Mastering Big Green Egg Kabobs: The Ultimate Guide to Flexible Fire Wire Skewers

Grilling kabobs on a Big Green Egg presents a unique challenge, much like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Traditional straight skewers, with their rigid design, simply don’t conform to the circular cooking surface of your beloved kamado grill. This often leads to wasted space, uneven cooking, and a frustrating grilling experience. However, there’s an innovative and elegant solution to this geometrical dilemma that will transform your kabob game forever: Fire Wire flexible grilling skewers. Once you experience the convenience and versatility of Fire Wire, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without them.

Fire Wire skewers are crafted from durable, food-grade stainless steel cable material, designed to bend and coil, allowing you to perfectly arrange your kabobs in round, swirling shapes that maximize the entire cooking surface of your Big Green Egg. This ingenious design not only makes grilling easier but also opens up a world of creative culinary possibilities, turning your kabobs into true works of art. The brand, owned by the reputable Smiths company, experts in knife edges since 1888, proves that even the most established culinary traditions can benefit from a flexible approach.

My own journey to discovering Fire Wire began during a visit to the Lodge Cast Iron store in Tennessee, where a two-pack of these cable-style grill strings caught my eye. As a household with diverse dietary preferences – I’m the meat-eater, and my wife is vegetarian – Fire Wire offers an ideal solution. Each flexible skewer allows us to customize our kabobs with our favorite ingredients, simply by omitting the meat from her skewer. For larger gatherings, consider grabbing an extra two-pack, and better yet, encourage everyone to wire their own personalized kabobs for a fun, interactive grilling session!

Why Flexible Skewers Are Essential for Your Big Green Egg

Maximize Your Cooking Surface with Flexible Skewers

The Large Big Green Egg is an incredibly popular size among the brand’s seven kamado ceramic cooker styles, and it’s the one I personally chose after much research into various options. Its generous 18 1/4-inch diameter cooking grid provides 262 square inches of cooking real estate. While certainly large, this round shape creates a significant limitation when using traditional, straight skewers. Only one 18-inch skewer can fit snugly across the center of the grid. As you move outwards from the center, the permissible length of each subsequent skewer decreases significantly due to the circular perimeter. This means that to prepare a substantial quantity of kabobs, you’re forced to use increasingly shorter skewers, often limiting them to 14 inches or even less. This inefficient use of space can be a real drawback when cooking for a crowd or simply preparing more food.

The Drawbacks of Traditional, Rigid Skewers

Traditional skewers, whether metal or bamboo, present several challenges on a kamado grill. Fire Wire, for instance, can often hold twice as much food as a standard straight skewer due to its flexible nature, allowing for denser packing and swirling. The Big Green Egg company itself offers bamboo skewers, which have a long and cherished tradition in grilling. However, opting for bamboo means dealing with numerous smaller skewers. Each individual skewer needs to be turned with the same frequency, resulting in significantly more work and a greater loss of heat every time the lid is opened. Furthermore, bamboo skewers require a minimum of a half-hour soak in water to prevent them from burning, and even then, ends can char, necessitating the hassle of wrapping them in aluminum foil. Metal skewers, while reusable, are often bulky and difficult to maneuver on a round grid, creating hot spots and cold spots if not positioned perfectly.

Protect Your Big Green Egg: Keep Skewers Inside

While thin thermometer wires are perfectly fine to protrude from the side of your Big Green Egg, thicker metal kabob skewers are an entirely different story. Allowing them to hang out can lead to several problems. Heat can escape through the gap created by the skewer, making temperature regulation more difficult. More critically, a metal skewer can seriously damage your Big Green Egg’s gasket, the vital seal that maintains the kamado’s exceptional heat retention. Replacing a damaged gasket is a time-consuming and delicate process, involving the disassembly and reassembly of the metal band around the lid. It’s a chore best avoided at all costs. Fire Wire, being thin and flexible, allows you to leave the spear tip hanging outside the EGG for easy turning, then quickly cool it to a safe handling temperature, mitigating any risk of gasket damage or heat loss.

Delicious Steak Kabob Ingredients

To craft the perfect steak kabobs on your Big Green Egg, selecting fresh, high-quality ingredients is key. This recipe focuses on a vibrant mix of sirloin steak and colorful vegetables, all brought together with a savory marinade.

