Big Green Egg DigiQ DX2

BGE BBQ Guru


Santa came to our house and dropped off a BGE BBQ Guru DigiQ DX2. That is a mouthful. I am going to open it up and cook with it for the first time tonight so I thought I would document the process so you can decide if you might like one. This will be our very first product review and we will cook a turkey breast with the new system to test it out.

For those of you that don't know, the DigiQ is a thermostat for your Big Green Egg. You can set the temperature you would like the Egg to maintain and it uses a connected blower to control the amount of air into the egg to keep the temperature exactly as you set it. I have longed for this device in the early morning hours when I was forced to get up at zero dark thirty and go outside to adjust the BGE on one of my all night brisket cooks. As you may have read, I usually end up using my morning in a recovery mode because the Egg temperature dropped too low.

Research:

I visited The BBQ Guru website. Excellent info. I also lusted after it in the BGE headquarters store in the suburbs of Atlanta.

Plan:

Go buy it on Amazon by clicking though this link (this is the one that includes the pit viper, blower that you must have):

UPDATED LINK TO A NEWER MODEL

BBQ Guru DigiQ DX3 Kit for Big Green Egg

And the test Turkey:

1 - Bone-in turkey. 10 pounds. We purchased ours from Kroger.
1/3 cup of Big Green Egg dizzy gourmet viva caliente rub. Purchased at the BGE store! Atlanta, GA.
2 - Disposable gloves
1 - Disposable aluminum pan

We will simply heat the egg to EXACTLY 350 and rub the turkey then cook beer can style. We will place on the grill for around 3 hours or until the breasts reach 163-165.

Execution:

Let's unbox our DigiQ and figure out how to connect this thing...

First some advice from my Svengali of BGE, Mr. Lee Roberson, a 20 year battle hardened veteran of the Egg. He has also recently purchased a DigiQ and offered the following:

1. Don't light your Egg and let it get hot before activating the DigiQ. Rather light the Egg and immediately turn on the DigiQ and let it control raising the BGE temp to the proper setting.
2. Close the damper on the Pit Viper (the blower) to about half open and close down the top daisy wheel to about half open.

Now, let's open it up...

as you can see this kit came with the Pit Viper (blower), the DigiQ, a food probe, a pit temp probe, a BGE adapter, a DigiQ stand, and assorted power cords.

The BGE Pit Viper adapter fits into the BGE air intake perfectly and requires no tools.

Simply slide the door closed to seal it up and lock it in place

The Pit Viper attaches by friction. It has an o-ring that seals the connection. The power cord plugs into the DigiQ

The DigiQ with the blower connected, the power cord plugged in and both the pit temp probe and food probe connected.

A word on the probes. They are high quality! way better than the wireless thermometer that I have struggled with in the past. That said, I'll still use the wireless so I can remotely watch the food temp. Too bad the DigiQ doesn't have a wireless feature.

So after connected everything, attaching the Pit Viper and setting the Pit temp to 350, I adjusted the Pit Viper damper to half open (thanks Lee) and let the daisy wheel opened up to see what would happen.

I lit one of the BGE starter bricks and closed the lid.

The Pit Viper was already blowing air, I could hear it.

Over about the next 20 minutes the DigiQ raised the temperature of the Egg from 51 to 350 degrees and held it there. Dead on 350 degrees.

As the turkey reached 160 degrees I would open the lid and check the temp with my CDN instant read and when I closed the lid, the DigiQ would quickly recover the temperature.

We cooked the turkey beer can style in about 3 hours. At 160 degrees in the breast, we removed it and let it rest.

It turned out perfect. Even though we trimmed some of the skin (dieting folks...)



Verdict:

It is rock solid, the DigiQ heated up the BGE quickly and held it at exactly 350 degrees (not one degree off).

I think this new finely tuned temperature control will open up a new world of things that we can cook on the Egg. Really exciting to think about what is next.

