The Grillin Fools have moved!!!

If you have found this page you have need to know that we have moved our website to a new provider. I will always leave this information here but I have moved everything over to www.grillinfools.com and all new content will be at that location.

I regret that if you are a follower that our new site home does not provide that service. If you want to continue to follow the site you can follow us on Twitter. I promise never to hit you with a tweet that is not grilling related. Mainly you will just get updates indicating new content on the site.

The newest content on the new site will be pulled pork, brisket that was so tender and moist we called it pulled beef, as well as grilled melon. We look forward to seeing you at our new home...
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Low Maintenance Grilling for a Crowd

Myself and my fellow Grillin Fools will be asked to cook for large groups quite often over the next few months. My family needs no more than word that the sun is going to rise as an excuse to get together for a family function in the warm months. And with us that means grilling. With Memorial Day a few days away, graduation parties, pool parties, and 4th of July right around the corner we find ourselves cooking for a crowd much more often than in the cooler months.

Sometimes we find ourselves seemingly strapped to the grills while the party goes on around us, only able to mingle with the people that wandered over to us to see how the food is coming along. We may be at a party but sometimes we feel more like hired help than party attendees. This post is all about ways to cook for a crowd and still be able to join in the festivities. To be able to feed the group but also have fun with them at the same time. Click below to find a number of possibilities for low maintenance high yield grilling recipes.


Brats and Dogs

The first thing that comes to minds of most people when it comes to feeding the masses at a cookout is brats and dogs. Both cook fairly quickly over high heat. But cooking 30 brats and 15 dogs can take quite some time. This is where the beer bath comes in. Grill your brats and dogs prior to your guests arrival. Buy a high sided disposable aluminum pan, pour in your favorite beer, some slices of onion, maybe a garlic clove or two, place directly on the grill, and put the brats and dogs in the new beer Jacuzzi you just made. Place the pan over enough of the coals to get a simmer going, or put it in the oven at about 200. Now, go get a shower and when the party starts the grilling is already done. If someone does not want the beer dripping off their brat, just throw the brat back on the heat for a couple minutes to steam that off.

How about taking those brats and dogs to the next level? Walk right past the meat cases with the Johnsonvilles and the Oscar Meyers. Go to the meat cutter at your local grocer and see if they have specialty brats and dogs they make in house. They will be better than the mass produced stuff in the cases. Even better. Go to a local butcher and see what they have. Throw a few Jalapeno brats on. Maybe a garlic brat. Try some Italian sausages or some other ethnic sausage like an Irish banger, Polish Sausage, Chorizo, Greek brat, Cajun brat, or Hungarian brat. How about my favorite the apple brat? Natural casing hot dogs are heads and shoulders better than what Oscar Meyer makes.

Now that you have your primo tubular meats, how about taking them to yet another level - at least for the brats. I have not tried this trick yet but Dad swears by it. While it may say that a brat is a beer brat do not believe that till you see it soaking in beer yourself. So pick your favorite brew and soak the brats in beer overnight. Sure that’s not all that interesting in terms of taking brats to the next level, and not my Dad's trick, but this is. Take a needle and insert the blunt in into a cork from a wine bottle. Then use that needle to poke tiny holes in the brats. Some will scream that this will allow all the juice to run out when grilling them. That will happen if a knife is used to poke holes. But the pin prick will allow the beer to be infused into the meat over night but not allow the juices to leak out during the cooking process. Or so Dad says. But has he been wrong so far?

Burgers

Next up, Burgers. Everyone makes burgers. Everyone knows how to make a burger. But does everyone know how to make a good burger? First, don’t thaw out any meat for this. Go buy it fresh. The morning of the event would be best. Think of the hamburger meat as the vehicle to get all the extra goodies you can mix in with it to your mouth. Put the bulk burger in a large mixing bowl and make that boring meat into much more than a boring old burger. There are all sorts of things you can add:

Garlic
Onion
Diced bell or jalapeno peppers
Grated asiago/parm/romano
Blue cheese
Ground pork
Even better, ground chorizo
Herbs like basil or oregano
Hot sauce
BBQ sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Andrias Steak Sauce
Snd of course salt and black pepper to taste.

This is not an all inclusive list. Get creative. Just don’t spring a new combo of those ingredients on a group of people without trying it out first.

Get your hands dirty. Mix it all together and then make the patties. Another big time saver is to make up the patties the night before and put them in the fridge.

Now that the burger is done right, don’t scrimp on what goes around the burgers. Next to the meat, the single most important item on the burger is probably cheese. Get exotic here. Don’t settle for simple American or Cheddar. Try smoked cheddar on a burger. It’s amazing. Or maybe a Lorraine Swiss? Pepper jack provides a nice kick. Blue cheese crumbles are incredible.

Don’t go with basic buns. Get a good quality bun. My favorite is the onion bun. Also, have good ripe tomato. If you have access to vine ripened tomatoes at you local grocer but still buy the cheaper ones, I beg you to try the vine ripened maters one time. You will not go back and gladly pay the extra. Even better, grow some yourself. I’m not much of a gardener yet I was able to grow them quite successfully the last 3 years. Here is the second year I grew tomatoes. They were so big the first year I helped my FiL build a trellis for them. Here they are on August 9th of 2008. The top of the trellis is 7 feet tall and these are 5 different plants:

Back to the burgers. Skip the iceberg lettuce. Get a leafy lettuce and go with some sweet Vidalia onions. Don’t forget the pickles, both kinds - the sweets and the regulars.

Top shelf compliments to the burgers (wine optional):

Tomatoes from my Garden:

Burgers are not as low maintenance as some of the other items I will mention in this post. But something can be done to make them lower maintenance. Again, the high sided disposable aluminum pan is your friend here. Place BBQ sauce in the pan and submerge the burgers in the sauce. You may want to cut the sauce with beer as to not overpower the burger. Burgers will not remain as juicy in the sauce bath as say a brat will but it will save some time to allow you to mingle.

With a relatively short cooking time cooking them during the party is not all that bad. One way to be more part of the party is not to throw them all on a platter and take them inside. Have people come to you. As you are cooking have the party guests get their sides on a plate and come to you for their burger. Do a little chit chatting while the cheese is melting.

While this is not low maintenance I do love a toasted bun:

Gotta love cross hatch grill marks on a bun!?!?

If you want the toasted bun but not the extra work of tending to two sides of a bun for every burger, throw the buns on a cookie sheet, bread side up, and put under a broiler till golden brown.

