BBQ and Grilling megathread

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Delgar

My cupboard contains many Silk Road spices and blends but I'm not a big fan of some of their mixes including the St. Laurent, but that's a very subjective matter.

I love their Scarborough Fair blend for poultry and potatoes, and for steak their Old Chicago Steak spice is great. Subjective is quite right.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I checked Costco in the NW on the weekend and didn't find the cedar scrapers. Anywhere else locally selling then? Or should I just whittle my own from some left over decking?

BBQ Galore has a boat load of them for $15. Slightly cheaper than the costco one at $20.

Maybe it'll get better once the grooves get deeper, but new out of the box - there's no way I could rely on this wood scraper alone. It doesn't clean between the bars. I have to supplement the wood scraper with a twisted cable wire brush that claims to be better.

[Hanni]

Smoked chicken wings with a maple sriracha glaze last night

[NuclearFart]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

So I didn't say that you shouldn't have any salt in your seasoning, but that most seasonings - especially most montreal steak spice blends - have way, way more than they should, and that caking salt on a steak is not a good method. To respond to your points individually,

1) If the flavour you're going for is "salt lick", sure. If you like your steak really salty, fine, go nuts. I'd rather have other seasonings that bring out the flavour of the meat.
2) As you say, minor, and you shouldn't really need the help on that one.
3) This is true, but again, not necessary if you're searing properly.
4) You want a crust of salt on the steak? I mean, leaving aside the fact that any number of seasonings create "mouth feel" just as well (the one I suggested is here, and contains things like mustard seed and chiles that have their own texture).

It seems to me that people who liberally apply high volumes of salt to steaks are only comparing the result favourably to a bad steak cooked badly. I can certainly see it helping quite a bit if your usual cooking method is otherwise producing dry, bland meat, but if you're doing things properly you don't need it to get good results and you can spare yourself an excessively salty steak.

Either that or you just really like salt, which, well, personal preferences I suppose.

No one is advocating the extreme of a caked on salt lick, you are either introducing a straw man argument here or you just truly don't know how to season & grill properly but think you do. Spend some time in a professional kitchen, take a cooking course or read up on the issue - liberal use of salt is proper technique when grilling red meat.

Points 3 & 4 are linked to moisture content inside the meat, and on the surface. Salt is what enables a level of moisture control. This is a key factor in searing properly. Meat crust does not mean a crust of caked on salt, it's a physical descriptor for the end result of protein denaturation and caramelization (Maillard reaction) which occurs during a proper sear. Surface desiccation is desirable in this reaction, which comes back to the presence of adequate salt.

You're point about minimizing salt to bring out the flavor of the meat doesn't even make sense. It's the Maillard reaction that gives grilled meat its desired intrinsic meat flavor.

[Kjesse]

Another good article on salting:

http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition...k-even-tastier

[calumniate]

Agreed.. Kenji Lopez-Alt has a nice description (and bit of science experiment) to do with salting here:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/t...ct-steaks.html

He recommends salting and letting sit (often overnight in the fridge). The salt will begin to draw out the liquid, but after 40 minutes will begin to be re-absorbed back, creating an internal brine. If you don't salt enough, you don't get any brine going and are just ignoring chemistry

[DoubleF]

So as a belated Father's day gift, my brother and I nabbed my dad a BBQ. The guys at Barbecue's Galore suggested avocado or coconut oil to season the cast iron grates. My dad has always been a fan of using pork fat or lard to season cast iron woks. I don't think any of the above options are incorrect and canola or olive will probably work fine as well, but any suggestions about the best way to season the grate?

Also, any sightings of those wood grill scrapers at Costco? Most seem to have been sold out at the locations I visited. Worst case, there's a good looking option for a cedar scraper on Amazon for about $27, but I'd like one last swipe at the one from Costco before ordering it.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

So as a belated Father's day gift, my brother and I nabbed my dad a BBQ. The guys at Barbecue's Galore suggested avocado or coconut oil to season the cast iron grates. My dad has always been a fan of using pork fat or lard to season cast iron woks. I don't think any of the above options are incorrect and canola or olive will probably work fine as well, but any suggestions about the best way to season the grate?

Also, any sightings of those wood grill scrapers at Costco? Most seem to have been sold out at the locations I visited. Worst case, there's a good looking option for a cedar scraper on Amazon for about $27, but I'd like one last swipe at the one from Costco before ordering it.

Seasoning cast iron is about polymerization of fats through the release of free radicals. It creates a hard, anti-stick coating. You want to choose an oil with a high level of omega 3 fatty acids that doesn't go rancid easily (like pork fat or lard). Avocado and grapeseed are good but flaxseed is the best. It is a drying oil that essentially hardens as it dries and it's the only food edible drying oil and has a low smoke point. The non-edible version is linseed oil and artists use it to mix with oil paints and pigments to create a hard glossy finish.

Olive oil, lards, and canola don't have a lot of omega-3 so you won't get great polymerization.

