About a week ago I stumbled upon a blog post from a fellow Big Green Egg enthusiast that explained how he had attempted to do tandoor style cooking using his Big Green Egg. If your unfamiliar with a Tandoor there is a good write-up on Wikipedia, but the essence of it is captured as:
The food is cooked over a hot charcoal fire or wooden fire . Temperatures in a tandoor can approach 480° C (900° F), and it is common for tandoor ovens to remain lit for long periods of time to maintain the high cooking temperature. The tandoor design is something of a transitional form between a makeshift earth oven and the horizontal-plan masonry oven, and is used almost exclusively for live-fire, radiant heat cooking.
If you’ve ever had Tandoori Chicken at an Indian restaurant you’ve eaten food from a tandoor. It has a very distinctive flavor, and is not easily reproduced at home.
I read this other guys first try “Big Green Egg as a Tandoor Oven?” as well as his second try “Tandoori Experiment 2“. I sent these links to my friend Senthil who is from India. He’s from southern India and tandoor cooking is a northern India thing so he was as unfamiliar with a tandoor as I was! He has a connection with Taste of India and we were able to secure some of uncooked Tandoori Chicken from them. This was important since we would be able to isolate the taste based on cooking method, rather than the marinade and preparation.
Preparation
Preparing the Big Green Egg to be used as a Tandoor was simple. I topped off the firebox as I would with any high heat preparation. Getting that hot uses a lot of charcoal. I let the fire get going with the top completely uncovered and the bottom vent fully open. Once we got to 400° F we quickly climbed all the way to 600° F.
There was flame in the Big Green Egg with that much air going through. Very, very hot blue flames. We needed to make sure the chicken wasn’t torched in the flames so I took the plate setter from my small Big Green Egg and put it upside down, straight on the charcoal, in the large Big Green Egg. This worked great. It pushed the open flame to the sides and still allowed plenty of air for high heat cooking. It also gave us a stable, flat surface on the bottom to hold the skewer in place.
Putting the plate on the charcoal stunted the temperature momentarily but it quickly regained it’s footing until we reached a roaring 680° F. Now, that’s not the 900° that a true tandoor may reach, but it’s plenty hot enough.
Cooking
We placed the chicken on a skewer that was about four feet long and placed the hook down so that it could not slide off. We then simply slid the entire thing through the top of the Big Green Egg, never opening it. It is important at this point to make sure that you skewer the chicken in a manner that will allow it to fit through the top. We had to do some maneuvering for some of our pieces but it worked fine.
After 8 minutes we pulled it and checked the for temperature but it wasn’t done. We put it in for about 5 more minutes. Ultimately, we probably could have pulled it 2 minutes earlier.
Results
Oh my! The results were amazing! The thing that hit both Senthil and I was how incredibly juicy the chicken was. It was cooked in an inferno but the meat was incredibly succulent. It had that wonderful red color that you get from tandoor cooking. It absolutely looked and tasted like the real deal. In fact we both felt that it tasted better than the Tandoori Chicken we’ve had at most Indian restaurants.
This is really easy to do and I encourage Big Green Egg owners to give it a try. Equipment wise you will need some specific items:
- Something to block direct flame and sit right on the coals. This is going to get very hot so pick your tool right. The small Big Green Egg plate setter works perfect!
- You will need a seriously robust skewer. The one we used was 1/4″ steel rod that was enameled. It was custom made for the tandoor in an a restaurant. It was also 4 feet or more long. You’ll need a lot of space.
- You will need gloves that can deal with 700° F. I used very serious gloves put they still let heat through when holding the skewer after it came out. Be prepared to deal with a very hot item.
Other than that, just enjoy some amazing tandoor cooking at home. We want to try cooking bread next!
fantastic information – will be referring to it – need to find strong skewer now!
I stumbled across this a few weeks ago and had a heck of a time finding it again. I went on the Big Green Egg forum (but didn’t like any of the methods as much as i liked this one. I have to go buy the small plate setter tomorrow. However, I guess I’m going to have to wait another week to cook the chicken. When I re-read the article I realized I still need to locate the appropriate skewers and gloves. At least I’ll be one step closer after buying my small plate setter!!
Thanks for the comment Keith. You could probably get away with something other than the small plate setter as well. Just something that is flat and can sit right on the charcoal. I happen to have a small egg so it’s convenient for me.
I just stumbled upon this well written post. Very impressive technique. I’ve had a large BGE for 10 years and I am a rabid promotor of its virtues, Now you’ve given me a new avenue to explore – many thanks. Couple of questions: it’s hard to tell from the pictures if you are cooking a whole jointed chicken? Do you have a supply source for the skewer ?
Hey Bob! I’m glad you found the post and found it useful.
The chicken was a whole jointed chicken. We had a couple legs and a couple thighs on there.
The skewer we used was borrowed from a local Indian restaurant and is one that they use in their tandoor. I have not found a skewer to buy yet. It needs to be long, probably 4 feet. And it needs to have some size to it since it’s sitting in really hot coals. I would worry that some skewers would start to bend if they were too thin. If you find anything online I’d love to know.
Good Eggin’!
Jamie,
Much appreciate your getting back to me. I will definitely let you know if and when I find the skewer. Once I’ve found this critical component I’ll let you know how my Tandoor experience goes, should be a lot of fun.
By the way this method should work well with lamb kebabs. Our local Afghani kebab place uses a tandoor for bread and all of their kebabs.
Thanks again for sharing this clever technique.
Bob
The skewer could easily be made if you just get a 4 foot section of steel rod and put a 180 degree bend on one end. Done. Nothing fancy required.
Lamb Kebabs sounds fabulous!
I cannot wait to surprise my wife with this idea of yours. I received the BGE for fathers day and I think we have used our kitchen oven once since then. I am still in the experimental phase of cooking but your attention to detail can’t be beat.
Barbecue Skewers – Set of 4 – Industrial Strength
I bought these from amazon
29.95 + 5.00 or so for shipping
They fit perfectly in a big green egg large at 30 inches. Used them for tandoori chicken!!!
Extreme caution re: handling! these are HEAVY DUTY and will get RED HOT. They’ll burn through anything, use welding gloves.
One set Of 4 skewers. Dimensions: 3/4″ x 1/2″ x 30″ long. This heavy duty skewer is designed for industrial strength barbecuing. The one piece construction permits easy and complete cleaning.
Product Features
Thanks for the information Kerry! I added a link to your comment so it would be easy for others to find. They look like they would work just perfect!
Thanks for the info, this is brillaint. I just got my BGE yesterday and am so impressed, cant wait to try Paneer Tikka in it.
Thanks for your post. I found these online and ordered a set. Looking forward to trying them out.
http://www.nishienterprise.com/Tandoor-Accessories-s/64.htm
Had my BGE for 6 years. I just watched an old episode of “Good Eats” where Alton used a pot to make a tandoori. It occurred to me immediately that the Eggs would work and I found your article. Plan on trying it soon. Thanks!