In the end here we have garlic, basil burgers on toasted onion buns with green leafy lettuce, fresh tomato and Loraine Swiss cheese:



Ribs, Brisket, Chicken, Fatties

If you have a relatively stable smoker that holds the temps fairly constant there is no reason you couldn’t smoke ribs, brisket, chicken, fatties or a combination of these. If all it requires is adding more fuel or smoke wood every 30-60 minutes and maybe a location adjustment of the meat then smoking these items is extremely low maintenance. Maybe go with a beer can chicken. Or even better the Grillin Fools new and improved beer can chicken - beer can chicken stew:

While ribs are not always the cheapest alternative they sure are divine and very easy to do:

Or maybe some brisket. How good does that smoke ring look?

Or ribs and a brisket - Brisket on the upper rack, ribs below:

Fatties

One way to cut the cost of ribs for a crowd is to supplement the ribs with a lower cost alternative. Instead of making enough to feed everyone ribs make less ribs and throw on a few fatties. Generally fatties take just as long as ribs to cook. As long as the space is there, go with a few fatties which are always a hit.

Rib Eye Steak Sandwiches

Something that is not all that common and will likely blow the minds of your guests – Rib eye steak sammiches. Go to your butcher, have him/her thinly slice a rib eye into 1/3-1/4 inch thick sliced of rib eye. Marinade in Adria's (Worcestershire and emulsified garlic for those not able to get Andria's), coke, garlic and black pepper. Grill over high heat for just a little bit and then throw then in an aluminum pan with more of the marinade to keep the meat warm and moist. This is not a cheap alternative to cook for a crowd but definitely low maintenance.

Grillin the rib eye slices:

In the pan to simmer. These will get a tin foil cover and be thrown in the oven on low heat. They could be left on the grill but this was shot the day of the 2009 Super Bowl so it was a little chilly outside:

After being in the oven a couple of hours they are ready to serve:

A bun, some cheese, a little mayo for me and I had heaven on a plate:


Pork Steaks

And now we come to the pork steak. What an amazing cut of meat. Not all that prevalent outside of the Midwest but this is a true gem of low maintenance BBQing. Click here to see how to not only ask for pork steaks at your local butcher but one of the many ways of cooking them. Speaking of the many ways to cook pork steaks, you can smoke them slow and low for many hours. You can BBQ them at a medium heat, indirect for a couple of hours with some smoke wood or you can grill them hot and fast. For me, I go the indirect route for a couple of hours on the side with no heat and some good smoke wood on the coals. Sort of the best of both worlds.

At the end, a BBQ hot tub in a (you guessed it) aluminum tray will keep them warm and juicy for hours. The high fat content makes it very difficult to dry them out and it also keeps them oh so tender. You can feed an army with pork steaks and do so really inexpensively.

Pulled Pork

Some would argue that pulled pork is a cheap and easy way to feed a crowd. Total work is less than 90 minutes but that is stretched out over 8-12 hours. It can be started the night before but if the smoker has a hard time keeping a constant temp then it will require some maintenance in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn or both. For the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend the GrillinFools will be attempting a quicker method for making pulled pork. Total time about 6 hours. Sorry, no pics just yet as we haven’t done it. But if you want to give it a whirl the method is this:

Rub the pork shoulders with your favorite rub and then head out to get the grill going. You could rub the shoulders the night before if you want to.
Get the grill up to 375-400 – the temp will drop down to the desired temp of around 350 once the meat is added
Place the pork shoulder(s), fat side down, in one of those disposable aluminum pans you’ve heard so much about in this post.
If the temp drops below 350 be ready to add more fuel to the fire
Smoke for 3 hours at 350
Cover the pans with foil
Cook for another 2 hours until the internal temp reaches 195
Remove from heat, wrap in foil and place in a cooler to rest for 1 hour leaving the thermometer in the meat
When the internal temp reaches 200 it’s time to pull
Cut the meat into large chunks and let cool a bit before pulling. This will make the pulling process much easier.
Or you can try another method my Dad just heard about. Place the cooked shoulders after resting into large ziplock bags and than smack the crap out of them a couple of times with the bottom of a large frying pan. Cast iron is recommended. The jolt seems to make the pulling process much easier.

I will try to update this thread with pics of the pulled pork process soon after the holiday weekend… But until then, enjoy the holiday weekend and happy grillin!!!


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Grilled Romaine Lettuce. That's right, Salad on the grill!!!

I got this idea from the NetCookingTalk.com Foruns. I spend a lot of time in their BBQ forum, but they also have a lot of other great sub forums on the site.

Back to the grilled salad. Sounds nuts right? I thought the same thing but a few people tried it on NetCookingTalk and they raved about it. So after grilling burgers and brats for the fam on Mother's Day, I decided to give it a shot. I am extremely happy I did. This will become a regular staple at future GrillinFools cookouts. Something about the combination of the charred flavor, the crispness of the lettuce and the fresh grated Romano cheese that was simply amazing. Click below to see how you can add it to your menu too....


This is so easy that and so incredible. The ingredients?

1 head of Romaine Lettuce
Enough olive oil to slather both sides
1/2 cup of fresh grated Romano (Parm or Asiago could also be used, just nothing from a green can)
Pinch of salt
Couple turns of black pepper
A dusting of granulated garlic

That's it.

Prep and cooking is even easier than compiling the ingredients. Start off with a head of Romaine Lettuce rinsed and dried:

Slice the Romaine in two length wise and pull away the few leaves that will separate when you slice it:

Drizzle liberally with olive oil and put a little coarse salt, fresh cracked black pepper and dust with granulated garlic:

Repeat on the other side:

Grate about a half cup of a hard cheese like Asiago, Parmesian, or Romano. In this case I used Romano:

Now off to the grill:

You didn't think that all I made was grilled lettuce did you? We did burgers and brats as well. The lettuce thing was just something I wanted to try. But I think I lose all credibility as a serious griller if I don't show some meet on the pit. Brats, resting in a beer bath:

Burgers:

Place the Romaine right over the hot side of the grill. This doesn't need to be high heat for say searing a steak. Medium hot is about all it needs:

This only takes a couple of minutes so keep checking the underside. Look for the lettuce to blacken a bit. A nice char is the desired result without having the lettuce wilt too much under the heat:

After about 2-3 minutes on each side I now have a nice char on both sides of both halves:

Now, place on a platter, sprinkle the cheese on and eat:

This was devoured in pretty short order by about 5 or 6 people. All those that were sort of chuckling at the notion of grilling lettuce raved about it. This may be the perfect side to go with a steak. Once the steak is pulled off to rest, throw the lettuce on. The steak, depending on thickness, should be perfectly rested when your grilled salad is ready to be plated.