• 1.045 lbs sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 large red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 Baby Bella mushrooms, whole or halved
• 2 ears of corn on the cob, cut into 1-inch rounds
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 summer squash, cut into 1-inch rounds
• 1 zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds
• 16 oz bottle Pirates Gold Original Marinade (or your preferred marinade)
• 1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning (optional, for extra flavor on veggies)
• 1/4 cup Bertoli cooking olive oil (or other light cooking oil)

How To Cook Fire Wire Flexible Skewer Kabobs on a Big Green Egg (Step-by-Step Guide)

Follow these detailed steps to achieve perfectly grilled, flavorful kabobs on your Big Green Egg using the versatile Fire Wire skewers:

1. Prepare Your Big Green Egg: Begin by cleaning out any residual ash from previous cooks. Use the Big Green Egg ash tool to shake out the natural lump charcoal and remove the ash. Then, add fresh BBQ lump charcoal, placing 2-3 SpeediLight starter cubes in the charcoal. Ignite the starters. Once the fire is lit, use your Big Green Egg grid lift tool to carefully place the cast iron cooking grid back onto the EGG.
2. Reach Optimal Temperature: For the first 7-10 minutes, leave the EGG lid open to allow the fire to establish quickly and reach over 400°F (204°C). After this initial period, close the lid and keep both the top and bottom vents open to maintain a consistent high temperature, typically between 350-400°F (175-204°C) for kabobs.
3. Prepare Ingredients: While the EGG heats, chop your sirloin steak and all vegetables into bite-sized chunks, roughly 1-inch cubes. A standard ear of corn on the cob will typically yield 3-4 sections. It’s crucial not to make the meat chunks excessively large, as they will cook for the same duration as the vegetables, and you want to avoid overcooking or burning your veggies. Uniformity in size ensures even cooking.
4. Marinate the Meat: Pour the entire bottle of your chosen marinade (Pirates Gold Original Marinade works wonderfully) into a large bowl. Add the cubed sirloin steak and toss to ensure all pieces are thoroughly coated. Allow the meat to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to several hours in the refrigerator for deeper flavor penetration.
5. Prepare the Vegetables: In a separate large bowl, combine your chopped vegetables with the cooking olive oil. Toss gently to ensure all the vegetable pieces are very lightly coated. This light oiling helps prevent sticking and promotes a beautiful char without overpowering their natural flavors. You can optionally sprinkle with a pinch of Old Bay Seasoning here for an extra flavor kick.
6. Thread Your Fire Wire Skewers: This is where the magic of Fire Wire comes in! Begin threading your alternating pieces of marinated meat and oiled vegetables onto the flexible Fire Wire skewers. (Note: I typically use about 3/4 of the meat for kabobs, with any extra going to our happy Bernedoodle!). For tougher items like corn sections, give the steel tip an extra twist and firm push to get through the center. Fire Wire is robust enough to hold all your pieces securely. Once threaded, pass the tip through the loop at the other end, creating a closed circle. This allows you to hold the entire strand by the tip for easy handling.
7. Arrange and Grill Kabobs: Before opening the lid fully, “burp” the EGG twice by slightly cracking the lid open for a few seconds. This prevents a sudden rush of smoke and heat. Then, open the lid completely and arrange your Fire Wire skewers creatively on the cast iron grid. The flexibility allows for various configurations; you can coil them, weave them, or even swirl them around other items if you’re multi-tasking (like I was with a 10 1/2-inch cast iron skillet of cornbread). This adaptability truly highlights why flexible skewers outperform traditional straight ones.
8. Turning Your Kabobs Safely: Initially, leave the Fire Wire tip on the cooking surface until the EGG temperature hits around 180°F (82°C) to ensure it’s sanitized by the heat. After that, wearing a heat-resistant grilling glove, carefully remove only the tip of the Fire Wire from the cooking surface and let it hang outside the grill. The exposed tip will cool to a safe-to-touch temperature within approximately two minutes, allowing you to use it as a convenient handle to effortlessly turn your kabobs for even cooking on all sides.
9. Check for Doneness: Cook your kabobs for about 15-20 minutes, turning every 5-7 minutes. Before removing the Fire Wire, give the meat a quick check for your desired doneness. Remember that meat continues to cook for a few minutes after it’s removed from the heat (carryover cooking). If you prefer medium-rare, aim for a slightly pinker center on the grill. An internal thermometer reading of 135-140°F (57-60°C) for medium-rare sirloin is a good target.
10. Remove and Rest Food: Once cooked to perfection, carefully remove the kabobs from the Big Green Egg using your grilling gloves. Immediately close both the top and bottom vents of the EGG. This will starve the fire of oxygen, causing the charcoal to extinguish itself in about 15 minutes, preserving unused fuel for your next cook. Allow the kabobs to rest for 5-10 minutes on a platter; this allows the juices to redistribute, resulting in a more tender and flavorful bite.
11. Effortless Serving: After a couple of minutes, the Fire Wire will have returned to ambient temperature. Simply hold the cable cord by the looped end and slide all the delicious food pieces off directly onto your serving platter. No awkward scraping or wrestling with stuck food!
12. Easy Cleanup: Cleanup is a breeze. Wash the Fire Wire skewers in the sink with soap and water – their smooth surface makes them incredibly easy to clean. For your EGG’s cast iron grid, a quick scrub with a safe, non-abrasive scrubber (one that won’t leave metal fibers) is all that’s needed. Then, season the grid lightly with cooking oil to prevent rust.

