Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

new grill


mongo_jones

Recommended Posts

all,

i have just bought a new weber one-touch grill (my first ever grill of any kind). i have also bought two new york strips (this will be my first time preparing steaks of any kind). these two things must be made to meet each other very soon en route to mah belly. please tell me how this can be best achieved--keep it simple and quick (i am hungry now and am a total novice at grilling).

cheers,

mongo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

people, people, don't send me to sites! just tell me what to do. dammit.

i do have a woman, and she usually grills--she is korean-american after all--but if she finds out that i have used sentence constructions such as "i have a woman" she'll grill me.

edit to add: american machismo categories don't apply to us indians

Edited by mongo_jones (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mongo,

Load the the semi-circular baskets with lump charcoal (preferred) or briquets and fire up the one-touch. Make sure bottom damper (kettle) and top damper (lid) are fully open. Ignite the coals, put the grill back on, leave the lid off and allow the coals to become very hot. Not sure how long this will take...30-40 minutes. When the bottom coals are red/white hot and the top coals are at least burning, it's time to cook. It is very important that all the coals are on one side of the grill--so that ~50% of your cooking surface can be used for indirect cooking.

To promote even browning, you may want to lightly oil both sides of your steaks before you salt and pepper them. Once seasoned, place the steaks on the hottest part of the grill. After a 30 seconds to a minute, flip the steaks, wait another 30 seconds to a minute and move them again. Continue this every 30 seconds to 1 minute until the exteriors cooked are to your liking. It shouldn't take longer than 3-4 minutes, total.

If you have thin steaks, they could be done at this point--depending on how you like them cooked. For thicker steaks, you may want to move them to the uncoaled side of the grill so they continue to cook--and if you do so, cover the grill. At this point, I'd check the steaks for doneness--every minute or so--with the 'finger test' or a meat thermometer. I think 135 F is about medium rare but there will be some carry-over as well.

That usually works for me. I don't know...maybe I've left some stuff out.

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ah life is good...

thanks for the advice ronnie--the first time was a resounding success.

we'd purchased this weber chimney rapid-fire starter thingy with the grill and it got the coals white hot pretty fast <30 minutes. turned it over, spread the coals around and put the steaks on. steaks had been rubbed with a mixture of oil and balsamic vinegar and then rubbed with salt, pepper and some crushed dried oregano. did as you suggested and browned the outsides on high heat and then cooked to somewhere between medium-rare and medium. let 'em rest and then we ate them alongside a mixed green salad, grilled onions, and some mashed potatoes.

i'm beginning to understand why people make a fuss about this charcoal grilling business...now, how long is it going to take for these coals to burn themselves out?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ah life is good...

.now, how long is it going to take for these coals to burn themselves out?

Close the top and bottom vents and save what's left for next time.

Bruce Frigard

Quality control Taster, Château D'Eau Winery

"Free time is the engine of ingenuity, creativity and innovation"

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They'll stay hot for a couple of hours, but as mentioned above, you can extinguish them faster by closing the vents. As much as I love braising and smoking, grilling beef may be the best possible treatment for it. Really glad you enjoyed it. :smile:

BTW, after you've cooked your meal and the coals are cooling, is an optimal moment to roast some (bell) peppers. You can char their skins over the embers and move them off the heat to finish their roasting. After they're roasted to your liking, place them in a closed plastic bag for a few minutes and you'll be able to peel their skins off easily.

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love success stories.

Try some grilled salmon. Or halibut.

Oh, you are in for some fun.

perhaps wrap the halibut in some bacon? or would that be too rash for this neophyte? my cardiologist must never hear about tonight--i followed the steak with a thick slice of rich dark chocolate cake. now i'm going to go dunk my head in some lard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW, after you've cooked your meal and the coals are cooling, is an optimal moment to roast some (bell) peppers.

You can also roast marshmallows or make S'more's using the heat of the embers.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indirect fire has the coals on the sides under the handles. Just wait till you do a turkey or a fresh leg of pork in a Weber. That's living. If you eat pork (Sorry). :biggrin:

Edited by winesonoma (log)

Bruce Frigard

Quality control Taster, Château D'Eau Winery

"Free time is the engine of ingenuity, creativity and innovation"

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indirect fire has the coals on the sides under the handles. Just wait till you do a turkey or a fresh leg of pork in a Weber. That's living. If you eat pork (Sorry). :biggrin:

oh i eat everything--except eggplant, dog and spider (or did i say cockroach in my blog? hard to keep all the lies lined up straight).

i'm beginning to regret having bought the 18 1/2 inch grill--the local store didn't have the one-touch silver in the 22 inch and people tell me that indirect cooking is harder in the smaller kettle. but soft, what ember in yonder ash-pan glows? a quick visit to the weber website shows that the clever bastards sell a little thingamajig to facilitate indirect cooking. who would have thought i'd be entering such a wild and sexy world of accessorizing by buying a cheap grill?!

thingamajig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow. It looks like they have every possible accessory available for those grills except foam dice. But the heat rules that out.

Try roasting a split chicken or Cornish Hens on that new grill of yours. I never could get chicken the way I wanted it on the grill (golden brown caramelized crunchy skin but still moist on the inside). Then I tried brining. Holy Smokes Batman - Biff Bam Pow. Great chicken.

I would steer you to the eGCI Brining Course but since you insist on being spoon fed (a practice which your saintly wife has undoubtedly grown tired of) here's how it works:

Stir 70 grams or 1/4 cup of Kosher salt into each quart of nice cold water and put enough water in the pot/container to cover the meat. Allow about 30 minutes per pound of whole chicken (2 - 3 hours max for the typical four pound whole chicken), about an hour for a Cornish Hen and 30 minutes max for ribs. Other time suggestions are in the Brining Course. Some people add a spoonful or two of sugar but the salt is the key factor (BTW - best not to use regular table salt but if you do so the quantity of salt is different).