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Smokin some Fatties, again, not those kind of fatties, and some grilled beans

This is not the first post I have done about smoking fatties on the grill. You can see the write-up of previously smoked fatties here. And I will say again that they are not that kind of fatty. A fatty is simply smoked bulk sausage. Often it is breakfast sausage. Sometimes they are stuffed and sometimes they aren't. Sometimes they are sweet and sometimes spicy. The number of different ways to cook fatties is limitless.

I smoked two fatties in this cookout. One is the recipe that I get the most raves about; sage sausage stuffed with cheese, and a new recipe that I created on the fly; regular sausage stuffed with yellow pepper, white corn and cheddar. I also grilled some beans.

In the spirit of trying to be more quantitative I actually did some measuring and wrote down amounts for the recipe. Click below to find those measurements...

Here are the basic ingredients I used for the two fatties:

In the picture above are two different kinds of sausage. The sage sausage was used with the garlic, asiago, havarti and garlic. The regular sausage was used with the garlic, asiago, yellow pepper and sweet white corn. What I omitted from this picture was granulated garlic that I used as a rub on both fatties.

Let's start with the sage fatty first. The ingredients are as follows:

1 LB of sage breakfast sausage (other types of sausage can be used)
1/3 LB of havarti cheese (I have uses white cheddar in the past)
2 heaping tbsp of minced garlic
1/2 cup of loosely packed asiago cheese
10 turns of a pepper grinder
Enough granulated garlic to dust the outside

Combine the sausage, garlic, asiago and black pepper in a mixing bowl. Sausage and garlic:

Now the asiago and black pepper:

Using your hands mix the ingredients together well. Really get in there and squish it all up. Then spread the meat on a piece of wax paper and spread out evenly:

Chunk up the havarti and place in the middle of the sausage leaving plenty of room around the edge to seal the cheese in. Here I chunked up an entire half pound of havarti. I know I said only a 1/3 pound above. I had too much:

When I tried to roll it over to seal the cheese inside the sausage I realized I had either too much cheese or not enough sausage:

So I pulled some of the cheese out:

That's more like it:

I simply rolled the sausage up and patted it really well to get rid of any cracks or crevices. Then I dusted the outside with granulated garlic:

I placed the fatty in a gallon plastic bag and put it in the freezer to firm up a bit and on to my second fatty; yellow pepper, sweet white corn and cheddar stuffed fatty:

1 LB of regular breakfast sausage (again, use what you like, it's your fatty!!)
1/2 yellow pepper chunked
1 small ear of white corn with the kernels sliced off (you can used canned or yellow corn, but fresher is better)
1/4 pound cheddar cheese
2 heaping tbsp of minced garlic
1/2 cup of loosely packed asiago cheese
10 turns of a pepper grinder
Enough granulated garlic to dust the outside

Here we have the yellow pepper chunked into half inch chunks and the kernels from a small ear of white corn.

These ingredients are not going to cook enough while insulated inside the sausage so I precooked them a bit. First the yellow pepper in a skillet in a little olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes:

Then add the corn for another three minutes:

While the corn and pepper are sautéing, mix the sausage, garlic, asiago and black pepper up in a bowl very well and place on a piece of wax paper as before. Then place the cheddar along the middle of the meat:

Spoon the peppers and corn over the cheese:

Roll up the sausage and pat it well anywhere there seems to be a crack or a crevice and dust with granulated garlic.

I put this fatty in gallon plastic bag and into the freezer as well to firm up. I left both in the freezer between 20 and 30 minutes. Then I got to work on my beans. Here is a shot of the ingredients:

2 - 1 LB cans of just original baked beans (you can use other varieties but you will be adding tons of flavor on your own that you don't need any other varieties but it is up to you)
2 heaping tbsp minced garlic
4 heaping tbsp of brown sugar
1/2 cup of maple syrup
1/4 cup of honey mustard
1/4 cup of honey
2 tsp of hoisin sauce (optional and not in the picture)
10 turns of a pepper grinder
2 sliced of maple bacon (other bacon can be used and you will need enough to cover the top with one inch square pieces so this number may vary)

Dump all ingredients except the bacon into an oven safe pot and mix together well as this will be the last time you stir them until they are ready to be served:

Slice the bacon up into one inch squares and cover the top leaving gaps between each piece. If you don't leave a gap the pieces will insulate each other and take much longer to cook:

Now out to my smoker. I made a few modifications to my offset in order to keep the temp up and more constant and this was my first chance to try them out. You can see the modifications here.

For this session I will be using apricot wood. Very similar to apple:

There are a bunch of different woods you can use for this. For a pretty extensive write up about different smoke woods click here.

After spending some time modding my grill to keep the temp up a windy day wiped that effort away in seconds. After 30 minutes I was getting a boatload of smoke but the temp was struggling to get to 150:

I needed 300 for these for 2 hours. If I left it at 150 it would take closer to 8 hours so it was time to improvise. I took the grill grate off that was on the opposite side of my firebox in the main chamber and added a pile of hot coals:

Within minutes the temp started to climb:

After an hour of heavy smoke at 150f (took me another 30 minutes to get a half chimney of coals hot) I was cooking at close to 300 at which point my cheese started to ooze out of my sage fatty which is why both are sitting on foil to save that cheese:

My pepper and corn stuffed fatty is doing just fine:

While carrying my chilled cheese stuffed fatty outside I bumped it and split it open a bit. Trying to pat it back together when that cold didn't work all that well so I had the foil under it from the beginning.

Here are both fatties with some smoke rising up:

About 90 minutes into the process the bacon on the beans is browning up as are the fatties:

Now I am building up quite a bit of grease in the foil:

This is easy solved with the probe from my remote thermometer. I just poked a hole in the foil of each fatty to let the fat drain out:

Here we have 2 hours in:

At 2.5 hours everything is ready to come off the grill. Remember, they only need 2 hours at 275-300 but I got off to a slow start:

Here are the fatties resting. Despite the cheese oozing out of the one already, I let them rest for about 10 minutes. If I were to slice into them earlier the hot cheese would run right out:

Here are the beans. That bacon has rendered its fat into the beans during the cooking process to add that extra flavor punch that only bacon fat seems to provide:

Here are my fatties ready to be sliced. The cheese has cooled enough on the outside that it actually stuck to the meat rather than the foil:

Here we have the sage cheese stuffed fatty:

Here is a close up so you can see the nice smoke ring:

And here is the yellow pepper/white corn/cheddar stuffed fatty:


These are so much fun to do and so simple. You really should try one. Follow one of my recipes or try your own. The possibilities are endless!!

