Grillroteca

[Root]

I could just use my in-ground fire pit for a santa-maria style grill. I'd be more comfortable with that than having a big open flame on my deck right next to the house.

[Hanley]

Where do you get mesquite logs?

I have to buy the way overpriced 20# bags from Home Depot:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Kingsford-1 ... /206442493

Getting cheap hardwood in this region is pretty much impossible. We have evergreens and cottonwoods. And nothing else.

I've tried a few other hardwoods (oak, hickory, pecan)...but mesquite is the best for grilling (I say that as someone who detests mesquite flavor on smoked food....but it works great for hot/fast).

I could just use my in-ground fire pit for a santa-maria style grill. I'd be more comfortable with that than having a big open flame on my deck right next to the house.

Yeah, that works.

Oh, look:

https://grillsandcookers.com/products/campfire-braten

[Root]

@Hanley where yo' griddle at?

[Hanley]

Hanley where yo' griddle at?

I've been using it like crazy the past few days. I'll post some photos.

It's so damned versatile. Yesterday I cooked 2 pounds of bacon and a dozen scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then flank fajitas for dinner. It's basically a 700 square inch carbon steel pan.

Such a useful complement to a charcoal/wood setup.

[Root]

Hanley where yo' griddle at?

I've been using it like crazy the past few days. I'll post some photos.

It's so damned versatile. Yesterday I cooked 2 pounds of bacon and a dozen scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then flank fajitas for dinner. It's basically a 700 square inch carbon steel pan.

Such a useful complement to a charcoal/wood setup.

Any issues with messy grease draining, hot spots, cold spots, wind interference?

[Hanley]

messy grease draining

Nope. On the old Blackstone model, the grease trap was kinda f'd up....but they redid the drain/trap and it works really well.

hot spots

You have to preheat for ~7-10 mins to get good, even heat...but after that preheat it's good (the corners are cooler [checked with an infrared thermometer]...but that's not at all a practical issue).

wind interference?

We mostly get westerly winds here...and the grill is totally protected on that side. Not an issue with my setup...but it seems like it could definitely be a problem as the burners are quite exposed.

[Hanley]

Here's a mostly useless video:




It's extremely handy for cooking easy "cut meals". This was [peppers, onions, garlic, fresh basil with balsamic] with chicken breast and steamed broccoli. The broccoli was amazing. It steamed in about 45 seconds and picked up a little char.



This fucker is huge. I could have made this meal for 10-15 adults. To clean up, you just spray some water on it...avoid a nasty steam burn...and scrape all the shit into that little slot in the back.

[Root]

Friggin sweet.

Do you cover the broccoli to steam? What about the chicken or peppers?

[Hanley]

Do you cover the broccoli to steam?

Yeah. I sprayed a little water over it then covered:




I really need to get an actual 12" steaming lid.

What about the chicken or peppers?

Briefly on the chicken only because I fucked-up the timing (veggies cook so much faster than I'm used to [the surface is like 500ish]) and I didn't pound the breasts quite thin enough (proteins should be thin with lots o' surface). No on peppers/onions.

[Root]

Do you cover the broccoli to steam?

Yeah. I sprayed a little water over it then covered:




I really need to get an actual 12" steaming lid.

What about the chicken or peppers?

Briefly on the chicken only because I fucked-up the timing (veggies cook so much faster than I'm used to [the surface is like 500ish]) and I didn't pound the breasts quite thin enough (proteins should be thin with lots o' surface). No on peppers/onions.

I feel ridiculous saying this, but the ability to quick steam veggies like that is one of the things I'm most looking forward to. I saw somewhere on the internetz, someone was selling magnetic handles for this specific purpose so you can manipulate your bowl more easily.

Or you could just buy the steaming lid. I did.

[Hanley]

I feel ridiculous saying this, but the ability to quick steam veggies like that is one of the things I'm most looking forward to.

Dude...this was honestly the best broccoli I've ever eaten.

It steamed perfectly and had an awesome smokey background flavor. And it's super healthy (I only used the residual oil from the peppers and onions).

Oh...I recommend avocado oil. Its got an insanely high smoke point, so everything tastes really clean....and it's easy to clean/scrape.

[cgeorg]

It's so damned versatile. Yesterday I cooked 2 pounds of bacon and a dozen scrambled eggs for breakfast.

What'd everyone else eat?

[Root]

Oh...I recommend avocado oil. Its got an insanely high smoke point, so everything tastes really clean....and it's easy to clean/scrape.

Yep, that's already my go-to cooking oil. Costco has it for way cheaper than I've seen anywhere else.

[Hanley]

It's so damned versatile. Yesterday I cooked 2 pounds of bacon and a dozen scrambled eggs for breakfast.

What'd everyone else eat?

Tofu and kombucha.

[cgeorg]

It's so damned versatile. Yesterday I cooked 2 pounds of bacon and a dozen scrambled eggs for breakfast.

What'd everyone else eat?

Tofu and kombucha.

I guess the invite must have gone to my spam folder

[Hanley]

It's so damned versatile. Yesterday I cooked 2 pounds of bacon and a dozen scrambled eggs for breakfast.

What'd everyone else eat?

Tofu and kombucha.

I guess the invite must have gone to my spam folder

For real...I just brewed some boozy kombucha. It's actually quite good.

[cgeorg]

Tofu and kombucha.

I guess the invite must have gone to my spam folder

For real...I just brewed some boozy kombucha. It's actually quite good.

How boozy? I did a few batches back in the day, but it was at the end of my getting burnt out on homebrewing, and it just really burnt me out on all of that kind of stuff. First batch was tarter than most people would be into, the second was pretty damn good.

[Root]

I got my camp chef. It's a pretty solid build for a semi-portable thing. Pretty disappointed with how not-smooth the griddle is. I was expecting something like carbon steel, but it's bumpy like cast iron. According to them, it's cold-rolled steel (which is totally smooth) and the texture is from their pre-seasoning process, and it should become totally smooth as it gets more seasoned. Debating whether to keep using it or try to strip off the pre-seasoning.

[Manveer]

I got my camp chef. It's a pretty solid build for a semi-portable thing. Pretty disappointed with how not-smooth the griddle is. I was expecting something like carbon steel, but it's bumpy like cast iron. According to them, it's cold-rolled steel (which is totally smooth) and the texture is from their pre-seasoning process, and it should become totally smooth as it gets more seasoned. Debating whether to keep using it or try to strip off the pre-seasoning.

Basically they are saying oil/grease will fill in the bumps?

[Root]

I got my camp chef. It's a pretty solid build for a semi-portable thing. Pretty disappointed with how not-smooth the griddle is. I was expecting something like carbon steel, but it's bumpy like cast iron. According to them, it's cold-rolled steel (which is totally smooth) and the texture is from their pre-seasoning process, and it should become totally smooth as it gets more seasoned. Debating whether to keep using it or try to strip off the pre-seasoning.

Basically they are saying oil/grease will fill in the bumps?

Yeah, that's basically the idea with seasoning anything. It's not as bumpy as lodge cast iron, but not as smooth as new carbon steel.