BBQ

March 31, 2018 Cook

Sous Vide Grilling Is A Slick Trick

Netflix and chill? How ‘Bout Sous Vide Grill!

Every once in a while we stumble upon a trick that launches a revolution. Sous Vide grill techniques have made their way to the home; and thanks to low cost appliances and one new book it’s really catching on!

My friend Greg Mrvich from YouTube’s Ballistic BBQ has just released a deep dive cook book on Sous Vide grilling called “Sous Vide BBQ” and it’s a great introduction to the technique. The publisher’s notes say cooking meat sous vide offers precision temperature control that means you’ll never have to worry about dry, overdone steaks, ribs, or chicken ever again—and don’t worry, you can finish them all under the broiler or on the grill so you don’t miss out on that perfect smoky sear.

What do you Need to Sous Vide Grill?

The sous vide circulators are the “most important component” according to the author Mrvich. Below are some of his Pros and Cons with links to the products. Some links may be affiliate links that provide us commissions at no added cost to you.

Joule by Chefsteps: The author’s favorite. Sleek and fun with blue tooth app control. But could be useless without the app controlling device. $179
Anova Sous Vide Precison Cooker: A great buy and very easy to operate. Bluetooth/Wifi models available but look for this model with the temperature dial (Greg’s favorite feature) on the unit for easiest control. $108.99 (also an Amazon Choice).
Vacmaster SV1: Powerful and a workhorse geared more for commercial use. The drawbacks are size, and no wireless control. $249
Travellor Sous Vide Immersion Circulator: Innexpensive and accurate but more difficult to set. Lowest price at just $86

Fun Extra Accessories

You can make things a bit easier with a few key accessories detailed and recommended in the book.

Sous Vide Balls: These ping pong ball like orbs help minimize evaporation in long cooks. Because they are made of a special plastic they help bring the water temperature up quicker.
Sous Vide Tub: Sure you can use any container, but a large clear tub can be important to spot what’s happening inside of the bath (like a bag that’s leaking). Recommended in the book: Everie and Cambro.
Vacuum Sealer: Sous vide literally means “under vacuum” in French. Greg uses a FoodSaver brand. See the book for the detailed immersion technique for sealing the bags.
Sous Vide Clamps: These clamps help when using zip-top bags as well as keeping bags from drifting.

The sous vide and grill trick can scientifically help you nail the perfect steak “done-ness” temperature.With options for finishing outside in your smoker or on the grill, the book’s 50 recipes cover everything from backyard classics to gourmet creations, including Barbecue Beef Brisket, Perfect Burgers and Santa Maria Tri-tip.

Sous Vide BBQ: Delicious Recipes and Precision Techniques that Guarantee Smoky, Fall-Off-The-Bone BBQ Every Time is available now HERE

March 23, 2016 Featured

BBQ Chicken Done Crispy – Barbecue Tricks

Crispy skin on BBQ chicken can be a tricky thing. The slow roasted fat-rendering is just not something our fast paced world takes care to do. Plus if you’re attempting to slowly smoke poultry a lot of times you can end up with a rubbery skin. Some competition guys will remove, chill and shave the skins for chicken thighs… that’s a lot of work. Here’s a different method. I think it retains more fatty flavor too.

Salt The Chicken Under the Skin

It’s a trick to control the barbecue chicken. It’s easy but takes a bit of time. Four hours prep time to be exact.

The secret is in salting the pieces (you can spice the salt a bit see recipe below).

I call it a dry brine. Rub your spice blend into the meat UNDER the skin and lightly on the skin surface on all sides. Thenplace the pieces on a pan uncovered in the refrigerator to dry fro four hours. You can experiment with the time if you want but it has worked repeatedly for me with different sized pieces.

After four hours remove and if ther is any moisture on the pieces of chicken blot with towel (I did not see any when I did the video).

I used a water pan smoker (Brinkmann Gourmet Charcoal) and cooked low (about 270 degrees) for about an hour with pecan wood smoke (wood chips). The result was a golden brown crispy skin that is tought to find without a rotisserie.

Crispy Skin BBQ Chicken

Internal temp was over 160 so after a quick slather of a sweet sauce I lowered the grate (use the bottom of the smoker without the middle piece or fire up your grill to HIGH) and seared the pieces over a direct high heat. Pay attention here this process is quick and flame ups happen quickly.

Be prepared to remove from the grill at any point.

The result was a crispy – bite through – succulent batch of bbq chicken. See the result in the video and “thumb it up” and subscribe if you like.