As for what I would do differently, well, I may be at my wits end with the offset smoker. I may be in the market for a vertical smoker in the near future so check back to see what I can create in one of those…



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Time to Demystify Prime Rib. It may be expensive but it's also very easy

Prime Rib is another one of those things that people love to eat but are afraid to cook. We've already gone over how easy Lobster Tails are to cook on the grill as well as boil in a pot. And while it is the perfect time to practice on lobster as the prices are at an all time low, Prime Rib is still, well... Prime. It's not cheap. So that fear of screwing up an expensive cut like that is still there. I'm asking you to face your fear. It's not hard. Do it just one time and I guarantee that you will wonder why you hadn't tried this before. You will also laugh at yourself for that fear you had of Prime Rib.

My Dad done this for years and has it down to a science and has documented it perfectly in this post. Just follow his lead and you will be blown away by the results. Click below to see how he does it and just how simple this is...

Many are intimidated by the thought of placing this large expensive cut of meat on the grill. Inspired a few years ago, by Master Raichlen, I've tackled this numerous times with repeated success ( I've never had a bad result ). It's a simple indirect grilling method that requires the time and/or temperature to be monitored to achieve the desired outcome. The Standing Rib Roast can usually be obtained 'bone-in' or 'boneless' at most markets however it is not frequently displayed in the meat case until winter holiday season arrives. If your store doesn't display this item just ask the meat cutter to prepare one for you. It's simply a sliced chunk of whole rib eye:

Should your choice be a 'bone-in' roast ( G-Fools always prefer this but boneless will do also ) then the ribs should be 'frenched'. Cut the layer of fat covering the ends of the rib bones all the way to the bone:

Upon reaching the bone twist the knife toward the end of the ribs and cut this section away and remove as shown:

Next trim the pieces of meat between the bones and retain ( Mimi says they should become 'nibblers' to be enjoyed while the roast is cooking--she is her father's daughter indeed ):

Should your roast have a heavy layer of fat you could remove that at this time. This one was well-trimmed already and a little fat melting and basting over the roast while grilling is a good thing.

** Editor;s Note - Frenching the Rib Roast is not required. The presentation is better this way but some would argue that the fat rendering down over the roast during the cooking from that section can add flavor as well. This is your personal preference. If for the first time you don't want to French the roast you do not have to by any means**

Next, using a sharp knife, make slits about an inch apart and half inch deep over the prime rib. Insert slivers of sliced garlic cloves into each slit.

Time to make the Rub. Here are the ingredients:

2--tsp. garlic salt
2--tsp. onion salt
2--tsp. hickory-smoked salt
2--tsp. dried rosemary
1--tsp. black pepper
2--tsp. Canadian steak seasoning ( optional )

Another option is adding a tsp. of dried mustard--strictly a taste preference.

** Editor's Note - I prefer to use granulated garlic and onion or powders rather than salts and simply add some coarse salt to the rub myself. I have a hard time gauging exactly how much salt is in the premade salts. The roast will require some salt. It's up to you to decide how to apply it. Also if you use fresh rosemary increase the amount 50%. Dried herbs are more concentraded than fresh **

Pat the rub into the entire surface area of the roast.

The old Charbroil was set up for indirect grilling method--coals on the left and right with the roast in the center. Several cups of hickory chips were soaked in water an hour or so before grilling and were added frequently during the grilling time. Adjust the amount of wood chips to your tast. We don't want to overpower the meat but we are trying to achieve that special hickory smoked flavor into the roast. Other woods may be used such as mesquite ( I'd leave the hickory-smoked salt out of the rub if you go this route ).


** What a view, huh? **

Here are the 'nibblers':

Cooking time for this 6 lb. roast will be approximately 2-21/2 hours or until 145 degrees internal temperature if using a thermometer ( medium rare ). Cooking time may vary depending on the heat efficiency of your grill and number of coals added. The Charbroil charcoal grate was set on the lowest level for this session.

** Editor's note - A piece of meat this large will require a good deal of resting time after it is removed from the grill. In this case 10-15 minutes. Resting allows for the internal juices to settle down and not run out of the meat as soon as you cut into it. If you cut into it right away that is exactly what will happen. While the roast is resting it will continue to cook. So if you like your prime rib medium, you may want to pull it off a little short of medium so when it is done resting you will have it just the way you like it **

Now it's time for the 'chillin' side of the evening ( my favorite part sometimes ). The wine selected for the event was a 2005 B Side Cab. Sauv. I hadn't sipped a cab for a while and thought it should pair nicely with the prime rib. It was corked and poured to 'air a bit' prior to the photo. Of course I had to take a sip to see if it was a worthy choice. It says on the cork 'music to your mouth,' and it was. I didn't wait for dinner with this one and began enjoying it during the entire grilling process. On the back label of the bottle it states the wine is vinted and bottled by 'Three Loose Screws'...how appropriate for 'Three Grillin' Fools'?!?

While the prime rib is gently smoking preparations are begun for the sides and garnish. Horseradish sauce made with sour cream and horseradish was prepared ( mixed to taste ). Yellow squash was washed and sliced then drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and coarse ground pepper to be 'skillet-grilled' later while the roast is resting. During the last half hour of the grilling session Mimi was busy preparing risotto with roasted pine-nuts ( might be our favorite dish ever ).

One hour into the process the prime rib is browning nicely and the 'nibblers' are crispy. A few more coals are added along with additional hickory chips. The 'nibblers' were delivered to Mimi and disappeared quickly between the two of us:

Two hours into the process and ready to be pulled from the grill:

Here's the finished product that will rest on the cutting board under a tent of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil keeps the heat in while the juices come to a rest. A roast this size needs between 10-15 minutes to rest properly:

** Editor's note - Nice job centering the empty part of the cutting board in the pic. How much of that wine did you have by this time? **

The result was medium-rare to rare and was very tasty when combined with the horseradish sauce. Note the rib bones were removed to enable smaller slices to be made ( we intend yield 3 meals from this for the 2 of us ). Leave the bones in and you will get much thicker slices. While the roast was tented and resting the yellow squash was skillet-grilled just to the point of retaining firmness but still picking up that delicious grilled flavor:

Mimi's risotto was finished and this is what the plated effort looks like:

Don't let this meal intimidate you any longer. Sure it is expensive, but it's much cheaper to do it at home than it to order it in a restaurant. Dazzle your friends and relatives by grilling this very tasty roast.

