Got me a new cooking toy... Big Easy

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Whitewookie

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Love fried turkey, hate the expense/cleanup involved with oil, so I pulled the trigger on a Big Easy.

Wife wants me to test run it with some wings this weekend. I got a set of wing racks and a hinged basket with it.

I got no idea how this thing cooks, and any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Anybody got any good "Big Easy" wing recipes?

VR,
Harold

 
Infared cooker??? Never used one, i do have friends that do... And they love them... I'll ask around for you,,,
 
Have only done turkeys on mine, not sure how you'd do wings. Got mine on clearance for 50 bucks a couple of years ago

Obviously there is no smoke on that model. But it you use a commercial or homemade creole butter injection, and keep your bird within the size/weight they recommend, it does a great high speed roast. I imagine it would work well with a rolled beef, lamb or pork roast also. And it cooks almost at the same speed as frying, without all the mess

I guess if you could find a way to lay some kind of racks across the rungs of the "cage" meant to hold the bird, you could do wings?

We only use ours once a year, for the Thanksgiving bird, and sometimes I'll smoke a smaller one on the egg
 
I used to fry hundreds of turkeys. I'd put Big Easy Turkey up against any fried. That thing is great for chicken too. A couple of tips.

Put a whole turkey in legs down.

htef5d.jpg


This is one of the few outdoor cookers you cook by temp and not time. Internal deep breast about 172*F. This will insure thighs are to 165 +.

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The lid is for browning only. It does not hold heat and that's what keeps the food juicy. Leave it on just till the bird is the desired brownness.

Another tip: use one of the shelf basket trays to raise food off the bottom about an inch. It seems to cook better.

169g5ev.jpg


Your going to love that rig!
 
I used one in a BBQ class this summer.
The beer can chicken we did in it was fantastic but cleaning the cage was a PITA!
 
I have one. My first turkey didn't fare so well. Second cook was much better. I still may prefer my fryer/crawfish boiler.
 
I use a cake pan, springform I think, to raise up the basket and put pellets between the pan and the wall for some smoke to start.
Be sure to try baked potatoes. Rub with evoo and coarse salt and bake for an hour.
 
I have one but have only done Turkey's in it. But like Toast said they turn out awesome! It's hard to say if it's as good as traditional fried Turkey (in my opinion) without having a side by side taste test but bottom line is they are great. And you don't have to spend nearly $50 on peanut oil. This cooker just requires you rub the Turkey with peanut oil to get the crispy skin like a traditional fried turkey. You can inject and rub the turkey just like you normally would. Only thing you gotta be careful of is using sugar in any rub. It'll burn if you do. I never use sugar on anything I put on a turkey. Honestly I just rub it down with Tony Chachere. That's all you need on the outside. I put it in the cavity too. :-D
 
I have one. I've used it the last 2 thanksgivings for turkey and had pretty good results with injecting with Tony's butter sauce and rubbing with salt & pepper, etc under the skin. Not quite as good as fried turkey, but also don't have to spend money on oil, burner set, and large pot, mess, burning down stuff, etc

It took a little bit longer to cook turkey's than I expected. If you plan to cook a lot of turkey, buy two small ones and start early. Wings should be pretty good and quick, I guess you can hang them on the basket. Not worth cleaning up the basket for just a small amount of food, IMO.
 
Buy some wooden skewers (maybe 12"?) To suspend anything you want in the basket. Chicken wings, baked potatoes etc.
 
TXLX said:
It took a little bit longer to cook turkey's than I expected. If you plan to cook a lot of turkey, buy two small ones and start early. Wings should be pretty good and quick, I guess you can hang them on the basket. Not worth cleaning up the basket for just a small amount of food, IMO.
Click to expand...

This is true if you compare actual cook time. But if you look at about how long it takes to heat 3-4 gallons of oil to 325-350 (usually about 45 minutes) compared to lighting the Big Easy and within 2 min dropping the turkey in it ends up being close to the same time. It takes about 1.5-2 hours on the big easy. After a 45 min wait to get oil to temp a 12lb turkey the traditional way will cook about another 45 min or so. Oh and another thing, when you fry turkey's the traditional way you don't wanna go much over about a 12 lb turkey or the outside will get over done before the inside is finished. With the big easy you can get an 18 lb and possibly bigger cooked with no issues.
 
There are 3 different models, the original, and a slightly larger one called the Big Easy 3in1 Roaster, Smoker, and Grill, and an electric model about the same size as the 3 in 1 but called a 2 in one.

They're all over. The one shown is this thread is the original big easy. They also have one they call the special edition fryer which I believe is the same as the original but comes with some extra stuff
 
I ordered it off Ebay, but it actually was from Best Buy. I ordered the accessory kit and wing rack straight from Char Broil.

Gonna do a test cook on Sat. Still haven't decided on wings or just a whole chicken. I want to do a couple of cooks on it before T-Day and guests and all the associated hoopla....

I'll let y'all know how it turns out, good or bad.

Keep the info and suggestions coming, I'm in full blown learning mode. I don't know dammit about these beasts.

VR,
Harold
 
AClarke44 said:
This is true if you compare actual cook time. But if you look at about how long it takes to heat 3-4 gallons of oil to 325-350 (usually about 45 minutes) compared to lighting the Big Easy and within 2 min dropping the turkey in it ends up being close to the same time. It takes about 1.5-2 hours on the big easy. After a 45 min wait to get oil to temp a 12lb turkey the traditional way will cook about another 45 min or so. Oh and another thing, when you fry turkey's the traditional way you don't wanna go much over about a 12 lb turkey or the outside will get over done before the inside is finished. With the big easy you can get an 18 lb and possibly bigger cooked with no issues.
Click to expand...

I cooked two 15lb turkey's last t-day and I can't remember how long it took, but I definitely know it was at least 3 hours each because I missed meal time with the second bird. Might have just been my experience, but I'll buy 10-12 lb birds next time and hopefully be done a lot quicker. Still like a fried bird, just won't buy or store the stuff needed to make it.

Big easy is definitely worth the buy, esp if you can find on sale.
 
I just picked one up from Amazon for $99 ($30 off regular price). I figured it won't go much lower than that before Thanksgiving. I've been lurking for it and it is usually $129.
 
htrisna said:
I just picked one up from Amazon for $99 ($30 off regular price). I figured it won't go much lower than that before Thanksgiving. I've been lurking for it and it is usually $129.
Click to expand...

You won't regret the purchase. I typically only use mine for turkeys at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's worth it just for that in my opinion. :thumb:
 
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