re: Strongly considering getting a Big Green Egg grill. Any thoughts, advice and tips?

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Sentrius

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Word of advise, get the Kamado Joe Classic II. Same thing as an egg, but it is updated. Has oven gaskets instead of felt gaskets. Has better dampers than the BGE daisy wheel. Has the divide and conquer system, where you can adjust your grates to different heights. The ceramic fire box is segmented in the KJ, as opposed to 1 piece in a BGE. Some people have had complaints of the fire box cracking. Also, KJ has more accessories that come with it, whereas you have to buy a lot of the accessories for the BGE.

This video gives a good comparison of the 2.

LINK

Now in terms of cooking, nothing can beat a ceramic cooker. I've cooked everything from steaks and burgers, to smoked butt, brisket, beef plate ribs, baby backs. I've made Pizza on this thing, and may be one of the best things to make on here.
In short, a ceramic will make you a better cook. It is essentially, an outdoor oven. So anything you can do in an oven, you can do in a ceramic cooker. You can additionally smoke things or sear. If you keep your dampers wide open you can get the grill 700+. Hottest i got it was 750, it could have gotten hotter, but i was curious.
If you are used to using a weber kettle grill, like i was, then you'll have a little bit of a learning curve.
1) The "get the pit as hot as you can before adding meat" method that i used on the weber does not apply here. You will scorch your food. You'll need to learn your grill temps for cooking things. For steak, i get the grill to about 550, sear for 2 minutes, turn, 2 minutes, flip, 2 minutes, turn, 3 minutes, and it cooks a perfect steak.
2) If you are getting your grill really hot, watch for the back draft. Only happened to me once, but i had the heat rolling, and opened up the lid without burping first and a flame rolled out the opening. Luckily i didn't have the lid too high. So a word of advise, burp your kamado grill before opening.
3) When smoking, once you are at the temp you are at, leave it. I was used to always fidgeting with the smoker to maintain heat. You don't have to do that with this. Just set your dampers to barely open, and let it go. Damper positions will take a little to get used to. For smoking, you only need both the dampers barely open and it will maintain a steady 230-250 for 10-12 hours. No adding charcoal or anything.
4) DO NOT USE A WATER PAN. You don't need it. I know it's counter intuitive for smoking, but you really don't need it with a ceramic. It maintains moisture so well that your food will not dry out, unless you keep opening the lid. I used a water pan 2 or 3 times when i first got my joe. I then tried it without. Much better smoke and bark without. Not a huge difference, but i did find the water pan made more of a mess. Moisture kept seeping out of the cracks and vents.
5) This really isn't kamado specific, but you don't need to soak your wood when smoking. I just started doing this. Now, when i add my charcoal, i add my wood at the same time, placing the pieces randomly throughout the charcoal.
6) Use good lump charcoal. I use the Kamado Joe brand because it has been the best, so far. Big chunks of charcoal, and much cleaner. I made the mistake of buying the cowboy brand at costco a few weeks back. Pieces are too small, and i found limestone in the bag. Just all around too dirty. You can get a good size bag for $24 at shopper's choice of the Kamado Joe brand. My BIL swears by the big green egg brand too. I've also used B&B and really liked it as well. Large chunks.

have you ever used the looftlighter? i got it last christmas, but have been using starting cubes exclusively.

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I have a couple of buddies that own them.....they love and swear by them

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No one has bought a $1k+ ceramic grill has ever said a disparaging word about it

Lighting a BGE is simple. Just get the Square lighters or sticks at the grocery store in a bout 20 min and it's at 600.

BGE are smoker/ grills, smoker with the plate installed grill with out.

I've had one for over ten years and spent $200 on gaskets, new grates

You need to learn the BGE way to cook on it. It takes less time to cook anything better.
I cook steaks on high 2 min, 2 min, then shut down for 3-4 min. Depending on thickness.

one of those is on my back porch

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There are times when you want to do this with a Weber Kettle but not all the time. There are other ways to cook on a kettle. Just saying.

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Clearly i wasn't talking about every cooking application possible on a weber.

I have the large BGE and really like it. The new Kamado Joe's are really nice though. They are essentially the same. You won't be disappointed.

Roger that on the looftlighter: it looks like a curling iron on steroids, does a good job of lighting your lump charcoal, but will crap out after a year.

Go to Home Depot and buy a MAPP torch and be done with it. Those blue butane canisters are about $3 each and last a long time. With the torch, you can have your fire going in less than 5 minutes.