** I'm so jealous I wasn't able to be there for this!! **

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Beer Butt Chicken.......Stew?

Most people perusing this site have heard of beer butt or beer can chicken. This is our version. Beer Butt Chicken Stew. One note here, if the idea of using beer is a turn off, simply substitute a can of soda.

The idea behind beer butt chicken is simple enough. Take a beer can, cut the top off, fill with beer (and herbs if desired) and push the can into the cavity of the chicken. Use a beer can chicken rack or just position the legs to keep the chicken upright. The beer will steam throughout the cavity and essentially constantly baste the chicken keeping it moist and tender.

Now for our twist. When doing beer butt chicken the traditional way all that glorious fat runs off the chicken down into the bottom of the grill. We harness that wonderful flavor that normally goes to waste by placing the chicken inside a roasting pan full of vegetables. Click below to see how my father accomplished the Grillin Fools twist on Beer Butt Chicken...

Recently, during a road trip with business partner Don, the subject of grilling came up ( we had a bit of highway time after business was concluded ). Don mentioned that he had done Beer Can Chicken before but with a different twist. He indicated he placed the chicken into a pan and the filled the pan with assorted vegetables. He said his dinner guests always raved about the flavor of the vegetables. So, with this inspiration ( it didn’t take much for a Grillin’ Fool ) I decided to give ‘Beer Can Chicken Stew’ a try.

First, at the prompting of the Original Grillin’ Fool, I decided to brine the chicken overnight ( just about 12 hours or so ). Locating a pot large enough to hold 2 birds and a couple of gallons of brine that would still fit in the fridge was a challenge. A trip to the garage was rewarded with an alternative anyone can use, a beverage cooler. The recipe for the brine follows:

( 1 ) gallon apple cider

( 1 ) gallon water

( 2 ) cups table salt

( 2 ) cups brown sugar

( ½ ) 2-ltr. Bottle Sprite

(1 ) cup molasses ( or syrup )

( 2 ) sliced large oranges ( add any other fruit you desire )

( ½ ) bottle of previously opened red wine ( found in the fridge and thought ‘why not?’ )

( 1 ) bag of ice

***Editor's Note - This is not a hard and fast rule for how to do a brine. The basics are these: 1 cup of salt per gallon of water. With the extra fluids here (2 liter of soda, bag of ice, and half a bottle of wine my dad probably could've used another cup of salt here.

Add some fruit (I've used apples, oranges, lemons, limes and peaches but just about any fruit can be used - the riper the better), add some sweets (syrup, brown sugar, regular sugar, molasses, are all good candidates), some soda for some acidity (dark or light are fine but don't go with diet because the sugar is desired). You can also add garlic, onions, shallots, leeks, etc. The final key is to keep it cold overnight either in the fridge in a pot in a cooler or with a bag of ice.***

Now for the ‘birds’. I purchased 2 whole fryers at a local grocer ( about 4 lb. each ):

Here’s a view of the brine cooler. Rather looks like Sangria to me:

The next morning I removed them from the brine, rinsed, and patted them dry:

In order to maintain moisture and add flavor the birds were stuffed under the skin with garlic butter. Getting under the bird’s skin can be a bit of a challenge but just keep working your fingers carefully between the skin and body until you create enough room for the garlic butter. One stick of softened unsalted butter combined with a heaping tbsp. of minced garlic was sufficient for both birds:

For this recipe I decided to forego the typical rub normally applied. I wasn’t sure how the rub would affect the flavor of the vegetables ( perhaps I’ll give it a try in future episodes ). The outside of the birds was given a coat of olive oil to reduce burning of the skin ( yeah, that worked well as you’ll see later ).

Notice the ‘churchkey’ on the counter? It was used to completely open the top of the cans to allow more moisture and steaming from the beer. Each can was about 2/3 full ( had to have some for the griller! ):

The birds are prepped and mounted on their can stands and ready for the vegetables to be added. Don't forget to add the extras that come with the chicken to the roasting pan. They pack a lot of flavor too.

***Editor's note - Is it just me or does it look like these chickens are posing for the camera?***

Stew ingredients were very simple:

( 5 ) lb. red potatoes chunked

( 2 ) large sweet onions chunked

( 1 ) stalk of celery hearts chopped ( don’t discard the leaves—they add a lot of flavor )

( 2 ) lbs. baby carrots

( 4 ) cans chicken broth ( the photo shows 3 but one was added later )

Smoking wood chosen was apple chips that were soaked for about an hour before grilling. This seemed the natural thing to do since apple cider was used in the brine and the sweetness of the apple flavor would be readily accepted by all dinner guests.

Here is the grill I will be using. And the view ain't bad either:

Next in went the broth, potatoes, onions, celery, and carrots and were ready for the grill. In retrospect I would put the carrots in first next time as they require more cooking time and then add potatoes about a half hour into the grilling process. It still turned out fine but this is all part of the learning experience as this was the first time attempting this recipe:

Here’s the process about 45 minutes in. The birds are browning ( perhaps a bit too quickly? ) so I wasn’t sure how much the olive helped but it was a hot fire. I set the grill up for ‘direct’ cooking believing the large pan would deflect the heat but the vegetables would cook better than with the ‘indirect’ method. Once the fluid began bubbling I gave it a stir and did so every 15-20 minutes from this point forward. I was concerned about the doneness of the carrots and, as time would tell, this was not an issue. A few more coals were added about every 45 minutes and additional apple chips every 20 minutes. The soaked chips disappear rather rapidly but no chunks were available for this effort:

Another photo an hour and a half in shows the vegetables cooking down a bit and the top of the birds really getting dark and almost looking burnt. Perhaps a small foil tent could’ve been added to the top of each bird to minimize scorching once they began to brown. Please note that this old Charbroil grill has 4 settings for adjusting the coals and it was set on the lowest setting for the whole process. Total cooking time was 2 ½ hours:

The finished product is at hand and the birds were removed 10 minutes earlier than the stew to allow them to rest before carving:

Close up of those nicely browned birds:

The Big Green Egghead, Tom ( the third Grillin’ Fool ), was in attendance and performed the carving ritual aptly:

The stew was very tasty and the flavor imparted to the potatoes and carrots was as good as Don said it would be.

