Topper's Grilling Advice!

[ODB]

MMMMMmmmmmmmmm this is gonna be goooooood!

[ODB]

I fucked it up!

But I will give it another go. I just made too friggen many mistakes.

I grilled two chickens, approx 10lbs each. ( maybe a little bigger... got them off a farm no store bought shit) I have a five burner grill. I placed the birds in the wrong spot. I put both of them on the far left side of the grill. I used burners on the far right side of the grill. We'll call them burner four and five. Unfortunately I didn’t consider the temp gage on my grill is located on the far right side directly above burner five. So for two hours I have that temperature gage reading 375 without realizing my birds are likely sitting in 250f temps because they're not directly above the heat. Two birds, I don't know.... bad idea??? The one closer to the heat cooked way quicker than the one furthest away.

They worked out great. They tasted fucking fantastic... at 9:00 at night. I had them on the grill for almost 6 hours. I had the family over and eventually we gave up. We ate everything else and they had to leave. I was just me and my two fuckin chickens.

We're going to do it again. Learn from my mistakes.... IF we do two, we'll position them over burners 1 and 5. Then we'll throw hear at both of them using burner 3. This will give even heat to both birds and an accurate temp reading that should be the same on both sides of the grill. And we'll obviously start grill them way before 3:00. Topper said it takes two hours to cook. We did get big ass chickens… my comedy or errors tripled that two hours. So next time we'll start around 1. Worst case, they come off at 3 or 4 and we eat early!

But like I said.... at 9.... They tasted friggen FANTASTIC!

[Arachnid]

I fucked it up!

But I will give it another go. I just made too friggen many mistakes.

I grilled two chickens, approx 10lbs each. ( maybe a little bigger... got them off a farm no store bought shit) I have a five burner grill. I placed the birds in the wrong spot. I put both of them on the far left side of the grill. I used burners on the far right side of the grill. We'll call them burner four and five. Unfortunately I didn’t consider the temp gage on my grill is located on the far right side directly above burner five. So for two hours I have that temperature gage reading 375 without realizing my birds are likely sitting in 250f temps because they're not directly above the heat. Two birds, I don't know.... bad idea??? The one closer to the heat cooked way quicker than the one furthest away.

They worked out great. They tasted fucking fantastic... at 9:00 at night. I had them on the grill for almost 6 hours. I had the family over and eventually we gave up. We ate everything else and they had to leave. I was just me and my two fuckin chickens.

We're going to do it again. Learn from my mistakes.... IF we do two, we'll position them over burners 1 and 5. Then we'll throw hear at both of them using burner 3. This will give even heat to both birds and an accurate temp reading that should be the same on both sides of the grill. And we'll obviously start grill them way before 3:00. Topper said it takes two hours to cook. We did get big ass chickens… my comedy or errors tripled that two hours. So next time we'll start around 1. Worst case, they come off at 3 or 4 and we eat early!

But like I said.... at 9.... They tasted friggen FANTASTIC!

Why not just use a rotisserie?!

[ODB]

Why not just use a rotisserie?!

LOL!, that what everyone kept saying all day long.... use your rotisserie!?!? I kept arguing no, that not the way I was told to do it! Besides anyone can cram a pole up a chickens ass and call it BBQ! I wanted something… better!

Oh well, sometimes ya just gota jump in feet first and work some of the kinks out. Next time things will go much smoother.

[Topper]

I put them on the grill because I don't have a rotisserie.

[Arachnid]

Why not just use a rotisserie?!

Besides anyone can cram a pole up a chickens ass and call it BBQ! I wanted something… better!

Anyone except TopTop (and you )

Better?! Try a beer can (or a coffee can in your case)

[LotusBlossom]

On a side note, last weekend I saw a pub on Broadway (The Manchester I think) roasting a whole pig out on their patio. I was just driving by, and in too much of a hurry to stop...but I was very impressed.

Ha! I was across the street at the Blenz on Tuesday or Wednesday of that week and they had a big sign about a pig roast that weekend. I was impressed they would do such a thing in an area full of vegans and vegetarians Wasn't the Manchester the old Frog and Firkin?