Crispy BBQ Chicken

Ingredients:

1 whole cut-up chicken

Pecan wood chips for grilling

Dry Brine Ingredients:

2 tsp salt

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground black pepper

Lip-smacking Homemade BBQ Sauce Ingredients:

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1 medium onion, minced

1 Chipotle pepper, minced

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

1 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

5 Tbsp dark molasses

3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 tsp hot sauce

Mix 2 tsp salt and 2 tsp garlic powder together and spread on outside of each piece of chicken as well as underneath the skin. Place in the refrigerator for about 4 hours. This brining technique will produce a crispier skin while preserving moisture in the chicken during grilling. Put the chicken on indirect heat in a charcoal smoker and cook low and slow for about one hour, adding wood chips as necessary for flavor. I use pecan wood. While that is cooking, make the sauce. Heat oil in a deep sauce pan and add garlic and onions until they soften. Add Chipotle pepper and heat for 20 seconds before stirring in the remaining ingredients. Cook on low heat for 20 minutes until thickened. When cool, strain out onion and garlic “chunks” if desired. After smoking for about an hour, move chicken to direct heat, cover generously on both sides with barbecue sauce. Cook for about 10-15 minutes turning constantly to char, basting with more sauce. Be careful as the sugar will burn, so move pieces as flare-ups occur. Serve with additional heated barbecue sauce on the side.

June 28, 2015 Featured

Coffee BBQ Rub

Starbucks BBQ? … I’m not sure we will see any grande sized Starbucks BBQ sauce cups pop up in stores anytime soon but there ARE a few tips and tricks you can use with coffee to really liven up and give some cowboy swag and extra depth to your sauces and rubs. Watch the video HERE

Many times coffee is used in sweet or dessert type recipes and it’s not typically thought of as a savory ingredient ( until now). I think of coffee recipes as a “sitting around the campfire cowboy” type food. At least that’s what comes to mind for me.

Coffee brings a little bit bitter, caramel, some earthy, chocolatey flavors to BBQ sauces and BBQ rubs. Oh, and if you’re making a biscuit gravy you got to have some coffee in there.

Here are a few Tricks to using coffee in BBQ:

First, avoid using grounds they’ll leave your sauce mealy or gritty – and never use “used” grounds.
A better choice: try the new instant coffees like Starbucks’s Via brand… The fine texture is made todissolve into water and we find it’s dynamite in a BBQ rub. The micro grind allows the flavor to reallymelt into your meat. The stick portion size makes it a nice measuring amount for rubs…You might think it would be too overpowering for a rub but the flavor really mellows with roasting.

For a Starbucks BBQ rub Mix together 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp ground

coriander, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp salt, 1 TBSP smoked paprika, 3 to 4 TBSP brown

sugar, & 2 packets of Starbucks VIA. Store in airtight container for months…

If you’re working on a coffee sauce try to work with a double concentrated brew…. Use a French press like we used here or use half the amount of water in your drip machine… Use a very fine ground coffee if you can…or espresso
Finally try chicory as a secret ingredient –Chicory is a plant whose roots can be ground and baked to create a cheap coffee substitute; a practice that is popular in New Orleans. This blend of coffee and chicory from Café Du Monde has a smokier, woodier taste than most coffee.
Oh, one more coffee trick – an inexpensive coffee grinder makes a great SPICE grinder for BBQ. Just give it a good cleaning before your next coffee grind.

Coffee… It’s not just for breakfast anymore! Got a great use for coffee in BBQ share in the comments!

January 28, 2014 Video

Grilled Artichokes – Vegetarian BBQ Trick

Looking for a super easy VEGETARIAN BBQ recipe or are you a fan of grilled artichoke? Here’s one of our FAVORITE recipes ever for a quick appetizer courtesy of Paul Stewart of the Palmetto Bay Sunrise Cafe. He was kind enough to fire up the grill and make it for us in this BBQ Video HERE. Nice.

Use an extra hot charcoal fire for this one. Paul first discovered this treat in a small joint in the French Quarter in New Orleans. The trick is in sourcing the artichokes. The canned artichokes Stewart uses are packed in a light oil marinade and come from a major food purveyor for restaurants. Stem and all you can see they make for a spectacular presentation. Similar but smaller smaller serving sizes are available in specialty stores, gourmet outlets and on Amazon.

Some quality parmigiano reggiano and salt and fresh cracked pepper is all you need to make it over the top good.

Thanks to the Palmetto Bat Sunrise Cafe on Hilton Head for tip!

November 17, 2013 Featured

Top Thanksgiving Turkey Tricks

Turkey always seems better when cooked outdoors! At least that’s how we see it here at BarbecueTricks.com and GrateTV.com.

We decided to give you a super fast rundown of our favorite ways to BBQ Turkey. From slow smoke to fast fry and rotisserie turkey too. Take a look and plan your Turkey day to be the best ever.

