants discuss everything from recipes to cooking techniques, says “people see one and want one.” Taste buds undoubtedly help speed the sales process.

What distinguishes the EGG from other grills? Derived from a traditional Japanese cooking vessel called a kamado, the Big Green Egg offers what the company describes as “unmatched cooking flexibility.” Thick ceramic walls retain heat and moisture to lock in flavors and juices, and the dampers on top and bottom efficiently regulate the temperatures created by the all-natural wood charcoal that fuels it. Want to quick-sear a filet mignon to rare perfection? Smoke a beef brisket, a pork shoulder or some Carolina-style barbecue for 12 hours? Grill some vegetables, or bake a pizza or even desserts such as cookies, cakes and pies (McCall claims to make a mean pumpkin crisp)? The EGG can handle it all.

Available in five sizes, from the easily portable Mini to the full-size XL weighing more than 200 pounds, the one thing all EGGs share besides shape and color is their stoutness. This is no wimpy grill that needs to be sheltered and regularly fussed over. The concentrated heat helps burn off residue inside, and the hard-shell exterior that would make a turtle envious is constructed to not fade, peel or discolor. The EGG is essentially weatherproof so it can be used all year, able to withstand temperatures from below zero to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

The only “trick” to using one: learning to adjust the dampers to regulate the airflow, which controls the temperature. “It’s a matter of getting used to it,” notes McCall. “It just takes a bit of practice.”

According to McCall, it’s recommended that you break in an EGG by first cooking something fairly greasy—say, Italian sausage—before cooking anything else. “It’s hard to mess up something greasy,” he says, “plus, it’s a good way to help season the ceramic surfaces inside.”

Confession time. After enjoying some of the juiciest and most flavorful burgers and chicken wings I’ve ever had, talking with EGGheads and hearing them rave about the EGG, and seeing it in action, I’m convinced: The Big Green Egg is special, and yeah, pretty cool, too. And I don’t even own one. Yet.

“World’s Best Smoker and Grill!” its maker proclaims. Who am I to doubt it? Yet I can’t help
but wonder, in the spirit of Dr. Seuss, what about the Big Green Egg . . . and ham?

Tasting is Believing

As anyone who owns one will tell you, the Big Green Egg is deliciously versatile when it comes to cooking various foods. Click here for Big Green Egg recipes, including a favorite recipe for chicken wings, courtesy of EGGhead Nation.

EGGing You On

For everything you could possibly want to know about the Big Green Egg, including where they’re sold in your area, visit www.biggreenegg.com. Or call the company’s retail store, located in the Atlanta suburb of Tucker, Georgia, at 770-934-5300. The website is also the source for details about the 13^th EGGtoberfest, the annual family-oriented celebration of the EGG (including, of course, plenty of EGG-cooked fare), scheduled for October 16–17.