LISTEN: Click here to listen to an audio story about the clebration of 50 Years of the Big Green Egg.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia — From the moment we stepped out of the car, the smell was inescapable, that sweet smell of charcoal emanating from a Big Green Egg.
Inside Coolray Field, Big Green Egg’s EGGtoberfest celebrates everything related to the venerable ceramic cooker. As it celebrates 50 years, the Big Green Egg has engrained itself in the cooking community — from backyard warriors to full-time professional chefs.
Mel Chmilar from Edmonton, Alberta, has been attending since 2017 and usually cooks a whole hog.
“For eggheads, for people in the Big Green Egg community, it’s a lot like any other cult eclectic hobby,” Chmilar said. “We have Big Green Egg socks. We have Big Green Egg shoes. We have Big Green Egg coasters. It’s like the train collectors Mecca; this is our Super Bowl.
“It’s an absolutely amazing thing, and the neat part about Big Green Egg and eggheads is that it’s right through the family,” Chmilar added. “So it’s a family affair. Friends come out, too, as well. It’s a huge thing. Anytime you can sit around the dinner table, it’s something that everyone wants to come out and be a part of, and you see it here — it’s massive; it’s gigantic.”
Bill Fink of Decatur, Georgia, has had a Big Green Egg for about 20 years and attended his 18th EGGtoberfest this year. He found his first Big Green Egg on the side of the road; a neighbor looking to dispose of the ceramic cooker put it out by the curb.
“So it’s Sunday afternoon; I’m driving home,” Fink said. “I pulled my truck up, stopped, it’s on the curb, and I put it in the bed of my truck. I put it on the tailgate, and then I walked up to the front door.
“‘Are you really getting rid of this?’” Fink asked.
Indeed, his neighbors, a few doors down, were disposing of their medium Big Green Egg. Of course, the free Big Green Egg needed a little TLC.
“I was ignorant — didn’t know that you could buy parts. So I went to the metal shop, and I made my parts, and then I got on Craigslist and traded for some parts and ended up with an egg,” Fink recalled.
It was the first of more than 10 Big Green Eggs Fink has in his collection.
What is quickly apparent at an event like this — for veteran Eggheads and newbies alike — is how versatile the Big Green Egg is. The only limitation to what one can cook on the Big Green Egg is the chef’s imagination.
Smoked eggs Benedict? Who would have thought?
But more than any culinary creation, the Big Green Egg brings together people worldwide to fellowship over food.
“It’s more than just a ceramic cooker. There are other ceramic cookers out there; there’s only one egg,” Dan Gertsacov, CEO of Big Green Egg, told Sightseers’ Delight. “Because the egg is really about connection. It’s about family, friends and neighbors. It’s about gathering. It’s about deciding not to … go for takeout or go through the drive-thru. It’s about family. It’s about friends, about communities. That’s what we’re all about.
“These people around here believe what I believe — that there’s a joy of cooking,” Gertsacov added. “You want to share that with your family, friends and neighbors.”