Versatile Kabob Variations and Substitutions

The beauty of kabobs lies in their adaptability. Feel free to experiment with different ingredients and techniques to suit your taste and dietary needs:

• Lighter Fare: For a healthier option, skip the marinade and the veggies’ cooking oil coating. You can season with dry rubs or fresh herbs instead to decrease calories while still enjoying vibrant flavors.
• Alternative Marinating Method: A significant advantage of the Fire Wire BBQ grilling tool is its flexibility in marinating. Instead of marinating individual pieces, you can skewer your food first, then coil the entire Fire Wire into a large storage bag or bowl. Seal it and allow it to marinate for up to an hour. This method reduces handling time and mess, as you only touch the meat once during the preparation process. While Pirates Gold Original Marinade works well with veggies, we often prefer a light oil rub for them to keep their natural crispness.
• Rainy Day Grilling: If you often grill in variable weather, consider Big Green Egg’s rEGGulator rain cap. It’s designed to fit perfectly into the sleeve of your rEGGulator. Having the original daisy wheel cover myself, I’m strongly considering upgrading to the newer rEGGulator to take advantage of this accessory. Unpredictable rain can hinder temperature regulation, as drops can either trickle through an open cap, or closing it fully restricts airflow. While the Big Green Egg performs admirably in all elements, a specialized rain cap can eliminate this minor annoyance.
• Skewer-Free Option: For those who prefer to skip skewers entirely, grill baskets or specialized grill tops offer another way to enjoy kabob-style fixings. These allow you to grill ingredients loosely, achieving similar flavors and textures with even less effort. While not technically “kabobs” in the traditional sense, they offer the same delicious combination of grilled meat and vegetables.
• Separate Cooking Times: Many grill masters prefer to cook meats and vegetables on separate skewers due to their differing cooking times. With Fire Wire, you can easily implement this strategy. Use one or two Fire Wires for meat-only kabobs and separate Fire Wires for vegetable-only strands. This allows you to remove vegetables as they reach perfection, while the meat continues to cook to your desired doneness, ensuring everything is perfectly cooked.

Expert Grilling Tips and Tricks

Enhance your Big Green Egg kabob experience with these practical tips and clever tricks:

• Glove Up for Easy Skewering: When threading food pieces onto the Fire Wire, use a pair of disposable nitrile grilling gloves. These gloves provide excellent grip, especially when dealing with slippery kabob ingredients wet with marinade and oil, making the skewering process much easier and cleaner.
• Expand Your Grilling Capacity: The Big Green Egg EGGspander accessory is a game-changer for maximizing your cooking space. It offers up to 35 different configurations for arranging 3-tier cooking grids, allowing you to go more vertical with your kamado cooker. By utilizing half-moon cooking grids in this setup, you can arrange your Fire Wire kabob strands on different levels, creating even more space for a larger quantity of flexible kabob wires. This is perfect for larger gatherings or meal prepping.
• Post-Kabob Cooking: After removing your kabobs from the Big Green Egg, you’ll often have a robust fire still roaring in the EGG. This is an opportune time to utilize the residual heat for additional cooking. Consider popping on some chicken breasts, sausages, or even baked potatoes for upcoming meals during the week. It’s an efficient way to make the most of your charcoal before you close the vents and let the smoker extinguish itself. If you don’t cook anything extra, simply closing the vents means less charcoal will be consumed, leaving more for your next cook.
• Even Doneness with Varied Ingredients: If you’re mixing ingredients with different cooking times (e.g., quick-cooking shrimp with slower-cooking potatoes), consider cutting the slower-cooking items smaller, or pre-cooking them slightly before skewering. Alternatively, as mentioned in variations, using separate Fire Wires for fast-cooking and slow-cooking items is a foolproof method.
• Rest Your Meat: Don’t underestimate the importance of resting your kabobs after grilling. A 5-10 minute rest allows the juices in the meat to redistribute throughout the steak, resulting in a more tender and flavorful bite. Tent them loosely with foil to keep them warm.

The Big Green Egg is truly an incredibly versatile cooking device, excelling at grilling, smoking, and even baking. When you combine its capabilities with the innovative design of flexible Fire Wire skewers, you’re not just cooking food; you’re creating culinary art. The ease of use, space efficiency, and creative freedom offered by Fire Wire make it an indispensable accessory for any Big Green Egg enthusiast.