We just touched on what the DigiQ will do. In the future, we will be trying some of the more advanced features. Including a setting that will automatically bring the BGE temperature down to meet the meat temperature when you are doing a slow and low cook to make sure you don't overcook your meat.



Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:


So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. 

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer

Beef Back Ribs on the Big Green Egg

Beef Back Ribs (also Short Ribs) on the Big Green Egg -NO! NO! NO! this is mistake #2- update

So what did I know about beef ribs earlier this week? not a thing. All I knew is that I wanted what I thought was short ribs and I wanted them to taste like my favorite BBQ place in the world. Fox Bros. Previously I have tried to duplicate them but alas without much success. See THIS LINK for a previous attempt. However, now that I have a digiQ I am ready to reach for the ring again. This time, I will follow the Fox Bros formula and I'll do it using the Big Green Egg and the DigiQ.

Research:

I once saw a food show that described how the Fox Bros cooked their short ribs. It was a seemingly simple process whereby they cooked said ribs for 12 hours at 200 degrees with a salt and pepper rub a la Franklin.

Now, now now... anyone that has a BGE knows that it isn't easy maintaining the Egg at 200 degrees for a long time without it going out. I had abandoned the idea of using the BGE to try this method until receiving the DigiQ from my loving family at Christmastime. I think the DigiQ can help me keep the egg at 200 all day. Also, I did a little short rib research. The Fox Bros ribs are these big giant meaty ribs (you get one rib when you order) that is almost a pound. When I tried to buy them at the butcher they were shorter and smaller hence the name SHORT rib. Turns out that the short rib is just a part or the meaty cut of the back rib, a larger piece of the same rib. It is called a beef back rib. I stopped into Kroger to find such an cut and low and behold they had some.

Note that I've learned since that these are not the ribs you want. You are looking for "Dino" ribs. These are what some would call shiners (bone is shining through the meat because the butcher is too aggressive). Don't use this cut. Use this one: See this link.

Plan:

Gather the following ingredients:


2 - Racks of beef back ribs
Equal parts kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 - Disposable aluminum pan

We will wake up early and set the egg up for 200 degrees with the plate setter in, rub the ribs and start cooking for 12 short hours.

Execution:

Beep...Beep...Beep...

Oh Lord is that you calling me home? Thank goodness, it has been a rough life and frankly I was pretty sure I would be heading in the other direction.

No?

Oh, the alarm. 6:45am Saturday.

Despite the photo below, I started the morning in the dark. Filling the BGE with natural lump charcoal, one lighter brick and set up the DigiQ with the damper 1/4 open on the Pit Viper. Daisy wheel open. Plate setter in. 40 minutes later, the BGE is sitting on 200 and holding.

While the Egg was warming up, I pulled the ribs out and rubbed them down the salt and pepper.

What I didn't do but should have, is trim the membrane off the back of the ribs.

and let them reach room temp.

Then onto the egg by 7:30am or so.

Also note that I used the BGE rib rack accessory. A nice option for getting two racks in the Egg without having to cut them in half.

The rest of the day was wide open. I didn't have to watch the temp, or add charcoal or anything. The DigiQ held it on EXACTLY 200 all day long.

So I went to my daughter's winter guard competition.

2nd Place! Congratulations!

Upon returning home at 4ish. I looked outside.

Still 200. Sort of boring. Decided to change some light bulbs.

Then, couldn't resist checking at 5:45pm. Also, checked with a knife for tenderness. They seem pretty soft and smell great! but I am holding out for 12 hours.

At 7:30pm I pulled them, wrapped in foil and towels to rest.

Amazing

Verdict:

Finally checked that box. This is how you make the famous beef "short" rib. Really the beef back rib. Cook it very low and slow all day long.

One thing I would fix, I noted in red above. You should strip the membrane from the back of the rib rack before cooking.

Next time I'll also look for a more premium cut of back rib, more generous on the rib meat, now that I have the process.

