Posted by JJ on 23rd Apr 2024

3 Reasons You Must use the Raised Direct Cooking Method for Burgers, Steak, & Chicken on the Big Green Egg (Reason #2 is the Game Changer!)

When I first started cooking on my Big Green Egg, I never really payed much attention to the placement of my grill grate. I mainly used it for longer smokes like butts, ribs, and briskets because, when I would cook burgers or chicken directly over the coals, I was always battling not to dry them out. Then I attended an Eggfest in North Georgia that forever changed my direct grilling method on the Big Green Egg.

At most Big Green Eggfests you have 40 plus cooking teams making a variety of dishes on the Big Green Egg and serving it up in one bite dishes... Its like Costco samples on steroids! If you are an Egghead and have never been to an Eggfest, you have to go!

As I was grazing on the delicious bites at the Georgia Mountain Eggfest this particular year, I noticed that everyone cooking anything hot and fast, was using something to raise their grill grate up to the opening of their Big Green Egg... There were beer cans, bricks, bolts, and homemade brackets. Upon arriving home, I setup some beer cans in my grill, put my grate on, and proceeded to cook the best chicken wings that I had ever grilled!

The reason that the Raised Direct method works so well makes perfect sense:

1. When you raise the grate up and away from the coals, you are creating a Greater Distance from the coals underneath.

2. By moving meat closer to the dome of your Egg, you are actually taking advantage of what makes the Big Green Egg so great in the first place.... CONVECTION!!!

3. Convection allows you to cook evenly and is also VERY FORGIVING! If you get tied up with something in between flips of the meat, you are much less likely to burn up or dry out what you are cooking.

For years I experimented with different methods to raise my grill grate, but there were problems. The grate was unstable because I was just propping it up and sometimes, whatever I was using to hold the grate up would slip off... especially when flipping meat. Cleaning the grate using homemade risers was out of the question.

So, we set out to make a product that solves these 4 main problems:

1. Raises your grate to the appropriate level to maximize convection when cooking direct on the Big Green Egg:

The JJGeorge Grate Riser puts your grill grate at the perfect height for raised direct grilling and convection.

2. Make the grate sturdy so that it will remain in place when cleaning or flipping meat:

The JJGeorge Grate Riser clips around the Fire Ring in your Egg to lock it in place for maximum stability.

3. Be unobtrusive, so that adding charcoal or wood chips is easy:

The open design makes it easy to add charcoal or wood chips.

4. Be both durable and affordable:

The riser is made from 6mm 304 stainless steel and it arrives at your door for less than $35 shipping and all.

After 18 months of design and testing, we think we have nailed it!

Introducing: the JJGeorge Grate Riser for the Large Big Green Egg

(XL & Medium risers coming in the future).