This brining business (which I tried for the first time last week - that probably makes Mongo and me the only people in eGullet who hadn't tried it yet).... it's like some kind of alchemy. It turns ordinary leaden chicken into golden chicken. I swear it's true. 30 minutes o each side on a medium grill and the chicken halves were golden brown with some charred bits of skin here and there (that I love) and the ends of the drumsticks were charred. yet the meat inside was more flavorful and moister than any roasted chicken I've ever eaten. And not salty. Go figure. I know there's a scientific explanation that involves osmosis and protein structures but I just like the way it tastes.

I smoked ribs on Saturday that were already great in the past but even better with brining. Last night I broiled some mundane supermarket boneless pork chops with an orange juice mixture and they were improved immeasurably.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Accessorizing is the condimentation of life :biggrin:

I agree with Owen...by utilizing brining and cooking over lump charcoal/wood (and yes, even briquets) there are an infinite number of flavors available to you. And by virtue of the process, brined meats tend to be 'juicier' than non-brined.

After you experiment for a while, you'll begin to identify the specific elements you favor.

=R=

"Hey, hey, careful man! There's a beverage here!" --The Dude, The Big Lebowski

LTHForum.com -- The definitive Chicago-based culinary chat site

ronnie_suburban 'at' yahoo.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Try these steaks:

Get a couple of 3" thick New York strip steaks. Trim the layer of fat off of the edge. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper and perhaps some garlic. Cook over high heat for 5 mintues on each of the four sides (that's right, cook it on the edges too). Remove from grill and let sit covered with foil for 5 minutes. Then, serve by slicing on the end. You get these square slices of medium rare steak that I am sure will not disappoint. Each steak will serve 3 people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grilled Salmon (or other whole fish)

Take whole salmon (gutted, but leave the skin on)

Armfuls of fresh herbs from the garden - soft green ones are best rather then rosemary or bay. Roesmary is beter used by stripping most of the leaves and using the stem as a kebab skewer, Last night I used Lemon Balm, Borage, Dill, Oregano.

Put the herbs on the grill. Lay the salmon on the herbs. Foil over the top or close the lid. Leave 10 mins. More herbs and turn the fish over. Leave another 10 mins or until 45C/110F on the digital thermometer. The salmon basically cooks in the steam and smoke from theherbs. The herbs and the skin will char, but that is OK, as you peel them off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My wife no longer orders steak out because she prefers the smoked sirloin I've developed (at her insistence, it wasn't my idea).

You need a 2-inch-thick sirloin steak for starters. (Even 1.5 inches is too thin.) NY strip, KC strip, porterhouse or T-bone works too.

If you have time, let the steak come to room temp. Generously season with kosher salt and fresh black pepper. (Optional: chile powder, granulated garlic, ground cumin, brown sugar)

Get the coals red, and only on one side of the grill. (I don't have one of them coal-corrals, I just use an old long-handled burger flipper to move the coals.)

Sear the steak over the coals for about 5 minutes, till crusted and almost charred. Some smoke and flame is normal. Flip, do the other side.

Pull the meat to the cool side (no coals underneath). Drop a handful of water-soaked hickory chips (or other smoke wood) onto the coals. Put the lid on, and crack the vent open.

Roast 10-15 minutes for medium-rare. Let rest 10 minutes, slice into thin strips.

The thickness of the cut lets you crustify the outside while presenting a rim of crust on each slice, tender through the middle.

I do grilled leg of lamb the same way. Butterflied leg of lamb, massaged with a paste of fresh garlic, rosemary, basil, S&P, olive oil. Wrapped up, refrigerated overnight.

Crust one side, crust the other, wood chips on the coals, cover. Let rest, slice thin, serve with lemon wedges, yogurt sauce, etc. In my house, this is known as the "lamb for people who thought they hated lamb."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i'm beginning to regret having bought the 18 1/2 inch grill--the local store didn't have the one-touch silver in the 22 inch and people tell me that indirect cooking is harder in the smaller kettle. but soft, what ember in yonder ash-pan glows? a quick visit to the weber website shows that the clever bastards sell a little thingamajig to facilitate indirect cooking. who would have thought i'd be entering such a wild and sexy world of accessorizing by buying a cheap grill?!

Mongo I grilled, BBQ and smoked with an 18 in. Weber for six years. I've done everything from steaks to chicken to ribs and brisket and all have been very successful. :biggrin:

The charcoal rails for the 18 in. work great for indirect cooking. The only thing I wish the 18 in. Weber had was a cooking grill with hinged sides so you could add more fuel without removing the grill.

This summer I bought myself a new barrel smoker/BBQ and passed on my Weber to a friend for another six years of good use. :smile:

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mongo I grilled, BBQ and smoked with an 18 in. Weber for six years. I've done everything from steaks to chicken to ribs and brisket and all have been very successful. :biggrin:

The charcoal rails for the 18 in. work great for indirect cooking. The only thing I wish the 18 in. Weber had was a cooking grill with hinged sides so you could add more fuel without removing the grill.

This summer I bought myself a new barrel smoker/BBQ and passed on my Weber to a friend for another six years of good use. :smile:

David

david, that's good to know. i am the king of cheapskates and so will be married to this grill till it gives out on me (and from what i hear/read about webers i might give out first).

now who wants to join me in starting a petition to get weber to put out one of those sexy rotisserie attachments for us smaller grilled folk?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...