We would love it if you would drop us a note and let us know how your cook went in the comment section. We are always looking for suggestions and improvements! We have opened up the comments so that anyone can post now, so please do. I'll try not to delete anything unless it is spam or stabs me in the heart.



Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:


So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. 

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer

Brisket on the Big Green Egg - Updated 5.0

Our latest weekend project included making several new recipes all at once. So I am going to report each of these as separate entries. This very first project is near and dear to my heart - Brisket. I am a barbecue fan. I go to a lot of barbecue joints. I think about Aaron Franklin a lot.

Note that the various text colors on the page represent updates over time. 

Beef Brisket on the Big Green Egg (BGE)

New photo from brisket 2.0

Research:

I decided to go directly to what many people say is the authority on brisket. Mr. Aaron Franklin of Franklin BBQ in Austin, TX. I was able to find a couple of youtube videos of Mr. Franklin himself describing his process. Here they are:

Not sure why these imbedded videos don't show up on the mobile version but here are the links:

The Brisket

The Cook

The Payoff

or check it with your laptop

That was my primary guidance. I also did a bunch of research on cooking temperatures both for the Egg and the meat. I relied primarily on barbecue bible to get the temperature information and help me establish my game plan.

The plan:

Get a packer cut brisket from the local butcher a day or two before the cook and put it in the fridge. We chose a 13 pounder and spent about $45 for it. Holy crap, this last 11.5 lb brisket was $90. What happened? 

Packer cut brisket, about 13 lbs

Light the Egg at about 8pm the evening before the party and put the brisket on once I get the Egg temperature stabilized at about 240 degrees. Based on what I read, I expect the cook to require somewhere around 1.5 hours per lb, or about 20 hours.

Wrap the brisket with foil when the meat temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Continue cooking until the meat reaches 190 degrees and then start checking for tenderness with a fork. Expect to be able to insert the fork into the lean meat and it should feel like going into soft butter. Then turn the fork to see the meat pull apart.

Pull the brisket off the grill, wrap in a towel and place in a cooler to allow the meat to rest for 2 hours.

Bring the meat into the kitchen and cut up for serving.

Execution:

Updated temperature and times using the digiq to hold the egg at exactly 250 degrees

Let the brisket warm for about 2 hours - rubbed with salt and pepper.

Placed the 10.5 lb brisket  (after trimming) on the egg at 5:30pm in hopes that it will be ready at noon the next day.

Time     Temp

5:30        64

6:30        89

8:30        155

10:30      169

4:30am   193  - turned egg down to 200

7:30        199 - pulled off to rest

Next time - I'll start it around 9pm.

------------------------------

Cooked another 10 lb brisket here are the cook times. Temp remained 250 for the entire cook.

Time   Temp

8:00     48

10:00   138

11:00   158

5:30     193

6:30     198

7:00     pulled it off to rest

Next time....   Start at 11pm - this one wasn't great. Maybe not quite done. Also next time going to cook it a little hotter. I think 270 might be more in line with Franklin.

-------------------------

Cooked a 17 pounder a few days ago and this time I used the temperature ramp feature on the digiq. The ramp feature slowly lowers the egg temperature as the meat reaches the set point so that the egg never heats the meat beyond the set point. Put the brisket on at about 5pm and set the meat temperature to 205 and the egg to 270 and just let it go. The next morning the brisket was 180ish (the egg ran out of fuel) but not before the brisket reached temperature. This cook was exceptional. I think that I haven't been letting the brisket to the proper temp in an attempt to keep the flat from being too dry. That strategy however wasn't working, just let it get to 205 and don't worry about the flat being too dry.

-------------------------

7-21-2017

Just realized adding dates to our past updates would have been an awesome idea... oh well.

This time we have a 13.5lb USDA Prime whole brisket. Paid $113.

Loaded up with fuel

DigiQ set to 270 ramp on. Food temp set to 205. 

