The grilling season is here

[slick4591[$]]

Do you have some great grilling techniques you would like to share? Any mops, marinates, brines, rubs or concoctions that work for you? If you do I would like to hear them.

The good drmomentum supplied this link chicken grilling FAQ and I wanted to share the site with everyone. The editor has some great stuff and I could only find one thing I disagreed with. Salt. I never cook with salt because it helps dry the meat. Chicken and pork 'specially.

Here's a simple brine for chicken I love and I also use as a mop while cooking. I stole it from a small country church that had a major chicken roast every October. It drew in a lot of big city folk (gauge for testing quality around here). Only back then it was two dollars a head for half a chicken and all the trimmins you could pile on.

White or yellow vinegar
Butter or margarine
Garlic powder
Black pepper

The vinegar sounds gross, but it really compliments chicken well. I don't have exact amounts, but then again, I've never learned to read measuring cups. Just triple the amount of vinegar to the amount of butter. You won't need it to completly cover the chicken, but enough that you can rotate it and keep it wet for a few hours. You know your family's taste on the other two.

Hint: When cookin' bone in, skin on chicken breasts over indirect heat and the thick part of it starts to crack on the side, it aint' done yet. Give it another twenty or thirty minutes.

Bon voyage!

[hypotenuse]

Ok. All you real grill folks will probably have a fit. And I honestly don't know why this works, but it does. And tastes scrumptious.

Tired of gnawing on dry ribs where the meat is as tough as the bone? Here ya go:

Boil them first!

Not in water silly. Drag out a huge canning pot. Then, I use about a 6 pack of beer per slab. Not choosy, any beer will do. At least a couple of 2 liter bottles of ginger ale. And a bottle of lemon conscentrate. Cover and cook for at least an hour or two per load, and you CAN reuse this stuff until you've finished all your ribs.

Stick them on the grill to cook in the bbq sauce, and you're done. I can't tell you how to do that part, cause my job is inside making the beans.




Lynne

Dennis...

I know I'm going to sound like an utter moron here, but it won't be the first time! I never claimed to be Martha Freakin' Stewart!

So here goes...

What do you do with the brine and the mop and what does that have to do with rotating the chicken?

[slick4591[$]]

Good question, Grace. The brine is the solution you soak the chicken in to increase the moisture before cooking. Some people call it marinating and my mixture could probably qualify as both.

The mop is a thin solution that you coat the meat with several times while cooking This also helps to keep the meat moist. You probably think that would be basting and it would be if the mixture was a thicker solution like barbecue sauce.

I don't make enough of the brine to completely cover the meat, so I keep rotating the pieces keeping them wet.

Hope that's a little more clear?

[slick4591[$]]

Lynne,

I know several people that par boil their ribs before cooking them over direct heat. It's hard to get ribs tender using only direct heat. I bet those flavor combinations are very tastey.

I use the indirect method and have no problems. Of course, you are talking about seven hours at 225 degrees. If all I had was a grill I'd consider par boiling. But, real BBQ folks would say that was cheatin'.:p

[drmomentum[$]]

I don't pretend to be an expert at real BBQ (never done it) or grilling (I'm a dabbler) but I'm always happy to read other people's recipes and share my own techniques.

The FAQ SLick mentiones is a real gem I recently discovered and it's sent my chicken grilling skills from OK to "Wow!" (Which is an actual quote.)

Regarding brine: literally, a brine is a salt solution that you soak meat in. The most basic brine is about 1 cup salt to 1 gallon water, but many people use spices in addition. The purpose of the brine is to force extra liquid into the meat (using osmotic pressure, I think). As the chicken pulls in the brine, any spice flavor in the brine is also drawn in.

In the case of chicken parts, you need only brine them for 90 minutes or so. A whole chicken or turkey can go for overnight. After brining, the meat is juicier and easier to avoid overcooking.

(For an extreme example of the effects of brining, ham is pork which has been brined for a long time in salt and sugar.)

Here is a brining "how to" which goes into detail about the process.

Brining is great for grilling, but I also find that a brining solution which contains crushed rosemary and garlic improves baked chicken immensely. Bake split breasts in the oven with the skin on after brining for 90 minutes and you won't believe the difference.

-JP

[hypotenuse]

Thanks Slick! That will be my only contribution to grilling, as that is my sum total in knowledge. But I really like this stuff.

And about that brining, great link JP! I'm going to seek out the whole turkey faq. Never really cared for turkey, but everyone around here seems to smoke it. Now I don't know if it's just that I don't like smoked turkey, or maybe it's just that I don't like their smoked turkey....

Perhaps I'll try the brined turkey.

Lynne

[conradd]

Originally posted by slick4591
I know several people that par boil their ribs before cooking them over direct heat. It's hard to get ribs tender using only direct heat.

Slick, honey, you also know one Oregon gal who pressure cooks her ribs. Can we talk about that too?

I use the indirect method and have no problems. Of course, you are talking about seven hours at 225 degrees. If all I had was a grill I'd consider par boiling. But, real BBQ folks would say that was cheatin'.:p

So, if I wanted to try the Slick method, what kind of setup do I need? Charcoal? And how do I indirect the heat while making it last 7 hours?

Deb

[drmomentum[$]]

Originally posted by hypotenuse

And about that brining, great link JP! I'm going to seek out the whole turkey faq. Never really cared for turkey, but everyone around here seems to smoke it. Now I don't know if it's just that I don't like smoked turkey, or maybe it's just that I don't like their smoked turkey....