Watch Top 6 Turkey Here or Below:

July 16, 2013 Featured

Choosing The Best Grill Brush For Porcelain Enamel Coated Grill Grates

Flickr/StevenDepolo

By Stanley N Lew

One typical issue when purchasing a barbecue grill brush is whether or not it will damage your cooking grid. The last thing you want is to scratch the grates of your expensive Weber BBQ. Thankfully, with just a bit of study it is really simple to ensure you purchase the best grill brush for your BBQ.

How delicate your grate is, and how susceptible it may be to damage and scratching, is based upon the material the grate is made from. The most tough material that is frequently used is stainless steel. These grates are really strong and resistant to rust and corrosion. Porcelain coated grill grates, on the other hand, are much more delicate. The porcelain coat is relatively brittle and can chip and crack. No only does this minimize the non stick capability of the grate, it also exposes the metal underneath the enamel to moisture. Cast iron grill grates are really tough, however must be kept oiled to stop rusting.

Many grill brushes are completely safe for use with most grills, however there is one noteworthy exception. NEVER EVER use a scraper on porcelain coated grill grates! That will definitely lead to you chipping the porcelain enamel. Apart from that, most brushes are fine with most grates.

The 2 most typical materials used to make the bristles for BBQ brushes are brass and stainless steel. Brass is softer, so less likely to scratch the grates, however this softness also means the bristles become flattened much more quickly. As a result, brass grill brushes need to be replaced regularly. Stainless steel grill brushes are much more long lasting, as a result of their stiffer bristles. Nevertheless, this extra stiffness means that they can sometimes scratch the grate. This is why people often recommend brass brushes for porcelain enamel coated grill grates.

So which sort of brush should you purchase to clean your porcelain enamel coated grill grate?

My recommendation is to go for a stainless steel grill brush with bristles thin enough that they don’t cause damage. The usual belief that you can only use brass bristled brushes for porcelain enamel coated grates is not in fact true. Many stainless steel grill brushes are completely safe to use. Because they will certainly last longer compared to brass brushes, my recommendation is to go with one of these. That way, you get a brush that will not only safely clean your barbecue, but will also last a very long time. To get even more life out your BBQ brush, only use it when the grate is hot. This will make it easy to clean, enabling you to use much less pressure, which ultimately means that your bristles will remain in great condition longer.

Stan Lew is a food enthusiast, with a special love of the barbecue. Visit the following site to read grill brush reviews. Alternatively you can read some grill brush reviews on Amazon here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stanley_N_Lew
http://EzineArticles.com/?Choosing-The-Best-Grill-Brush-For-Porcelain-Enamel-Coated-Grill-Grates&id=7813334

March 26, 2013 Featured

Egg Recipe with BBQ Smoke

Here’s and egg recipe that has just two main ingredients. Eggs and smoke.

Around Easter you may be looking for something special for that extra basket of boiled eggs. Or maybe you want a new twist for a potato salad recipe. Try this Smoked Egg Recipe.

The trick to boiling eggs is not a big secret. Just cover the eggs in a pot of water. Add in a spoon of salt and vinegar and bring to boil. Once boiling take the pot off the heat for twelve minutes and then – with a slotted spoon – plunge them in ice water.

To add the smoke for our egg recipe we used a Brinkmann “bullet” style smoker with five lumps of charcoal and one large chunk of hickory. Because this is cold smoking you can fill the water pan in the smoker to block what should be very low heat.

Add your boiled eggs (peeled or partially peeled) on the top grate and cold smoke for a full hour.

Remove the eggs and store together in the refrigerator overnight to further strengthen smoke flavor.

I experimented with fully shelled boiled eggs and cracked (and rolled) shell on boiled eggs hoping for an aesthetic difference akin to the tea infused eggs I had seen.

The egg recipe just screams keep it simple. Just add smoke and a bit of salt and you have something special. You can take it further as a secret ingredient in deviled eggs or an potato salad recipe. It’s one more reason to get your kids to hunt for Easter eggs.

March 11, 2013 Featured

BBQ St. Patrick’s Style

It wouldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day without Corned Beef and Cabbage. The beef brisket is the same you’d start with when smoking a brisket Texas style… but then you cure and pickle it. Or just buy it already “corned.” That works too. Take a look at how GrateTV’s Jack Waiboer does it and try your luck o’ the brisket this week.

[button link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbrbSyGbsr4″]Watch Corned Beef on YouTube[/button]

[button link=”http://blip.tv/gratetv/what-is-corned-beef-brisket-gratetv-6546730″]Watch Corned Beef on Blip.TV[/button]

[button link=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gratetv/id369102007″]Watch Corned Beef iTunes Podcast[/button]

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GrateTV is a short-form, educational web series focused on making barbecue fun! We release a new episodes every week typically originating from the LowCountry of
South Carolina “the Birthplace of American BBQ.” Each episode is brief – about a beer in length. Our focus is on fun but easy barbecue tips and tricks plus
entertaining information.