Time     Temp

11PM     60     egg temp 270

12AM    72

8:00       189    egg 256

10:00     198    egg 240

11:00     202    egg 222   Pulled to rest

Double checked in many places with the thermopen. Very easy to penetrate measuring 202-205

--------------------------

8pm fire up the Big Green Egg

As you can see, I decided to really fill the Egg firebox up with BGE natural lump charcoal. I also included a few chunks of apple tree wood for flavor. I have read debates on soaking the wood versus just placing it in the Egg. I went with the no soak option (didn't have time to soak it, and frankly, it doesn't seem to me that it would make much difference). Once I had a good fire going, I inserted the plate setter, a drip pan and the grate, then closed the lid to warm up the BGE.

One of my worries was that I would need to add additional charcoal during the cook, and that is not an easy task when you have the plate setter in place.

While waiting for the BGE to reach temp, I trimmed some fat off the brisket and rubbed it with salt and pepper just as directed by Aaron Franklin's youtube video. I was a little worried that I didn't trim off as much fat (it was really hard to cut off, and I was afraid I was going to cut my finger off). The brisket was cold and messy, and I was using a chef's knife that wasn't the best knife for the job.

Photo from brisket 2.0 showing salt and pepper rub

Once the BGE reached 240 degrees, I closed the lower air intake down to about 1/8" open and the daisy wheel on top fully open.

Brisket barely fit on the large BGE

Once the brisket was on the Egg I spent the remainder of the evening setting up the wireless thermometer so that it would alarm if the temperature of the egg exceeded 250 degrees or dropped below 150. Oh, and I also continued drinking a really nice chardonnay.  I'm not much of a white wine drinker, but this one was dry and not very sweet and I was excited about the cook.

BGE with wireless thermometer transmitter

I spent the reminder of the evening tweaking the air intake at the bottom to try and steady the temperature at my 220-240 degree goal. Oh, I also continued to drink the wine.

Remote receiver showing meat and BGE dome temperature

I finally went to bed around 1am having steadied the temperature at 230 degrees or so. My intent was to get up at 3am and then 6am to check the temperature and adjust as necessary. What really happened was that I slept solid until about 7am when I awoke with a start and a mild headache. Panic stricken, I grabbed the remote and realized the BGE temperature dropped to 180 degrees and the food temperature was also at 180 degrees.

I jumped up and went downstairs to adjust the bottom intake to open just a little and opened up the BGE to wrap the meat in foil.

7am Saturday morning. Meat temperature 180 degrees.

Looking really good. Smelling really good. I was delighted to see the "bark" starting to appear and to note that nothing was burned. I did note that it was still as tough as leather. That was a little scary, but I reminded myself that it still had a long way to go.

I spent the remainder of the day obsessing over the meat temperature and the time that everyone was to arrive. We were expecting guests to arrive around 4pm and was planning on serving the brisket around 6pm.

The meat reached 190 degrees around 2pm when I started checking for tenderness. It was still really tough. Oh no...

When it reached 194 degrees, the meat temperature stopped rising and plateaued for more than 1hr. This was encouraging as I had read about this plateau being the point that the connectivity tissue is breaking down and the meat becomes tender. 

Just as I read, when the meat passed 196 degrees, I stuck a fork in.  It slid in easily, and when turned, the meat broke open revealing a great smoke ring.

I also began checking the meat with an analog meat thermometer and noted that it was measuring a lower temperature, so perhaps my digital temperature gauge was a little hot?

196 degrees and tender

Brisket 2.0 photo

I placed the meat in a plastic bag, wrapped it in a towel and placed it in a cooler at about 3pm.  It was falling apart as I pulled it off the BGE.

Two hours later I pulled out a still very hot brisket out of the cooler, laid it on a wooden cutting board and just pulled it apart with a fork. It was tender and juicy and delicious. It turned out way better than I had hoped.

