Ok so price hikes aside I finally pulled the trigger and bought the mini. For portable, dinner for one fun!
It took a while to assemble and still needs some tweaking. I haven't lit a fire in it yet so the best bit is still to come. It is a lovely thing to behold and stroke, and pretty cute, but I'm a bit mixed on this fabled quality. Its not as transcendently fabulous as I've been led to behold and frankly a little rough round the edges, photos will explain. Nobody else sells a mini so no problem with this but when I do pull the trigger on a full size egg it'll be a Kamado Joe.
Anyway, back to the unboxing.
Here's them in their packaging. Egg, firebox and ring, and snuffer cap are in the box on the left, all the iron work, instructions and hinge/strap in the pizza box, which is on top of the stand.
IMG_5704 by Copsey, on Flickr
Box full of bits -instructions, gasket for the snuffer/vent, ash tool, grill gripper, vent, grate, hinge, bands and screws, tiny tel-tru thermometer (in the plastic box and the back right), CD of something (marketing stuff I assume), fire grate.
IMG_5707 by Copsey, on Flickr
Box with the egg in it and all the other ceramic bits
IMG_5708 by Copsey, on Flickr
Close up of the inside of the chimney
IMG_5709 by Copsey, on Flickr
Close up of the bottom vent. This is just very thin stainless steel, hastily hand bent, complete with mexican fingerprints and marks from the pliers used to bend the steel. Very flimsy, bit amateur.
IMG_5711 by Copsey, on Flickr
Egg as it comes in the packaging. All the ceramics inside are assembled and spaced with thin foam sheet for shipping.
IMG_5712 by Copsey, on Flickr
Nude mini egg
IMG_5713 by Copsey, on Flickr
Lid and body of the egg, snuffer cap is in the body
IMG_5714 by Copsey, on Flickr
Gasket close up
IMG_5717 by Copsey, on Flickr
Close up of the inside of the lid. There's these two "thumb prints" near the chimney, presumably where its been held for firing or glazing. The ceramic was just crumbling off here when I opened it.
IMG_5718 by Copsey, on Flickr
Inside of the body at the bottom vent. Pretty tiny vent. The vent door is screwed in and also sealed with silicon on the outside.
IMG_5720 by Copsey, on Flickr
Inside of the body of the egg. The fibre collected in the bottom is shed from the gasket, and yes that's a large splot of green glaze/paint in the middle.
IMG_5721 by Copsey, on Flickr
The instructions say not to let children play near it, here's George fixing to break it already
IMG_5725 by Copsey, on Flickr
to scale with a 5 year old
IMG_5729 by Copsey, on Flickr
The assembled cooker
IMG_5732 by Copsey, on Flickr
From the front
IMG_5734 by Copsey, on Flickr
With the cap
IMG_5735 by Copsey, on Flickr
The only image of the BGE mini on the internet with an in-focus thermometer. This is a tiny tel tru!
IMG_5736 by Copsey, on Flickr
hope you enjoyed - it is a lovely thing. Some more detail about the hinge tomorrow as I need to check I've got it right.
cheers
Ben