TOP 10 FOODS TO BULK GRILL WHILE WORKING FROM HOME

Maria’s top 10 foods to bulk grill!

It is obvious that a return to a “normal” work environment is not likely soon. You may be one of the blessed who has decided you do not want to return to an office but rather continue the joys and challenges of working, educating, entertainment and sleeping from home.

To manage all these needs, meal planning needs to be addressed to allow for more family time. Rather than discuss animal proteins as we have previously done, the focus will be on other food categories that provide for endless options at mealtime.

Time to bring in our top 10 foods to get on the grill or smoker for fabulous flavor to your meals!

#1 Peppers

Do not purchase fire roasted peppers in the store! They are so easy to make using any type of grill you own and any pepper you prefer. By grilling in bulk, these can be added to meals like grilled sausage topped with peppers and onions, whipped into a fire roasted pepper tapenade for snacks or appetizers, bring an elevation to a salad, or as an addition to Dutch oven meals (think chili, goulash, mac and cheese).

Favorite SmokinLicious® Recipe: Charred Pepper Dip

#2 Potatoes

This group also includes sweet potato as they are just as fantastic on the grill. Whether you grill whole with the skin on, sliced or cubed, potato is a versatile vegetable that can work for any meal. Include them in an egg-based dish or make them into their own main course. Do not forget, they can be mashed as well for the ultimate smokey mashed potato. This is a bargain item as you get so many potatoes in a single bag with the finished product freezing well.

Favorite SmokinLicious® Recipe: Smoked Curry Potatoes

#3 Mushrooms

Fungi are one of my favorite items to infuse wood flavor to on the grill! There are so many varieties with each providing a variation in texture and flavor. Large mushrooms are perfect as a meat substitute. Like other items, they easily can be frozen to allow for quick meal preparation. One of my favorite uses is in sauces for meats, pasta, grains and vegetables. These also make a great pizza and bread topping.

Favorite SmokinLicious® Recipe: Smoked Mushroom with Ricotta

#4 Tomatoes

Although I am listing fruit in #6, know that tomato would also be included in this category. A separate listing is offered for the simple reason there are many varieties of tomatoes that surpass your average fruit.

Cherry tomatoes done whole on the grill, plum tomato diced and grilled in a pan make the perfect base for saucing, and hearty beefsteak tomato for pronounced tomato flavoring.

Favorite SmokinLicious® Recipe: Wood Fire Tomato with Rice

#5 Meatballs

Meatballs are one of those foods that just work perfectly for storing and using as needed. Weather you hand make your own, or you purchase premade from the store, go bulk and you will not be sorry. When grilling, leave the sauces and glazes for when you make a meal. Just do simple grilling and/or smoking to the meatballs, store in bags or containers for up to one week in the refrigerator or in freezer bags for even longer use. Be sure when freezing, you do in so in numbers that are workable for feeding your family.

Favorite SmokinLicious® Recipe: Smoked Greek-Style Meatballs

#6 Fruit

There are so many fruits that can be cooked on the grill and used in recipes. My favorites when in season: strawberries, apples, bananas, and peaches. All freeze well when placed on a sheet pan first and flash frozen, then transferred to freezer bags for future use. Although dessert certainly comes to mind first with fruit – think pie, cake and tarts – they certainly can be used to boost up the flavor of sauces or even used in a stuffing for a protein like stuff pork chops or chicken breast. Though it is hard to pick a favorite recipe featuring smoked fruit, I suggest this one:

Favorite SmokinLicious® Recipe: Wood Fired Apple Pie

#7 Corn

Grilled/smoked corn is a treat I wait the whole year for since our corn season here in New York state is so short. By grilling the corn on the cob, kernels can easily be removed and used in a variety of recipes. Think salsa, succotash, creamed smoked corn and so much more. Plus, I always freeze smoked kernels for use all year long.

Favorite SmokinLicious® Recipe: Grilled Corn on the Cob

#8 Simple Meats: Ground, Thin Cuts, Pieces

One of the reasons thinner and ground cuts of meat and poultry are popular to stock for a week of cooking is,they cook fast and heat up easily. By doing batch cooking, you can use items like grilled chicken pieces in an assortment of meals: tacos, casseroles, rice dishes or served as is with suitable sides. Often you can purchase bulk packages of thin cut assorted pork chops or chicken pieces for low pricing that provide more than one meal. This is where those “family pack” meat items are a true value.

Favorite SmokinLicious® Recipe: Smoked Beef Riblets with Soy Hoisin Sauce

#9 Salad Greens and Chicories

We all know salad greens are healthy for you but eating traditional salads can get boring to the taste buds. That is where the grill can work magic on lettuce greens bringing out a char quality that gives a hearty flavor to your salad. Although hearty greens work best, I have success with more fragile greens by grilling on a sheet pan. Just remember, salad greens and chicories should not be left unattended for any length of time as the cook that quickly.

Favorite SmokinLicious® Recipe: Wood Grilled Romaine Lettuce

#10 Eggs

Making egg dishes on the grill or smoker is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to enjoy eggs. The options for making frittata, casseroles, puffs, and so much more are endless! Essentially, any ingredients you crave can go with eggs: seafood, meats, poultry, mushrooms, spinach, kale, parsnip, carrot, celery, corn. Anything! By keeping a dozen eggs in the pantry, you will always have a meal ready to go.

Keep in mind, simple scrambled or sheet pan eggs give a work week of meals and easy start.

What is your favorite bulk grilling or smoking food? Leave us a comment and subscribe to get our latest tips, techniques, recipes and the science behind the fire and smoke, for all live fire cooking methods. That’s SmokinLicious!

 

TOP 12 GRILLING MISTAKES

Our top 12 Grilling Mistakes!

 As a billion-dollar business, selling grills is likely not going away any time soon.  In fact, sales are gaining strength thanks to COVID-19 which forced many to find ways to keep cooking and eating interesting while forced to stay out of restaurants.

When asked, most people say they grill or barbeque for flavor.  If that is the case, then why are some of the most common practices the ones causing the most variation in the taste of your grilled foods?

Here are the top 12 grilling mistakes you should avoid.

#1 Skipping Preheat of the Grill

It does not matter if you prefer to use a gas grill or a charcoal unit, you need to preheat the grill before adding food.  Why?  It is the only way to avoid having your foods stick to the grill grate.  When you allow the metal to heat to a very hot level, the protein in meats cannot form a bond with the metal grate.  Plan about 5 minutes preheat time for charcoal grills and 15 minutes for gas units.

#2 Cooking on an Unclean Grill

Yeah, I know.  The grill is located outside so you think it does not need the same care and cleaning as your kitchen equipment indoors.  Wrong! Leftover food particles, grease, smoke tar and creosote can build up on various parts of the grill and cause changes in food flavors as well as make the food stick.  Plus, a grease trap that has never been emptied can ignite which will ruin your planned grill day!  Get in the habit of scraping the grill grate after preheating and lightly scrub the cooled down grill including the lid area, with steel wool and water.  The lid likes to hold on to carbonized grease which becomes flaky and falls off onto your foods if left in place.

#3 Not Oiling the Grill Grate

In addition to preheating the grill oiling the grate is key to keeping food from sticking.  This needs to be done whether your cooking on gas or charcoal.  Using tongs, dip a wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and wipe the preheated, scrubbed cooking grate before adding food.

#4 Using Lighter Fluid

For charcoal grill lovers, stop ruining your foods with lighter fluid.  Coals are easier to lite with lighter fluid for one reason only – the chemicals make for quick lighting.  They also impart those chemical flavors to your food.  Learn to use a chimney starter with either newspaper for lighting or a Firestarter placed at the bottom.   And this leads us to …

#5 Not Having Enough Coals

Depending on the size of the chimney starter you purchase, the average weight of charcoal used in one is 3 pounds.  If your planning a full day of grilling, that one chimney starter will not be enough.  Do not forget to load the charcoal area of the grill with unlit charcoal before the hot coals are added. The hot coals will gradually ignite the unlit and keep the temperature going so you can keep cooking.

#6 Pouring the Coals Too Soon

Once you have the chimney starter lit, leave it alone!  Too often, the chimney is poured before the top layer of coals is covered with ash.  That means, the coals are a gray color not black.  If you do not allow the coals to fully heat, you will not be able to sustain the temperature of the equipment for cooking or worse, the fire could go completely out.

#7 Turning Meat Too Soon

We covered why it is so important to preheat the grill before placing food on the grate.  Part of the “non-stick” relates to turning meat. The meat’s surface needs to be hot enough to release from the grate.  If  you don’t wait long enough, the meat will tear.  Wait until you can easily lift the meat before making the turn.

#8 Running Out of Propane

I think just about everyone at one time or another makes the mistake of starting a grilling day and the propane tank runs out!  Here is a trick for those who own a tank that has no fuel gauge. Boil one cup of water and pour it down the side of the tank.  Feel the metal with your hand.  Where you feel warmth on the tank means that area of the tank is empty.  Feel coolness, that is the current level of available propane.

#9 Cooking with the Lid Open

Apart from lighting a gas grill, which should always be done with the lid up, you should do cooking with the lid down.  Remember, gas grills deliver less heat than charcoal models.  Keep the lid down to trap as much heat as possible.

#10 Lifting the Lid During Cooking

Having a hinged lid seems to imply that you are to readily open and close it at a whim.  Nothing is further from the truth!  Just like your oven, ever time you open the lid on the grill, you allow heat to escape forcing it to work harder to maintain the heat setting.  Leave the lid alone!

#11 Using Vents for Proper Airflow

Comparable to the dials on an oven, vents are what control airflow to either boost the heat of the grill, reduce the heat, and extinguish fire/heat.  On a charcoal grill, there are vents on the bottom of the charcoal area as well as the top of the lid.  The bottom vents draw in oxygen to feed the fire while the top provide for the draft.  Balance the two openings and you succeed in reaching regulated temperature, just like setting the dial on your stove.  Gas grills also have vents but they are usually fixed and intended to release some gases and heat from the higher BTU burner ratings.

#12 Using Only One Cooking Set Up on the Grill

Grills allow for so much versatility in cooking essentially any food item, whether that is animal protein, fruit, vegetables or even bread and baked items.  Do not limit yourself to just one grill set up!  If you are one to lite up all the burners on the grill or place your hot coals all throughout the charcoal area of your grill, then you are missing out.  Direct fire works for quick cooking methods like burgers and hot dogs, but it is not the best set up for other foods.  Learn to use a two-zone set up: heat on only one half of the grill area while food is placed on the unheated side.  You will have the benefit of controlled cooking when needed and the option for direct char and searing for finishing items or for quick cook foods on the direct fire side.

Did we miss a grilling mistake?  Leave us a comment to let us know.  We welcome all types of questions and encourage you to follow and subscribe to our social channels so you don’t miss anything.  We look forward to providing you with tips, techniques, recipes, and the science for all things wood-fired cooked.

 

TOP 10 TIPS FOR GRILLING SAFETY

We all love the time of year when we can abandon the indoor kitchen and head out to the grill for open air breathing, relaxing, and some great food.  For those of you who are new to outdoor grilling or who may need a refresher, we are giving you our top TIPS FOR GRILLING SAFETY so there’s no chance your summer grilling season is remembered for another reason.

Tip #1

You probably wondered why about 15 years ago, outdoor kitchens became all the rage.  The real purpose in having an area designated for outdoor cooking took hold when people realized these structures were highly durable and allowed for measures to be in place to ensure rogue hot coals from charcoal fires or excessive heat from gas grills didn’t ignite the surrounding structures like the house and garage.  If you can’t afford a full outdoor kitchen layout, at least follow some of the basic ideas: set the cooking area a distance away from any building and preferably on a fire-proof surface like concrete, that is safely away from trees and grass.

Tip #2

Keep your grill clean.  Whether it’s propane, natural gas, electric or charcoal, all grills need periodic cleaning to keep them performing optimally as well as to prevent those surprise grease fires.  Any grill can have a grease fire!  Clean the drip pan, grease pan, lid, walls and grilling grates.  In addition to the safety need, this will give you the longest life out of the grills parts.   If you grill a lot in a single season, then clean the equipment more than just at the start and end of the season.

Tip #3

Don’t use lighter fluid.   This is a chemical designed to give quick life to briquets, charcoal, and wood.  Don’t use it!  It adds a prominent chemical taste to your foods and can result in a fire that goes wild.  Learn what a chimney starter is, buy one, and use it.  It is the safest and easiest method of lighting a fire for a charcoal/wood grill.

Tip #4

Take note of the clothing you choose to wear when you know you’re going to be in control of the grill.  No dangling sleeves, strings, or flammable materials should be near the grill.  Aprons are a great way to keep clean as well as to keep flowing clothing under control.   Just be sure the ties to said apron don’t become a fire starter.

Tip #5

Outdoor cooking is an adult activity.  Don’t assign a youngster to watch the grill.  Grease fires account for most of the damaging fires resulting from grilling.  Plus, it is so easy for youngsters to receive burns from brushing or directly touching the hot grill surfaces.   Animals, too, should be kept away.

Tip #6

Always prepare for catastrophic events!  That means keep a fire extinguisher handy, sand, or baking soda at the ready.  Never attempt to put out a grease fire with water.  Remember, when using a fire extinguisher, spray ahead of the fire and then move toward it.

Tip #7

Understand how your grill works.  With multi-fuel options in one piece of equipment, you need to know how to close vents, valves to gas, and output drafts.  Firing up the grill and having something uncontrollable occur is not the time to learn what those knobs, slides, and dials are for.

Tip #8

If nuts, bolts, or screws loosen up, take the time to secure them back in place, especially if they are on lids, wheels, or fuel areas.  Grills need to be sturdy to withstand the constant opening and closing of the lid.   Protect the surface the grill is on by investing in a grill mat that is fire retardant.  Not only can it prevent the start of a fire, but it will protect your deck or patio material from needing replacement.

Tip #9

When lighting a gas grill, be sure to keep the lid open.  Lighting when the lid is down can result in the gas pooling and exploding.  This will result in the lid becoming a weapon of its own when it is blown off the grill!

Tip #10

Never move a grill indoors including to a garage!  I know.  Space is always an issue when you entertain and a grill can take a lot of that valuable space.  But there is no way around the fact that these pieces of equipment require outdoor air to prevent accumulation of volatile gases that can make you and everyone around ill or worse.  Plus, these units radiate a lot of heat and that heat can spread quickly to other surfaces like the garage door, walls, siding, canopies, lawn chairs – you name it.  Always maintain a 3- foot barrier around the grill including above it to ensure no issues.

Have you experienced a disaster while grilling?  Tell us what safety tip you wish you had known about before disaster struck.  Get tips, techniques, recipes, and the science behind the flame and fire to improve your skills with wood-fired cooking! Follow our TIPS FOR GRILLING SAFETY for a wonderful safe grilling season!