Big Green Egg: Getting Started
Vent control, temperature control, lighting the fire, and the first cooks that teach you the most — without wasting a weekend fighting the grill.
Start with the guides
Every guide below is written from hands-on backyard cooking experience. Read one before your next cook and you'll likely notice the difference that same day.
How to Light a Big Green Egg
Lump charcoal, natural fire starters, vent settings, and how long it takes to reach cooking temperature — the clean way to light a kamado, without lighter fluid.
The Smoked Sausage Guide
From kielbasa to andouille to chorizo: how to choose sausage, how to tell a good link from a mediocre one, and how to grill and smoke it properly.
Meat Thermometers: Why Temperature Beats Time
Instant-read versus leave-in, where to probe, and the temperatures that take the guesswork out of steak, chicken, and pork.
Lump Charcoal vs. Briquettes
What each fuel actually does differently — heat, flavor, ash, burn time — and which one belongs in a kamado and which one suits a long, steady cook.
Rubs and Seasonings
Salt, pepper, sugar, heat, and smoke: how to build flavor that belongs on the meat, how to read a label, and how to season without overpowering the cook.
Steak on the Grill: The Reverse Sear
A thick steak, cooked gently first and seared last, comes out evenly done edge to edge. Here is the whole method, start to finish.
Grilling Chicken Without Drying It Out
Chicken dries out for fixable reasons: too much direct heat, no thermometer, and cutting into it too soon. Fix those three and the rest follows.
Tailgating guides
School-specific grilling advice for game day — written for the tailgate, not the stadium. Each guide covers portable setups, make-ahead food, feeding a crowd, and keeping food safe in the heat.
LSU Tailgating: Grilling Tips for Baton Rouge
Make-ahead barbecue, portable setups, feeding a grazing crowd, and keeping food safe in Louisiana heat.
Ole Miss Tailgating: Grilling Tips for the Grove
Long-day planning in Oxford, portable and tidy setups, make-ahead food, and a clean teardown.
Gear, without the sales pitch
You do not need a garage full of gadgets to grill well. You need a few things that work, chosen for the right reasons. The gear guide walks through each category — thermometers, charcoal, fire starters, tools, gloves, and cleaning gear — and explains what to look for before you buy anything.
Kamado gear picks — live now
The first set of gear picks is live: ten kamado essentials with affiliate links, on the Kamado Gear Picks page. Grilling merch is live too — four tees and hats on the Shop My Picks page. Short, shoppable grilling videos and the storefront are still in the works.
Meet the Sausage Sommelier
Bill's nickname for himself — earned one link at a time, in his own backyard, with a freezer full of varieties to compare. Meet the Sausage Sommelier and learn how a sausage tasting works, what he looks for in a good link, and what to expect from the persona on this site.
Who writes this
Bill Bulloch, the Sausage Sommelier, is a backyard griller in Roswell, Georgia, who cooks on a Big Green Egg and keeps a freezer full of smoked sausage varieties, always trying new ones. Read more on the About page, including how this site handles product mentions and what it will never claim.