EDIT: I wouldn't waste the $ on flaxseed for a grill though. I know all this from working on a cast iron pan. After a quick check, Canola is pretty high in Omega-3 acids. I would use that on a grill.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by calumniate

He recommends salting and letting sit (often overnight in the fridge). The salt will begin to draw out the liquid, but after 40 minutes will begin to be re-absorbed back, creating an internal brine. If you don't salt enough, you don't get any brine going and are just ignoring chemistry

In light of the articles posted and the fact that people seem to know what they're talking about and disagree, I retract my previous statements. Thanks for the info. I'm going to try the above method and see how it goes.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Barnes

Seasoning cast iron is about polymerization of fats through the release of free radicals. It creates a hard, anti-stick coating. You want to choose an oil with a high level of omega 3 fatty acids that doesn't go rancid easily (like pork fat or lard). Avocado and grapeseed are good but flaxseed is the best. It is a drying oil that essentially hardens as it dries and it's the only food edible drying oil and has a low smoke point. The non-edible version is linseed oil and artists use it to mix with oil paints and pigments to create a hard glossy finish.

Olive oil, lards, and canola don't have a lot of omega-3 so you won't get great polymerization.

EDIT: I wouldn't waste the $ on flaxseed for a grill though. I know all this from working on a cast iron pan. After a quick check, Canola is pretty high in Omega-3 acids. I would use that on a grill.

Grapeseed sucks for cast iron. It leaves a very sticky coating of goo. Flaxseed has worked best for me.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Grapeseed sucks for cast iron. It leaves a very sticky coating of goo. Flaxseed has worked best for me.

That happened to me when I left my pan on with the oil for too long. Any suggestions on getting rid of that sticky spot?

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

In light of the articles posted and the fact that people seem to know what they're talking about and disagree, I retract my previous statements. Thanks for the info. I'm going to try the above method and see how it goes.

The mods should probably lock CHL's account, this reply isn't right. Pretty sure someone hacked his account.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by kermitology

That happened to me when I left my pan on with the oil for too long. Any suggestions on getting rid of that sticky spot?

I ended up scraping mine out, and it didn't come off cleanly. Took awhile of use/cleaning before I got it back to normal.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by calumniate

Agreed.. Kenji Lopez-Alt has a nice description (and bit of science experiment) to do with salting here:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/t...ct-steaks.html

He recommends salting and letting sit (often overnight in the fridge). The salt will begin to draw out the liquid, but after 40 minutes will begin to be re-absorbed back, creating an internal brine. If you don't salt enough, you don't get any brine going and are just ignoring chemistry

A major issue is that people equate water in the steak with "juiciness" and/or flavor. Most of that water in the steak burns off anyways, and will have an undesireable boiling effect on the meat. It also inhibits your ability to get a proper sear.

The best meat is aged. The philosophy behind "aging" a steak is getting rid of a lot of the water and concentrating the meat. I've started salting all my steak over night. Similar, to dry aging, but to a lesser degree, it will tenderize the meat as well.

Also, when salting a steak, you need to remember that you are only salting the outside. So you need to salt more liberally than you think you should, but give the salt time to sink in. There's nothing worse than a steak that just bleads random liquid but hasn't been seared properly. You end up with a horrible texture and little taste.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by kermitology

That happened to me when I left my pan on with the oil for too long. Any suggestions on getting rid of that sticky spot?

Pour some canola oil in the pan, add some sea salt on the spot, cut a potato in half and rub. Clean then re-season.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I checked Costco in the NW on the weekend and didn't find the cedar scrapers. Anywhere else locally selling then? Or should I just whittle my own from some left over decking?

Wow ordered my Saturday off Amazon with 1 day. Now see it is sold out.

Looks like the bannana boat hype has hit scrapers too. Should have bought some grill hog stock.

[Radio]

I was sceptical at first about salting my steaks before hand but after reading about Dry Brining it's an absolute must for me now. It's not a copious amount of salt and like others have said Silk Road sells and can make you a blend of your liking without the added salt.

The article explains the science of dry brining and why it's better than wet brining. The salt basically draws the moisture out of the beef, then the moisture dissolves the salt, then the beef absorbs moisture.

Amazingribs.com is my go to BBQ site.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by kermitology

I love their Scarborough Fair blend for poultry and potatoes, and for steak their Old Chicago Steak spice is great. Subjective is quite right.

I like their St Laurent, but for potatoes, not steak.

For steak, the blend that Master Meats makes is my go to. Hands down.

[schooner]

So here is my dinner tonight. Bought a pretty decent cut of NY strip, my personal favourite for texture and flavour. But left uncovered on a rack to dry out in the fridge for about 24 hours. Took out about 30 mins before going on the grill. Went liberal on a pink cracked salt and black pepper before going on a 600 degree grill. 90 seconds, turn, 90 seconds, flip, 90 seconds, turn, 90 seconds off. Rested for 15 mins with butter on top. Served with mushrooms and onions, and avocado toast (a cheeky reference to the guardian article on home ownership).

Spoiler!

[Hockeyguy15]

Your steak is overdone.