Jamie Thingelstad Profile Photo

Jamie Thingelstad

Writer of the Weekly Thing. Blogger. Explorer of tech, the open web, AI, and a good escape room. Maybe a podcast? CTO of SPS Commerce, Board Member of MnTech, Former Board Member Minnestar. Minneapolis is home.

Cooking

Outdoor cooking experiments—primarily on my Big Green Egg and new Traeger grill—are documented here. Posts recount brisket attempts, sous‑vide pork butt sessions and holiday tenderloin traditions, with candid notes on smoke, temperature and results.

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    Making EGGfest Chili from Big Green Egg cookbook. Smells awesome! On the Big Green Egg for a couple hours of smoking.

    Blue Dutch oven filled with tomato-based chili with beans and meat, sitting inside an open Big Green Egg ceramic grill surrounded by snow.

    Using binoculars to check Big Green Egg temperature. Cold out there! 🥶

    Off the grill. Initial taste is great! Smoked chili!

    Large blue Dutch oven filled with bubbling red tomato-based chili on a gas stovetop, sides splattered from cooking.
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    Prime Rib Rubbed for the Egg.

    Large prime rib roast coated in a herb and spice rub on a wooden cutting board in a kitchen

    Grilling in the rain — no reason to not grill!

    Two Big Green Egg ceramic kamado grills on a wet wooden deck and workbench, smoking in the rain, with tongs and grilling tools nearby.

    Prime Rib on the Egg. Looks delicious!

    Large herb-crusted prime rib roast cooking on a Big Green Egg kamado grill surrounded by whole potatoes, onions, and beets.

    Prime Rib resting. “Let it rest for 30 minutes.”

    Prime rib roast with bones resting on a cutting board, dark crust and pink interior visible, tongs alongside

    Prime Rib Sliced. Perfect!

    Sliced prime rib roast on a wooden cutting board showing a pink medium-rare interior and dark seasoned crust
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    Big Green Egg truck spotted in front of Settergren’s Ace Hardware.

    White Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck with Big Green Egg World's Best Smoker and Grill branding parked on a street.
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    Eggciting!

    Row of Big Green Egg ceramic kamado grills in various sizes displayed outside a store
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    Intermediate stage for porterhouses on Big Green Egg. Firing up to 700 °F to finish.

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    Luckily found out early my Big Green Egg is frozen shut. Also lucky there is charcoal in it to burn and thaw

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    • Picking up two whole beef tenderloins for tonights grilling extravaganza! I (heart) Clancey’s.
    • I really need to learn to call my meat order ahead to Clancey’s. Let them prep ahead of time.
    • Getting whole beef tenderloin at the butcher is like having your birthday at Applebees - everyone claps and congrats abound.
    • Getting whole beef tenderloin at the butcher is like buying a MacBook at the Apple Store. “Congratulations!” and big smiles.
    • Man, there goes more arm hair courtesy of the Big Green Egg.
    • I’m experimenting with the tenderloins tonight. Hopefully I won’t regret it. 😕
    • Tenderloins were great. Consensus around the table is the coffee beat the pepper crusted.
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    Four pounds Beef Tenderloin going on the Big Green Egg.

    Herb-crusted beef tenderloin tied with twine resting on the grill grate of a Big Green Egg ceramic smoker outdoors.

    Plated.

    Sliced beef tenderloin with herb and pepper crust on a white plate, cooked to medium-rare with pink interior
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    Big Green Egg Pro Tip: Vent Alignment

    Over the weekend I decided it was time to do a full cleaning of my Big Green Egg. Now and then I find it helpful to actually pull out the fire box and fire ring to get all the ash out of every part of the grill. I know that I need to do this if I can’t easily get the temperature on the grill up over 650 °F. The airflow is just being limited. Time to clean out all the parts.

    I got it all cleaned out and as I was putting the parts back together I took a moment to think about technique when pulling ash out with the ash tool. I’m right-handed, and I find that I have a much easier time working the ash tool from the right side of the draft door with my right hand. Thus far I’ve always aligned the fire box to be centered with the draft door (per the instructions). This time I tried something new.

    Since I work the ash tool from the right hand side, I put the ash tool into the draft door and then put the fire box in so that it was also aligned on the right side. The result is that I have a lot of open space that I can work the ash tool over and am much more effective at getting ash out as needed. (If you are left-handed I would align the draft door and fire box to the left side.) I also have very little need to work the ash tool with my left hand since I can reach most of the chamber from the right.

    Interior of a Big Green Egg ceramic grill viewed from above showing the ceramic fire box with air holes and ash tool inside, sitting on a wooden deck Interior of a Big Green Egg ceramic grill showing the firebox chamber with soot and ash residue, and a metal ash tool inserted through the draft door opening. Top-down view inside a Big Green Egg ceramic grill showing the ash-covered fire box floor with a metal ash tool inserted through the right side of the draft door vent opening.

    In these pictures the ash tool is inserted along the right hand side of the draft door and fire box. For a refresher on what the fire box, fire ring are see the Big Green Egg components section of their website.

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    Roll of brown felt gasket tape coiled on a white surface, used for sealing a Big Green Egg grill lid.

    Brand new gasket for the large Big Green Egg tonight. It always feels like the grill is shiny and new with a brand new gasket. It closes with a soft thud, and the seal is perfect. Time for an extra low temperature smoke with a perfect gasket.

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