Mimi Linda ( G-Fool’s Pappy’s wife ) completed the menu with Cheesy Garlic Biscuits ( similar to what you find at Red Lobster ). They were really delicious and easy to prepare. Just follow the regular instructions on a box of Bisquick then add chopped green onions, a couple packages of shredded cheddar cheese, and minced garlic to taste:

Six adults and two kids were fed with significant leftovers. Everyone in attendance rated this recipe a success and I look forward to doing it again:

Note: please use caution when removing the bird from the hot beer can. Boiling beer can ruin your grilling enjoyment so use insulated gloves and tongs and I suggest making this a two person process just to be safe. Also remember to wash your hands immediately after handling poultry and before handling other food or utensils. The Food Police are out there, they know who they are, but they are right about this. Should you use a cooler as shown here it should be sanitized and air-dried before the next use. Be safe out there and hope you have time to grill this dish for yourself soon.

***Editor's note - awesome job as usual dad...and mom***


Click here for the rest of the process

Fajitas on the Grill!!

OK, some will argue that these are quesadillas and not fajitas. They look like quesadillas but the ingredients are all fajita. And you know what they say - it's what's on the inside that counts.

I love making fajitas. Easy, relatively healthy compared to the bacon wrapped stuff I am normally doing, and delicious. I always make them inside but it can't be that different to make them outside, right? And thus I did just that. Grilled up some fajitas right on the grill. So click below for all the crunchy, gooey, delicious details...

First the ingredients to serve 2:

2 Chicken breasts
2 Bell peppers (any color will do)
1 Medium onion
4 Tortilla shells
1 Bag of shredded cheese of your choice (I used Colby Jack)
Chipotle Tobasco Sauce - for marinade
1 Tsp minced garlic - for marinade
1 Tbsp minced garlic
Olive oil
Fresh cracked black pepper

Non food necessities
Pastry/Grill brush
Vegetable/fish grill pan

Place the chicken breasts in a zip bag with garlic, black pepper and enough Chipotle Tobasco to coat. It will not be as hot as it seems. Marinade overnight.

The next day slice up the peppers and onion:

Get the grill ready by building a medium hot fire and while this is still two zone cooking my hot zone is larger than usual which is necessary for the grill pan and the chicken to have enough room to cook:

Open a nice bottle of chard like this 2007 Jekel:

While I was pouring the wine I poured a little olive oil into a bowl:

Take a grill pan such as the one blow and brush some of the olive oil over the bottom and put the peppers in. I also brushed some oil over the top of the veggies hoping to get a little flare up:

Wait on the onions as the peppers take longer to cook. Don't worry if you get a little flame action. That's a good thing:

Once the peppers have been on 3-4 minutes throw the chicken breasts on next to them:

After another 2-3 minutes put the onion in with the peppers:

Cook the breasts till they firm up and produce clear juices. How about those crosshatch grill marks on those chicken breasts?!?!

The peppers are getting some nice blackening. Peppers contain quite a bit of sugar and thus blacken easily. That is OK. We want them blackened a bit:

I pulled the chicken when they were done and put them on a cutting board to slice. The peppers/onions are done too at this point. I stirred in a nice table spoon of minced garlic and leave on the heat for about 1 more minute then pull to the side to stay warm.

Now I take my grill brush and brush some olive oil all over one side of a fajita shell and place it directly over the heat. Do not walk away at this point. Need a refill or to get something do so before putting the tortilla shells on the grill. They will cook in a matter of seconds. The olive oil slows that down just a bit:

Brown one side of all four tortillas. Apply olive oil to the non browned side and then place tortilla brown side up (that is not a typo) and I will explain why in a minute:

Now layer on some shredded cheese and then peppers and onions:

Then a layer of sliced chicken:

Then more cheese:

Then put the other fajita shell on top of with the browned side down and brush more olive oil over it:

Repeat this process for the other fajita.

In the mean time I condensed my coals to a smaller pile that will keep the heat up. I don't need to keep the grill pan and chicken breasts on the grill so I don't need that much cooking space and it will save me some time waiting on extra charcoal from catching and producing heat. I just need room for one fajita at a time:

I place one of them directly over the coals again checking frequently that the tortilla does not burn:

Once it is nicely browned flip it over with a large spatula. This seems like it would be a huge mess but the cheese melts and binds it all together. More nice crosshatching:

Once it is browned on both sides I pull it off to the side with no coals to stay warm and repeat the process with the second fajita:

Now that both are browned on all sides pull them to the side with no coals and close the lid for a few minutes to make sure they are both warm for serving:

And finally bring them inside for cutting. Cut them just like a pizza:


We serve ours with a side of salsa and sour cream to be added separately but feel free to change that up. If you want to go with salsa in the fajita while cooking it - go for it. Want to add some fresh tomatoes or corn - then by all means. Want to add some jalapenos - knock yourself out. There is not right or wrong way of doing these. I've even done these with turkey, swiss cheese and basil pesto. Sort of a Bistro Fajita.

Now the reason to brown one side of each fajita and then place the browned side inward toward the fajita filling is to make the shell extra crunchy. If I were to just toast the outside of the tortillas they would have some crunch, particularly around the edges but would be pretty soft in the middle and get even more so as it sits on a plate with the juices from the meat and the peppers oozing over the tortilla. With this method it will be very crunchy the entire meal.


Click here for the rest of the process

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Shrimps

A very common item on the Grillin Fool's menu is bacon wrapped shrimp but for some reason I have very few pics of this incredible and easy side or appetizer. One of the reasons I make these so often as that they are so versatile. I can all kinds of things with these from a sweet glaze make them flaming hot on the spiciness scale. I can make a crazy sauce to glaze them in or simply baste them in some melted butter....

I asked for 6 U14-18 shrimp. I usually go with the U10-12, but the ones in the U14-18 looked ever bit as big as the more expensive U10-12. Oh, for those that don't know, the U numbers stand for approximately how many units of shrimp make up a pound. And while I asked for 6, I was given 8. No big deal.

Some of you are thinking that those big shrimp are really expensive. The 8 were right about $7. So it was $3.50/person. Couple that with two 8 ounce lobster tails for $10/person and a box of rice and the meal was less than $15/person for a lobster tail, 4 large shrimps and a side of rice. That's pretty good considering the meal. I can drop more than $15 on a single steak.

So consider doing a couple of fat shrimps as an app or side. As an app, they may cost you $1/shrimp but if you go with say two per person and are feeding 4 that's only $8.

