Eggs are not just for Easter

Dizzy Pig classes draw aspiring master grillers who love their Eggs

There are a few things you need to grill salmon properly.

1. Make sure your fish is fresh and sourced from someone who knows a thing or two about great seafood. Dizzy Pig founder Chris Capell gets his from the hills of southwest Virginia. More on that in a bit.

2. Make sure you use the right kind of charcoal on the grill — wood briquettes work nicely to get the temperature up to the needed 500 degrees.

3. As for the grill, well for that, you’ll need a cooker shaped like an egg.

And those cookers, called “Big Green Eggs,” are what keep people coming back to Dizzy Pig in Prince William County to learn from the master grill chef.

Grilling for 20 years now, award-winning competitive chef and Dizzy Pig founder Chris Capell fired up his Big Green Egg for more than 25 people on a cold and gray Saturday morning in March. They were there for an expert seafood cooking class.

And while not ideal barbeque weather, Capell’s students enthusiastically encircled him on an outdoor patio as he smoked choice cuts of salmon.

Capell keeps the fish to one side of the grate, so as not to burn it, allowing for even heat distribution throughout the grill. The grate is positioned as high as possible, keeping the fish far from the flames.

He applies a butter-maple glaze to the fish and cooks each piece for about ten to twelve minutes on each side until it becomes a dark, rich color worthy of its namesake.

Once finished, Capell pulls the fish from the grill and places perfect portions into trays. He passes them around, so everyone gets a taste.

The smoky flavor gives the fish a more meaty feel, while the glaze adds an unexpected savory undertone. There is nothing fishy about this meat, and the crowd can’t get enough, as many return for seconds.

Preparing the fish

Capell bought his first Big Green Egg in 1998, four years before founding Dizzy Pig. And he’s been sourcing his fish from the hills of southwestern Virginia for many years.

“I had to drive down to Blacksburg this week to get this,” Capell told his class.

This fresh catch is not from any mountain lake, but rather the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Capell knows a couple that lives in Blacksburg. They travel to the shore each week to bring back seafood to sell to Blacksburg locals.

“They really know what they’re looking for when it comes to quality, and I’ve relied on them for years,” he said.

He takes his time to prepare the fish, using a six-inch blade to carefully slice away the skin. Afterward, he goes back and removes any leftover membranes.

“Some people like to cook the fish with the skin on, but it tastes very fishy,” Capell explained.

“There’s also a bloodline that runs underneath the skin. That’s fishy too,” he said, while making precision cuts with the blade.

Building a fanbase

This seafood cooking class is one of many Capell holds at his Dizzy Pig Headquarters near Innovation Park. With its large open space, high ceilings and a video monitor that gives the attendees a birds-eye view of Capell preparing his meat, the classroom serves as an ideal meeting space.

Down the hall is the grill shop, where visitors find shelves full of Dizzy Pig seasonings developed by Capell and his team. The new “Raging River” blend is meant to be used on pork, chicken, and salmon. The truth is it tastes great on everything.

The room is also stocked with an array of The Big Green Egg ceramic kamado-style cookers. Capell swears by them, and, even with prices ranging from $800 to $2,500 a cooker, so do his fans who’ve purchased from him.

“We’ve bought two Eggs, and we cook everything on them, especially in the winter months,” said Jill Caballero of Amissville, Va.

A year-round griller, she uses her Egg three to four times a week to make everything from meats to cake. Yes, cake, the kind you would eat on your birthday.

“It’s really good,” she said.

Many in the class own a Big Green Egg or are contemplating a purchase. These classes serve as how-tos for the Egg faithful.

John and Nelle Krobath of Haymarket purchased their Egg at Dizzy Fest, an annual event Capell holds to showcase great competition cooking on Big Green Eggs.

“We got ours already assembled and broken in,” said John Krobath.

The class was a mixture of singles and couples all looking for a shared cooking experience, and looking to share with each other tips and tricks they’ve learned along the road to master grilling.

Dizzy Pig charges $95 per person or $180 a couple for the four-hour class packed with camaraderie and instruction. It’s part seeing, part cooking and part eating.

Capell is open to questions from the class throughout the experience. Attendees also get a 5 percent discount in the grill store and are served refreshments.

Attendees may register online for an April 21, 2018, pork barbeque class. The class is held from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. at Dizzy Pig Headquarters, located at 11301 Braden Drive.