Also, Keyser or Topper, in regards to steak, a friend of mine used to 'wet age' it. What is the technique involving? Peter Luger's in NYC do that as common practice, can I do it properly at home?

[KeyserSoze]

Also, Keyser or Topper, in regards to steak, a friend of mine used to 'wet age' it. What is the technique involving? Peter Luger's in NYC do that as common practice, can I do it properly at home?

I think it's just a matter of letting cryovac'd (vac sealed) cut of beef age in its own juice/blood before you open, clean, and use it.

I don't know the exact details as I have not done this before, but I'd think it would be important to know the packing date of the meat (not the best before date) so you know exactly how long the total aging will be.

[Strangelove]

I put them on the grill because I don't have a rotisserie.

LOFL!

[ODB]

I put them on the grill because I don't have a rotisserie.

[Benjo]

Can you post those steak instructions, I'd love to mix it up and do my steaks up differently.

[Topper]

I put them on the grill because I don't have a rotisserie.

LOFL!

Damn, now ODB figured it out.

Benjo - this a quick description, maybe ODB saved the the more detailed ones I put on central a few years back

steaks at room temp

season well with salt & pepper, both sides and put a thin skiff of olive oil on the nicest looking side, tie a string around the outside so to the keep a compact shape

get grill screaming hot, keep the lid open and the grill cranked for cooking

put steaks on oil side down, LEAVE THEM ALONE< DON"T PLAY WITH THEM, they will initially stick, then as the grill marks form they will release, once they release, about a minute or two, rotate them about 60 degrees to give a nice cross hatch pattern..

turn them a couple of minutes later and leave them alone until done

a good grilling steak, tenderloin (flavourless), rib eye (yum), striploin (budget, but good) should never be more than medium rare

top with something salty, shave strips of parmesan, blue cheese butter, flor de sel

a splash of balsamic when you turn them is also good

[ODB]

Benjo - this a quick decription, maybe ODB saved the the more detailed ones I put on central a few years back

Ya... I jam a fuckin rotisserie through mine!

[Cornuck]

That's similar to my method, but I don't use oil - I'll have to try that out.

I add a slight amount of Lea & Perrins to each side and then rub with a bit of spice mix - I found a great Prime Rib seasoning that works well (must be all natural).

My steaks are rare - under 2 minutes a side - just enough to get some nice looking grill marks. I'll cook to order, but nobody gets 'well done' at my house.

Also, the only steaks I've cooked in years have been rib-eyes. Can't beat the flavour in my opinion.

I'll use briquets and then add mesquite wood chunks just before the steaks go on - it adds a great smokey flavor. Recently I found some Jack Daniels briquets that also have chunks of the wooden casks in the bag - that adds a slightly sweeter taste.

Mmmmm.... now I"m hungry again...

PS: The best thing that ever happened to my grilling was having the gas bbq break about 10 years ago.

[Meds]

So last night I tried the chicken thing too.....

Results?

Similar to Ohdee's. Problem for me wasn't the weight or number of birds, but the damned thermometer on the BBQ. It's placed right in the middle so at least that gives a good average of the Temp in there, but I'm 99.99% certain that it doesn't accurately reflect the temperature that the bird was being subject to. After just over 2 hours, and I had this thing fluctuating betweent 380 and 400 degrees (according to the Thermo), I still don't get the impression that they're done. So I go to the meat thermometer. Nope. Not done. Not even up to 150 yet. Chicken needs a minimum of 150 to kill any strays apparently (I'm no expert though). Even after getting it up to above 400 for another 20 minutes I don't think it was quite done. Thermometer after sitting for 10 minutes said it was 155 degrees in the breasts, but there was still some red in places. Had to go back on for a bit.

On the plus side..... tasted fantastic. Took Top's advice and did the olive oil and spice/herbs paste up under the skin, even went further and put in the bacon strips. DAMN!

I'll try it again in a week or something.

On another note, question for Topper about the steaks.....

What is the purpose of tying the string around the steak?