Here we have the shrimp with my celly for perspective:

First thing with prepping shrimp is to shell and devein them. Dad and I thought we took some great footage of the process. Shot it more than a few times but we had a slight problem. Originally I was going to film it and turned the camera to record and then we decided he would film it so I gave the camera to him which was recording. So he gets all centered in on the shrimp and hits the record button which stops the recording. Then at the end of the demonstration he hit the record button again starting the recording. I grab another shrimp, he gets it centered, hits the record button stopping the recording, I run through the process of deveining a shrimp and then he hits the record button turning the camera back on, and on and on for about 5 shrimp. The next time I do these I will get some footage and insert it in here. I have a couple of pics to help demonstrate the process but the vids would've been much better.

First, take the shrimp in your hand and put the legs toward your palm, or the exact opposite of what my dad is doing here:

Then hold the shrimp so the back is sticking up. Take a paring knife with the sharp edge of the blade away from your palm and insert it stright down from where the head of the shrimp would be:

Run the blade along the back to split the shell. When you get to the last section of the shell stop, pulld the shell off and then remove the tail. Pinch just above the hard section of the tail while gently pulling on the body of the shrimp. Now look into the cavity just created for the vein or any other dark matter. Remove that and you have a deshelled, deveined, butterflied shrimp ready for the grill. Or in this case, ready for the bacon!!!

If you go with smaller shrimp you may need to precook the bacon just a bit. Also, go with a third to a quarter piece of bacon. This bacon wrapped around the shrimp twice.

Here are all the ingredients used to make the shrimps:

I did them two different ways but to start all eight got a half strip of bacon wrapped around them and then skewered with a toothpick. From there half of them were destined to simply be braised in the drawn garlic butter I did with the lobster tails. The instructions on doing the drawn butter as well as the write up on how to grill lobster tails can be found here.

For the other half of them I did them in a honey/honey mustard/garlic sauce. And no, that was not a typo. Honey mustard plus more honey:

3 tbsp of honey mustard
1 tbsp of honey
1 1/4 tsp of chili powder
1 tsp of minced garlic
Couple of turns of the pepper grinder.

Combine all ingredients and wisk together. If you have more shrimp to do than four just try to keep the honey mustard to honey ration at 3:1. Once the sauce is made apply liberally to the shrimps with a BBQ or basting brush:

After my lobster tails had been on for about 3-4 minutes I threw on the shrimp over medium high heat. With the size of these shrimp, when the bacon is done the shrimp are done. Here are the shrimps next to my lobster tails. I left both on the grill for about 6 minutes from this point:

Here are the shrimps plated with the main course and a closeup of the shrimps:

I put the closeup in here so you can see that the honey mustard will blacken a bit due to the high sugar content. This is not a big deal. It will not taste burnt.

Other methods that I use to do bacon wrapped shrimp. I take a sprig of rosemary (not a woody sprig) and place it in the crevice created by butterflying the shrimps and then wrap in bacon. Or take a whole basil leaf, wrap it around the body of the shrimp and then wrap in bacon. I have braised them in sweet BBQ sauce. I have dredged them in chipotle Tobasco sauce for an incredible flavor that is not too hot.

Get creative. And by all means share your creative ideas in the comments section below!!!


Click here for the rest of the process

Grilled Lobster Tails!!!

Some of you may be intimidated by Lobster. Some of you love the stuff but rarely eat it due to the cost. The cost leads to that intimidation. Do these questions pop up when considering Lobster:

What if I overcook it?
What if I under cook it?
How do I know when it's done?
What if I screw it all up and that money spent on that expensive seafood will be wasted?

I've asked myself those same questions. I've had those same fears. How does one eliminate those fears? Practice. But this is such and expensive food item to practice on, right? Wrong. This is the best time to get that practice. Due to the economy being in the crapper nobody is buying such luxuries like lobster. The lobster vendors have slashed prices. What better time to practice on lobster than right now? Those two tails above were $20. Not apiece. Total. They were $20/pound and each of those is 8 ounces. Show me a good steak that you can get for $10? I saw a place in St. Louis that has 2 pound live lobsters for $14/lobster. That's not per pound.

The time is now to conquer your fear of this delicious crustacean. The time is now to get your practice in. The time is now to realize that a lobster tail is just a really big shrimp. If you can grill a shrimp you can grill a lobster tail....

Dad ponied up the lobster tails. These were $20/pound as I mentioned above, but the next day Dad went back for a couple more and they were marked down to $13/pound. $6.50 for an 8 ounce tail? Are you kidding me?!?!?! Oh, how I wish I had the freezer space!?!

And while lobster tails are just large shrimp in terms of cooking they do require a bit different preparation. The main problem being splitting the tail open. Some suggest to split the bottom, much softer section of the tail. Some split the top. I went with the latter. A pair of kitchen shears made quick work of those shells but this can be done with a sharp knife too. Simply start with the sheers (or knife) and split the shell all the way to the tail:

Then slice the meat in half along the split shell. Try not to cut through the bottom shell:

Now for the cool part. I put my thumbs into the newly created slit that runs the length of the tail and pulled it apart. The bottom shell holds the two pieces together and now the meat is butterflied for maximum surface area:

The lobster tails will be braised with drawn/clarified garlic butter which is so simple to make:

2 stick salted butter
1 heaping tablespoon of garlic
1 spoon

Bring the two sticks of butter to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. After the foam dissipates on top you will notice some white clumps floating to the top. Spoon them off the top while trying to leave as much of the remaining butter. A sieve could also be used for this. Right before the butter is to be brushed onto the lobster tail (and a few shrimp in this case) put the garlic in. The longer garlic cooks the less flavor it has so do not boil the garlic the whole time.

Two sticks of butter seems like a lot but what will not be slathered onto the seafood while cooking will used as a dipping sauce during the meal.

Now that the lobster tails and garlic butter are ready for the grill, Dad and I cracked open a great wine that was on sale at the local grocer. Normally about $23 this bottle was on sale for $13:


Cooking Method:

I set up two zone cooking here almost out of habit but it is not really necessary. Just get the grill to a medium high heat. Not quite steak flame searing temps, but still a hot fire. There is no need to indirect these. Just keep them over the heat the whole time. The 2nd zone could be useful to keep the tails warm if there was something else that was not quite done and needs a little more time.