Perhaps I'll try the brined turkey.

The best turkey I've ever had was brined (which acts as a marinade) and then deep fried whole in a bayou cooker.

No matter what cooking method you use, brining is probably going to improve your results.

-JP

[drmomentum[$]]

By the way,

Here is the location of the BBQ USENET LIST FAQ.

The success I've had just throwing soaked wood chips into the coals on my grill has piqued my interest in real smoking.

If you want to try out some of the effect of smoking, go to Wal*Mart and buy a bag of hardwood chips. They're not very expensive, and you don't need that many at a time, so a big bag goes a long way. Soak a handful of the chips in water about an hour before cooking, then thrown them on the coals of your charcoal grill just before you put your food on.

For things that are going to cook really fast (like in 10 minutes), only soak the chips for 15 mins or so, or don't soak them at all.

I've noticed a big difference in chicken, but not so much in steaks. Ribs are next on my list...

-JP

[hypotenuse]

Originally posted by drmomentum


The best turkey I've ever had was brined (which acts as a marinade) and then deep fried whole in a bayou cooker.

No matter what cooking method you use, brining is probably going to improve your results.

-JP

Said in very small voice:

What's a bayou cooker?


Which brings up another question. I was looking through that faq and found that pic of the grill he recommends. Now, it seems like we used to have one of those. I know I've seen one like it in Walmart for about $45. Is this the real thing? Or only a cheap imitation. And is it ok to use the cheap imitations?

I'll have some money in a week or so, thought if it's that inexpensive, combined with the fact that the kids and I would really get some use out of it, maybe I'd splurge and pick one up. Maybe if I write my name in indelible marker all over the thing I'll retain custody.

But I simply cannot spend big bucks on a grill right now. So is el-cheapo ok?

Lynne

[drmomentum[$]]

This is a "King Cooker" turkey/chicken fryer.

"Bayou Classics" is the company that makes 'em.

This is their website

I may have used "Bayou Cooker" incorrectly. A google search seemed to find smokers and BBQ grills with the name "Bayou Cooker."

On a cheap grill, what you need to do decent grilling is a grill with a cover. Some of them are pretty cheap. The cover is vital for "indirect cooking" if you want to do that. Many people swear by Weber grills, the simplest model of which looks like the one on that chicken grilling faq. These are often called "kettle grills"

I use a cheaper grill. I always go the cheapest route first because I dn't always want to really get into something. There's always time later to spend more money if I find I have taken to a hobby.

Anyhow, I have a grill that looks like this:



The side table is useful, but not absolutely necessary. You ought to be able to find a grill like this on sale this time of year.

They're out of stock at the WalMart website, but your local WalMart may have them.

-JP

[hypotenuse]

That is so cool! Did you check out the patio stoves?

Dear Santa,

I have been very good....



Ok. I've been looking ahead to what I want after getting through the couple of years of house rental I'm presently looking at. Was thinking BUILD of course. I WANT one of these when I do so. Guess I'm going to have to be a VERY good programmer.

And I can handle one of those Walmart things. They've just opened up one of the supercenters down the road a way. Surely they'll have them in stock! This is going to be fun!

Thanks!

Lynne

[slick4591[$]]

Deb,

I provided a picture of my clunky old smoker to better get the concept. I'm ashamed of the looks, but no one ever complains when they get to eat from it.

You can see it has two main areas. The firebox amd cooking box. The firebox is to the left of the cooking area and a little lower. There is a passage between the two that lets the heat and smoke into the cooking area. The heat travels across the meat and out the flue. This way the meat is not directly over the heat. There is a damper at each end so you can adjust the air flow thereby, adjusting the cooking temperature.

The kettle type and the ones like JP's you simply move the coals and the meat to opposite sides, or place the heat source in the middle and the meat around the edges. And like JP said a hood is a must for that type of cooking. Also, remember the more times you peek the longer cooking time you can expect. In my gas grill I would light one side and cook on the other.

Wood or charcoal? This was probably debated by cavemen. I use strictly wood in my smoker (flavor choice) and depend on my thermometer to tell me when I need to add more. The same applies when you use charcoal. I also try to keep my heat source as coals. Flaming wood is harder to keep at a constant temperature.

Now, I need volunteers to help refinish my old smoker.

[foxfroggy]

Y'all know the marinade trick to keep from having to turn the meat? Put the meat and marinade in a great big ole zip-lock bag and squish out all the air. Marinade touches every surface of the meat and you don't have to fuss, just wait.

A kinda weird trick from a friend with lots of freezer space and a crummy memory. He'd forget to soak the wood chips, so now he soaks a whole bunch, and freezes the wet, puffy ones on a cookie sheet and then keeps a bag of woodsicles in the deep freeze- they're ready to use.
Pat

[slick4591[$]]

Two great ideas!

'Specially the wood chips at the ready. I really like that idea, Pat. Thanks! You're teaching me something.

[foxfroggy]

Just consider it a fair trade for the pig ear thing.

Pat

[drmomentum[$]]

Originally posted by slick4591
Deb,

I provided a picture of my clunky old smoker to better get the concept. I'm ashamed of the looks, but no one ever complains when they get to eat from it.

Whatchoo talkin' about, Slick. That there is a thing of beauty. I can smell the smoke from here.

-JP

[tanster]

LOL, Pat!