Loved the list of cookers! I've owned various cookers - gas, wood, charcoal, smokers, etc. and *nothing* comes close to the quality of cooking that I get from my Big Green Egg. I own a small Egg (13-inch grate), but I am able to cook for more with one batch of charcoal (about 3 pounds) than I ever got out one of my 2000-square inch two-box, 200-pound cast iron wood hog which required hourly infusions of 20 to 30 pounds of charcoal.
The ceramic walls provide superior insulation, making it possible to maintain pinpoint control over temrperatures and to maintain those temperatures for hours on end.
Someone posted a comment about ceramic cookers being fragile, but I've yet to hear anyone talk about owning a non-ceramic cooker for more than 5 years, whereas it's quite common for owners of ceramic cookers to talk about owning one for 20, 30, even 40 years. Yes, ceramic will break if dropped on a hard surface, but how often does that happen? What one does hear far more frequently are stories of children suffering serious burns from getting too close to metal grills, smokers, etc.
The ceramic walls provide superior insulation, making it possible to maintain pinpoint control over temrperatures and to maintain those temperatures for hours on end.
Someone posted a comment about ceramic cookers being fragile, but I've yet to hear anyone talk about owning a non-ceramic cooker for more than 5 years, whereas it's quite common for owners of ceramic cookers to talk about owning one for 20, 30, even 40 years. Yes, ceramic will break if dropped on a hard surface, but how often does that happen? What one does hear far more frequently are stories of children suffering serious burns from getting too close to metal grills, smokers, etc.