Operation Manual
3
The Big Green Egg is based on an Asian design for a clay oven 
that is more than 3,000 years old. In the 1950s, thousands of 
American servicemen were stationed in Japan where the 
so-called ‘kamado’ had been used intensively in the kitchen 
for centuries. The American G.I.s tried the tasty, juicy dishes 
prepared on the kamado, saw the potential of the 
characteristic clay pot and took it home with them to the 
United States.
Big Green Egg opened its doors in 1974 in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). 
The company originally began importing Japanese and Chinese clay 
ovens. However, in the 1970s, many new materials were developed 
thanks to the US space programme. NASA’s strict safety standards 
required very high-quality ceramics for use in the aerospace 
industry. Big Green Egg investigated the ceramics and glazes 
developed by NASA and discovered that they were ideal for a 
modern, perfected version of the ancient kamado.
Natural clay or ordinary ceramics do not deliver the strength, 
durability, weather-resistance and thermal insulation that the 
ceramics developed by NASA and used in the Big Green Egg possess. 
The ceramic used in the Big Green Egg can be heated at least a 
hundred thousand times without losing its quality. 
The Big Green Egg is produced in Mexico – a country with an 
impressive history in ceramics and famed for its excellent production 
methods. The cookers are carefully manufactured by very 
experienced crasmen in modern, immaculate production facilities. 
Before a Big Green Egg leaves the factory it undergoes a final, very 
thorough inspection. The factory is ISO 9001 UL certified, which 
means that it satisfies the industry’s highest quality standards.
By combining the principle of the traditional clay oven with unique, 
high-quality ceramics, and with the help of modern technology, it 
has been possible to create a unique cooking appliance. This lends a 
completely new dimension to cooking outside which, as the owner 
of a Big Green Egg, you will be able to enjoy doing throughout the 
year. Thanks to the high-quality ceramics used, the outside 
temperature has no eect at all on the temperature inside the EGG®. 
Summer and winter, you can prepare beautifully grilled, tender meat 
and delicious fish in a salt crust, stir-fried shellfish and a hearty stew, 
crusty bread and pizzas with a crunchy base or delicate desserts on 
the Big Green Egg.
THE HISTORY OF
BIG GREEN EGG
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