Category
Food Home & Garden Learning & Education
Starring:
Jack Waiboer and Bill West
Written by:
Waiboer/ West

February 19, 2013 Cook

Tri-Tip Tricks – How to

Tri-Tip Photo: Flickr/jmayer1129

The Best Way to Cook a Tri-Tip

By Bob Moglia

I have attended BBQ contests, mixed and matched spices and rubs and have tasted so-called winners “Best”. Honestly, few have lived up to their billing. While attending a BBQ contest last summer, I spoke with three competitors who all cooked their Tri-tip roasts differently. The first group smoked theirs in a hanging smoker. When served, the temperature was 135 and rare. The sauce a mix of ketchup. The first rule of thumb is…

TEMPERATURE; You need to achieve slightly pink in the middle and totally done around the exterior. In order to achieve this, I pull my Tri-Tip at 138 degrees. Let the meat sit for 15 minutes and it will come up 10 degrees in temperature. Remember, 140 is rare, 150 medium, 160 well. A well done Tri-Tip is chewy and lacks flavor and taste.

The second competitor called their entry “Santa Fe style”. They used a Santa Fe style rub on the beef. They also had a special red tree bark thrown on to smoke the last 10 minutes which was supposed to impart a special flavor on the beef. What I found was very little flavor from the rub, and no extra special taste from the bark.Dull and bland!

PREPARATION: I have found little to no difference utilizing countless rubs on Tri-Tip. Remember you are cooking a roast. If you really want to impart flavor, use a wet marinade. You have a thick piece of beef and you need penetration. Try to marinate for at least 24 hours with potent flavors to build character and flavor profile. You can add your spices to the marinade.

The last competitor and winner of this BBQ Tri-Tip award was a local winery, whose chef did little to no prep but creatively hid his trip tip in a small brioche bun with a bit of home made chutney. I thought it was smart, but far from showcasing the meat product. He hid it!

BUILD CHARACTER AND FLAVOR: the meat should be marinated to build a rich flavor. The longer the better but try for over night. Sear the outside of the roast first to help build a char and a crust. If you have a bit of a fat layer, this will help build a good crust. A total of 5-10 minutes over direct heat when you are getting the coals going should do the trick. Once the sear is complete, pull it across the grill and indirectly smoke it. Use chip and chunk and a mix of hickory, apple, cherry or other fruit. Hickory for its pungent signature and fruit wood for its mild taste. Watch your temperature and pull it at around 138 degrees. Sit it for 10-15 minutes before cutting into it ENJOY!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Moglia
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Best-Way-to-Cook-a-Tri-Tip&id=7505046

December 28, 2012 Featured

Backwoods Competitor and Cooker Tricks

Backyard BBQ enthusiasts can learn a few tricks from competition cookers when it comes to hardware like top notch smokers and gadgets like the BBQ Guru and The Stoker to trick them out.

These days you’ll see a lot of hard core competitive cookers using a specially made smoker called the Backwoods Competitor from a company called Backwoods Smokers. The takeaway here is you can get very consistent results with a well built air tight smoker. If you use only charcoal or cook in KCBS or MIM sanctioned events or groups that only allow using wood or charcoal this model could be for you. The cooking is done with efficient use of charcoal.

The smoker features heavy duty latches and is built for competition. At 350 pounds it’s ready mount on a small trailer and with over 3000 square inches of cook space it can accommodate most all levels of competition other than whole hogs.

Competition cook Seth Watari says “We loaded up with hardwood lump at four in the morning and at eleven am and still had about half the charcoal left.” That’s a perfect time frame for a low slow cook for home or competition.

Many teams will take this type of smoker to the next level with a remote controlled blower add on. The most popular brands being the BBQ Guru and The Stoker can be purchased in kits ranging from 200 to 500 dollars. The main heat source is charcoal and the use of an electric blower and remote control still falls within competition guidelines.

“The BBQ Guru…also has a meat probe and it has an alarm so when you hit your target temperature it will regulate the inside of the oven to hold it there. I’m a fan.” says cooker Mark Lamb from the Carolina Moon cook team.

Jack Waiboer from Carolina Pitmasters likes The Stoker’s remote control capabilities, “We can actually run multiple cookers off an iPhone or a laptop computer.”

When you get your system down and timing just right it’s hard to beat the solid construction and hi-tech consistency the Backwoods Smoker with a BBQ Guru or Stoker can offer cook teams and the dependable quality even a backyard BBQ enthusiast will appreciate.

BBQ

What do you Need to Sous Vide Grill?

Fun Extra Accessories

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