The best low-and-slow accessories for a Big Green Egg are a ceramic heat deflector (the convEGGtor), natural lump charcoal, a drip pan, a dual-probe leave-in thermometer, and an automatic temperature controller. With those five pieces in place, a Large Egg will hold 225–250°F for 12 hours or more on a single load of charcoal — no refueling, no chasing the vents at 3 a.m.
The Egg itself is already one of the most efficient smokers ever built. Thick ceramic walls, a tight-sealing dome, and a small fire mean it sips fuel. What the accessories do is solve the three problems that still trip people up: creating true indirect heat, knowing what's actually happening at grate level, and keeping airflow steady for hours on end.
What are the must-have low-and-slow accessories for a Big Green Egg?
Here's the short list, ranked by impact:
- Ceramic heat deflector (convEGGtor / plate setter) — turns your Egg from a grill into an indirect smoker. Non-negotiable for low-and-slow.
- Natural lump charcoal — the fuel the Egg was designed around; big chunks burn long and clean.
- Drip pan — protects the deflector, catches fat, and keeps your ceramics from getting gunked up.
- Dual-probe leave-in thermometer — one probe at grate level, one in the meat. The dome gauge alone isn't enough.
- Automatic temperature controller — a variable-speed fan that holds your target pit temp for hours without touching the vents.
Is a heat deflector (convEGGtor) really necessary?
Yes — if you buy one accessory for smoking on an Egg, this is it. The convEGGtor is a thick ceramic plate that sits between the fire and your food, legs-up on the fire ring, turning direct radiant heat into gentle, oven-style convection. Older Eggs shipped with a similar piece called the plate setter; same job, same idea.
Without a deflector, the bottom of a pork butt or brisket is staring straight down at glowing lump, and you'll scorch it long before the collagen breaks down. With one, the whole dome becomes an even 225–250°F environment. On the Large Egg — with its 18.25-inch grid and 262 square inches of cooking space — that means a full packer brisket or two pork butts can ride indirectly for the entire cook.
Two practical tips: buy the deflector sized for your specific Egg (they're not interchangeable between sizes), and set a drip pan on it rather than directly on the ceramics — more on that below.
What charcoal works best for long smokes in an Egg?
Natural lump charcoal, full stop. The Big Green Egg was designed around lump: irregular hardwood chunks with no binders or fillers. Those big pieces leave open air channels in the firebox, which matters enormously on a 12-hour cook where airflow is your only throttle.
Avoid standard briquettes in a kamado. They produce far more ash than lump, and in an Egg's compact firebox that ash can smother the fire and clog the lower draft over a long cook. Some kamado-specific briquettes exist, but lump is the safer default.
For an overnight smoke, fill the firebox all the way to the top of the fire ring — not just to the air holes. A full firebox of lump in a Large Egg commonly burns 12–18 hours at 225°F, which covers even a big brisket with room to spare. Nestle two or three fist-sized wood chunks (oak, hickory, or fruit woods) into the lump at different depths so they ignite in sequence; that's all the smoke wood a kamado needs. More than that and you risk bitter, over-smoked meat.
Do you need a water pan in a kamado?
A drip pan, yes — a water pan, optional. Slide a disposable aluminum pan onto the deflector under your meat. It catches rendering fat (which would otherwise bake onto the ceramic and smoke off as acrid flavors next cook), and it gives you drippings for au jus or gravy.
As for water: kamados seal so tightly that meat retains moisture far better than in an offset or kettle, so a water pan isn't doing the humidity work people assume. Its real function is as a heat sink that smooths out temperature swings. Plenty of Egg owners skip the water and fill the pan with playground sand covered in foil instead — same thermal ballast, no evaporation to refill, and nothing to slosh. Either way, use the pan.
Why cook by grate temperature instead of the dome gauge?
Because the dome thermometer isn't measuring where your food lives. During a low-and-slow cook, the reading at the top of the dome is often 25–50°F higher than the temperature at grate level, especially in the first few hours before the ceramics fully heat-soak. If you dial the dome gauge to 225°F, your brisket may actually be sitting at 185°F — and an 8-hour cook quietly becomes a 12-hour one.
The fix is a dual-probe leave-in thermometer