The Verdict:

Please make this. It is much simpler to make than I expected. I was really lucky to get the timing right the first time, but actually making it, cooking to temperature and then checking for tenderness is all you need to worry about to get a delicious result.

Just an update:

We recently made another brisket and followed the directions above and it turned out great again! Take a look at a few new photos below. Also note the new input on this page all noted in red:

Sandwich the day after the brisket is amazing

Shown trimmed with the fat below

Added salt and pepper rub

Dinner time

On the BGE!

Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:


So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. 

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer

Prime Rib and Au Jus on the Big Green Egg

We ventured into Costco on a fine Saturday morning drunk on the good luck of landing the second best parking space in the lot. That's clean living folks. It was going to be a big day. I took a photo of me in the second best parking spot.

Distractions aside. We made our way to the meat counter where I find myself surveying the "USDA Prime" meat selections. After a little salesmanship and calculating I convinced my bride that a 17-pound slab of prime grade boneless whole ribeye was a great buy, anticipating cutting it up into several 1-pound steaks and two 4-pound pieces to make a prime rib.

I had to do a bit of Googling to determine if this was in fact the correct cut and determined that it sort of is. A traditional prime rib is cooked bone in and then trimmed. My cut is boneless but it is the same cut. So... close enough for government work.

Also, do not be fooled by the title "Prime Rib."  The "prime" in the prime rib has nothing to do with the USDA grade that is affixed to the meat. Mine happened to be USDA Prime but it could have been USDA Choice and it would still be a "Prime Rib."

After slicing my slab up into 9 thick one-pound steaks (double servings), I also carved out 2 four-pound roasts for prime rib.

Don't forget our DigiQ to maintain temp.

BBQ Guru DigiQ DX2 Kit for Big Green Egg

Research:

Ingredients:

1- USDA Prime rib roast sliced off the 17-pound slab.  I used a 4-pound cut to serve four people, including two hungry teenage boys.

Au Jus:
We used Bobby Flay's recipe for Au Jus
Collected pan drippings (collected using an iron skillet in the egg)
1-1/3 cups of red wine to the drippings and scrape with a wood spoon - cook to reduce
2-2/3 cups of beef stock - reduce by half
whisk in thyme and salt and pepper to taste

Going to try and talk Julie into making Yorkshire Pudding. If I do, we will do that as a separate post.

Execution:

Set the roast on the counter and added salt and pepper and a dash of cayenne. Let the steaks warm up just a little. About an hour before cooking. For best results, throughly thawed and temperature consistent throughout.

Started heating the egg at 6pm. Plate setter in, egg temperature 375 (Should be more like 300 next time) degrees. Going to add a second tier to the egg for the roast so I can use the lower level to place the skillet to catch the roast drippings. Need those for the Au Jus.

Cook roast until the interior temp is about 110 degrees. Normally I would cook it less and use the sear stage to raise the temp a little more but with such a large hunk the searing won't really affect the interior center temp and we will have some carryover.

Remove to rest.

Take the plate setter out and run the egg temperature up to 600 degrees.

2 minutes each side. Nice Char.

Remove and let it rest for 10-15 minutes

Then slice and serve. Used my giant scalloped roast slicer that Aaron Franklin uses. See link below.

Enjoy!

Verdict:

Two mistakes here. First, I overcooked it a little. Should have roasted it at 300 or a little lower until 110 interior, and second the exterior was a little bitter with too much smoke and char. Need to dial that down a little next time.

But overall still very good.

And it was another priceless evening spent with the young men - they are now 13 and 18 so I'm afraid our weekends of cooking together are going to be less often. Take advantage of the time.

We would love it if you would drop us a note in the comment section and let us know how your cook went. We are always looking for suggestions and improvements! We have opened up the comments so that anyone can post now, so please do. I'll try not to delete anything unless it is spam or stabs me in the heart.

Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:

So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. unfortunately, we don't get a dime for this but still, it is one you want.

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer