My Not-So-Shiny, New-to-Me Earth Day Present
I like to talk a lot about wants versus needs, and how for the sake of the planet we all have to be a little (OK, a lot) more careful about not wantonly giving into our consumer wants. Today on Earth Day I put my money where my mouth is - my gift to the planet was to "upgrade" my backyard grill to one that someone else was tossing in the garbage. While there is very little in this world that I find myself really wanting, you would not believe how badly the former consumer inside me burns with wanton desire when I see a shiny new stainless steel grill. Ooooo, soooo shiny. My precious! Sure, I could afford one. A nice one, too. But do I need it? Not in the least.
What I do actually need is more surface area on my grill. The one I have was the lowest-end, cheapest model I could find 8 years ago. And now that we have big Brew 'n' Q parties all summer long the last few years, I've found that I really need more real estate on that sucker. So I scoured kijiji and got a free one. It ain't pretty by a long shot, but it is actually a bit better looking than the one I have, and has almost twice as much real estate.
Here is the grilling surface. Nothing fancy, but actually it is in a bit better shape than the one I am using.
Now here is the real trick to taking a cheap-ass grill like this, and turning it into a real culinary machine - a cast iron griddle! They are a mere 10 bucks at the Superstore here in Canada, and putting one on top of your grill transforms it! No more flareups! Even heat! Low-and-slow! Oh yeah! I've been using this trick for a few years now, but on my old grill I could only fit one of these. I'm going to use an angle grinder to grind off the handles and I should be able to fit 2 of them on my new grill, with space left over for anyone who thinks they really need direct flame. But once you've tasted some of the delicacies I take off my grill you will agree that there is zero benefit to direct flame. Z-E-R-O. I don't care what the fancy-pants chefs say.
If you happen to live in Ottawa and have a grill you want to get rid of, if it is in better shape than this one and has at least as much real estate, let me know and I'd be happy to rescue it from the landfill site. And I won't be tossing out my existing grills - am hanging on to them to see if I can't use parts of them for a new smoker I am building. Hope to have an article on that sometime in the near future.
Comments
Direct flame
The griddles may work for low and slow, but if you're going hot and fast, direct flame rocks. Ask anyone who has had steak off my Weber. No flare ups here either, but that's thanks to Webers design.. they have these little triangle shaped things that the fat drips down on, and there is a single quick flare, and this whoosh sound as the fat vapourizes, and that's where the flavour comes from. I cook a 2" thick steak at about 700-800F for about 4 minutes, then drop it to 350F for another 7 - 9 minutes. Delicioso!
I also cook Turkey on the Weber. Without these triangular bars (Weber calls 'em Flavourizer bars) the thing would just catch on fire. You couldn't use a griddle for that either.
What I am saying is that there is a purpose for everything... the griddles rock for low and slow, and give you the capacity to do things like handle small bits (chopped onions). You also get to let your food cook in the juices of veggies or meat that you have already cooked, but it's not the only way!
Flavourizer bars
My grill had those but the whole infrastructure for them rusted out - the triangular things and their supports. But you can certainly do hot and fast on the griddles no problem at all - I just choose not to. I think you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference in a blind side-by-side taste test, honestly. I cannot for the life of me imagine what difference direct flame makes - indeed, with those "flavourizer bars" in place, you get no more "direct" flame than I do. What's the difference between a piece of sheet metal between the flame and the meat, or a piece of cast iron? For one, the cast iron holds the heat WAY better than sheet metal ever will. So I'd wager it is better for hot and fast as well. It is the heat that cooks, and as long as the grill gets up to the temp you want, that's all you need.
In any case, to each their own. I prefer everything cooked low and slow anyway, so that's the way I keep my grill set.
"What's the difference
"What's the difference between a piece of sheet metal between the flame and the meat, or a piece of cast iron?"
Try cooking a turkey on a griddle. Yours will catch fire, sitting in a pool of fat. Mine vapourizes the fat. Personally I think each method has its place.
grill-off!
I'll take that turkey challenge!
I'm honestly not sure why a turkey would be more inclined to catch fire sitting in its own grease on a grill, vs sitting in its own grease in the oven which is how most people cook it.
But my griddles handle grease very well - during a full day of grilling I'm sure I deal with more grease than is in a turkey. Nothing has caught fire yet. Plus I can drain the grease from time-to-time if need be - and save the grease which can be cleaned up and re-used - yum!
Sounds like a grill-off is the only way to settle this one :-)
Challenge accepted
OK, here's the challenge. You place a turkey directly on the griddle, set your temperature, and walk away. I will do the same, directly on my grill. My bet is your turkey will catch fire, as the fat fills up the griddle, then drains over the side and into the flames. Unless you tend to your turkey constantly, it will catch fire. It's not the same as in the oven because the fat is contained in a large deep drip tray, and never gets a chance to catch fire.
I'd wondered where you'd
I'd wondered where you'd gotten the griddle plates! I wonder how many would fit on our grill surface.
Better Grill
Replace the gas tubes. Makes all the difference in the world.
And SS grills are pretty but suck. I have a nice weber gas BBQ that is not SS but is awesome.