Summer Grilling and Chilling

[pipingfool]

I love smoking pork. Coming from the Memphis area, I raised on pulled pork and ribs, so I don't really smoke any beef. But I do have a great recipe for smoked chicken wings.

For grilling, just about anything goes except steaks. Those are generally sous vide and finished in a cast iron skillet that is glowing hot. I have a gas grill and a charcoal grill. While the charcoal grill can get hot enough to produce a good sear, it just takes too much time to get it ready, and it's too prone to flare-ups that cause too much soot on a well-marbled steak (IMHO). And the gas grill really doesn't get hot enough for a good crust on a steak.

But I grill just about everything else from chicken, fish, shellfish, pork and vegetables. I also grill a lot of kabobs and shawarma.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Too cold to get the deck furniture moved onto the deck but have fired up the grill a couple of times. In the summer I'm grilling at least 5 days a week and usually at least three meals on weekends. We have a gas grill and a Pit Barrel Cooker. Gas grill used the most - beef and plenty of it - burgers and ribeyes are the norm. Sweet corn in season, pheasant bites wrapped in bacon are about the only other things that get grilled other than sausage patties for breakfast on weekends and the very occasional brats (need to watch my girlish figure). PBC is usually for pulled pork, occasionally for tomahawk type steaks (it also has a rack and I like changing it up even though it is charcoal fueled) and especially for thick, juicy ribs when I take the time to make barbecue sauce.

95% of the time I'm drinking iced tea out there, occasionally make some lemon influenced margaritas, enjoy hard cider - but when I'm wanting to cool down on the deck my beverage of choice for that is usually non-alcoholic, and in another few weeks iced tea will appear and stay in the refrigerator until about Thanksgiving. Scotch for me is generally a wintertime, by the fireplace occasional guilty pleasure when we have all those extra dark hours. I did find what to me is an interesting Irish whiskey a couple of weeks ago - Writer's Tears - only one wee dram at this point.

 

[STP]

We have a natural gas grill that we use all year. I was out there in the snow this past weekend grilling steaks.

 

[mikethompson]

I can't make the fish bite.

You and me both.

 

[FurCoat]

YES!
Except no gas!

Exactly. I can cook with gas in the house. Outside it's charcoal or wood. Real fire, real smoke.

 

[monty55]

Exactly. I can cook with gas in the house. Outside it's charcoal or wood. Real fire, real smoke.

I only like to cook with gas in the house, I detest electric stoves!

 

[FurCoat]

I only like to cook with gas in the house, I detest electric stoves!

Agreed. Hard to control the heat with electric.

 

[giacomo]

We have a natural gas grill that we use all year. I was out there in the snow this past weekend grilling steaks.

Me too, but we have to bundle up in the winter.

 

[Hovannes]

Kebabs of all varieties I find are easy and fun.
Being forcibly "heart healthy," I passionately dislike chicken in most forms because I'm sick of it, but I find chicken kebobs are a tolerable disguise for the ubiquitous heart healthy boneless skinless chicken breast.
I coat the chicken with Pappy's Blue (low sodium, of course) seasoning and skewer with brown mushrooms, bell peppers, red onion and if available, fresh tomato. Garnish with chopped parsley and mince yellow onion.

 

[bullet08]

Weber grill with charcoal. Steaks with just salt, pepper and garlic powder. Or salmon, blackened. Or marinated skirt steak med rare.

 

[Hovannes]

Boneless spare ribs are sumptuous on the grill (sigh)
Pairs very well with ice cold Laughing Lab Scottish Ale or Anchor Steam Beer with fresh grilled corn on the cob

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

Kebabs of all varieties I find are easy and fun.
Being forcibly "heart healthy," I passionately dislike chicken in most forms because I'm sick of it, but I find chicken kebobs are a tolerable disguise for the ubiquitous heart healthy boneless skinless chicken breast.
I coat the chicken with Pappy's Blue (low sodium, of course) seasoning and skewer with brown mushrooms, bell peppers, red onion and if available, fresh tomato. Garnish with chopped parsley and mince yellow onion.

When cooking kabobs, I like to keep the meat and vegetables on separate skewers due to different cook times.

It prevents undercooked meat and burnt vegetables.

 

[Hovannes]

When cooking kabobs, I like to keep the meat and vegetables on separate skewers due to different cook times.

It prevents undercooked meat and burnt vegetables.

Or skewer the meat first and the vegetables last on each skewer. Unload the vegetables when they're done and leave the meat on longer.

 

[warren]

I like kabobs Russian style, Shashlik. Veggies and beef/lamb are marinated for a couple of hours in sea water, Hand stir and give the meat a gentle squeeze when moving about the brine marinade, (simply add salt to bottled/well water when sea water is unavailable), herbs, heavy on the onions. (Note: clorinated city water with/without fluoride needs to sit overnight. It's still a poor second to pure water but, it works.) No skewer, simply place on the grill over a hardwood fire and cook to desired flex/firmness. I let family and guests simply grab what they want off the grill. Either meat is superb with adjiika (ahd-jeeka is a close pronunciation). (plumb sauce available in Russian or other eastern European stores. Also, available on-line.). Beer or vodka was the beverage of choice when I lived in the Russian Far East. But, iced tea, soda and the like work fine.

This was a favorite at the "dacha" (summer house).

 

[karam]

I do everything on a humble Weber Kettle, the bog standard model without any fancy stuff, bought 10 years ago or so.
I've looked at other charcoal grills, gas grills, offset reverse flow smokers, Kamados and may one day splurge on something other than the Kettle, but in terms of staying power and successful meals, FEASTS really, cooked on it it is unbeatable.

From stakes to sausages to chops to vegetables, grilling, finishing, low and slow smoking the Kettle has really come out like a champ. It has a few issues, the main one being that without the hinged grill it's not so easy to add coal to it, but it really is not hard, and the surface area really just does it for a family of 4 plus a couple of guests at most without needed a coal refill.
With the snake method I've managed to pull off 16 hours of low and slow cooking. I usually set it up at midnight and we enjoy a perfectly cooked brisket or pork shoulder at lunchtime next day without any fuss at all.

Only thing I've failed on, and it's my failure not the grill's, was trying to cook fish on it. It got stuck, fxcked up, torn to shreds, undercooked mess. A friend who knows how to do fish told me a few tips but I've been reluctant so far.

 

[Hovannes]

I inadvertently omitted smoked ears of corn, shucked enough to slather in butter, loosely recovered and smoked to perfection. Corn and potatoes are the only vegetables allowed. I know my limited diet precludes many interesting and, no doubt, tasty dishes. But, I'm simple in my tastes. When traveling, I avidky explore the local smokey and grilling joints. Shishkabob in Georgia, not the state. Sidewalk meats and such in various Asian locales. Various Caribbean dishes, Irish beef and various other entrees, including fish and world over. I tend to judge a country by it's food. How silly is that.


There's a word that has morphed drastically in my lifetime. There's even a sport on TV now days. Boy! I surprised when I clicked the channel. I imagined some sort of porn.

I tend to judge a country by it's bread, cheese and beer.