Brush the lobster meat with a healthy dose of the butter and place meat side down over the heat. Be careful of flame ups from the butter dripping into the fire. I had to readjust the location a few times due to flame ups as you can see below with the flames licking the tail on the right:

Here are the tails moved a bit to avoid the flare ups. I put the butter pot right on the grill to keep it warm (lower right):

The tails need to be over the heat for only about 3-4 minutes. Here are the tails with the shrimp added to the grill. I flipped the tails immediately after placing the shrimps on the fire (I will talk about the shrimp in another post):

Once the tails are flipped the shell will disperse the heat quite a bit but they still only need 5-6 minutes on the heat shell side down or a total of about 10 minutes cook time. This will vary depending on temp and size of the tail. What to look for is the consistency of a cooked shrimp - white, firm flesh, but not rubbery. Once the tails are flipped give them another slathering of garlic butter.

Here is Dad's tail plated. Notice the flesh is a little browned from being over the heat but not charred. That is nearly perfect:

And here are a couple of shots of my tail. Mine charred just a bit on the right side but it was still fantastic:


Now is the time to get over the fear and anxiety of grilling lobster. When prices go back up you will be a seasoned vet with these and not worry at all about grilling them...


Click here for the rest of the process

Smoke Wood? What kind is Best? Well it depends...

The art and science of smoking meat on a grill centers around the smoke. In particular what to use to produce the smoke that imparts that wonderful flavor to meats, fish, and cheese. Not all wood is suitable for smoking and not all types of wood are suitable for all types of meat. There are even ways to produce flavorful smoke without using wood at all. More on that below.

There are many types of wood that can be used to smoke meat. Everything from Alder to Walnut. Cherry to Mulberry. Lilac to Lemon. But which is the best wood? Different regions swear by different woods. Some say mesquite is the only way to go. Some say hickory. Some say that fruit woods should never be used. The Grillin Fools actually prefer the fruit woods. My cousin Tom and I prefer apple wood. My Dad prefers cherry. Cherry is my second fave while Tom claims he doesn’t like it all. Although he did strike out on knowing which ribs were done with apple and which with Cherry at the poker party at the end of Feb.

The point is there are a million different opinions on the subject. You need to find out which is yours. The good news is the only way to find out is to spend a lot of time grillin, chillin and thrillin while trying different types of wood.

Click here to see a synopses of just some of the different woods available and what they pair well with…

First a little about smoke woods. The Grillin Fools recommend wood chunks over wood chips for a couple of reasons.

• Wood chunks will last much longer than wood chips no matter how long the chips have been soaked ahead of time.
  
• Chunks do not need to be soaked. In fact we don't recommending soaking chunks at all. Soaking chunks will delay the wood from producing any smoke at all as can be seen here at our rib cook off in Michigan last summer. Dad used soaked chunks in his grill. Tom and I used non soaked chunks in ours and the two community grills. Guess which one had the soaked chunks:

• Chips require soaking. As soaked wood chips get hot the water that they soaked up is released in the form of steam. That steam condenses at the top of the grill. There is a chance when enough water has accumulated under the top of the grill that it could drip down onto your meat. Take a look at the underside of the top of your grill and ask yourself if you want to risk some of that dripping down on your meat? One tip. If you are going to soak the chips, use hot water. Opens the pores/fibers of the wood more and allows more water to be absorbed thus making the chops last longer once exposed to heat.
• Wood chips generally need to be added to the fire many more times than chunks and with each time the grill is opened it releases all its heat which will extend grilling times.
  

We understand that chips are much easier to find with many grocery stores even carrying apple and cherry chips but if you can find chunks of your favorite wood we recommend going with them over chips.

For those with gas grills we recommend placing a handful of dry chips on a sheet of tin foil, form it into a ball and then poke holes in the foil with a thin knife. The tin foil will act as a heat sink as it dissipates heat rather well thus negating the need for soaking the chips. Place the ball right into the flames from the element. The holes in the foil will allow the smoke to escape and fill the cooking chamber. In the very near future I hope to borrow a friends gas grill and show how to use it as a smoker by using this method.

Bark or no bark. Another great debate. Some swear that bark puts off a different smoke than the wood and does not give the meat a good flavor. I have smoked with bark and without. I have never noticed any difference.


Now on to the typed of smoke woods and other smoke producers:

Acacia
These trees are in the same family as mesquite. When burned in a smoker, acacia has a flavor similar to mesquite but not quite as heavy. Acacia burns very hot and should be used sparingly.
Good with most meats, especially beef and most vegetables.

Alder
A sweet, musky smoke that is the traditional wood of the Northwest and pairs particularly well with salmon
Good with fish, pork, poultry, and light-meat game birds.

Almond
A nutty and sweet smoke flavor. Very similar to pecan
Good with all meats.

Apple
The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory. It will discolor chicken skin turning it dark brown and the favorite of myself and my fellow Grillin Fool, my cousin Tom. Dad’s second fave.
Good with all meats.

Apple on the left, cherry on the right:

Apricot
Great substitute for apple as it is also milder and sweeter than hickory

Ash
Fast burner, light but distinctive flavor.
Good with fish and red meats.

Bay
Medium floral smoke with hints of spice & cinnamon
Good with most meats and veggies.

Beech
A mild much used wood like oak.
Good with meat and seafood.

Birch
Medium hard wood with a flavor similar to maple.
Good with pork and poultry.

Blackberry
Much like the woods provided from fruit trees, the small diameter trunks of the Blackberry bush provides a slightly sweet and delicate flavor.
Good for grilling poultry and other meats, such as small game birds like grouse, pheasant, partridge, and quail.

Butternut
Strong smoke, like walnut, bitter when used alone
Good on red meats like Beef, Pork, Venison and other game meats. Can easily overpower poultry.

Cherry
Slightly sweet fruity smoke that's great with just about everything. Along with apple probably the most popular fruit wood to smoke with. Dad’s favorite and my second fave.
Good with all meats.

Smoking ribs in my Weber Kettle with cherry:

Chestnut
Slightly sweet nutty smoke flavor
Good with most meats.

Corncob
Although not considered to be a true wood, the heart of the cob that holds the kernels is the fuel section of this alternative for wood. It is ground into small granular bits that can be added to a smoking box or it can be combined with other woods such as woods from fruit trees, to impart several flavors. The Corncob provides a sweet flavor that may overpower the food if too much is used to season the food as it cooks. Begin by trying small amounts until the desired flavor is achieved.
It is often used as a smoking chip when grilling foods such as poultry, fish and small game birds.

Cottonwood
It is a softer wood than alder and very subtle in flavor. Use it for fuel but use some chunks of other woods (hickory, oak, pecan) for more flavor as it is extremely mild. Don't use green cottonwood for smoking.
Good for all smoking, especially pork and ribs.

Crabapple
Is essentially interchangeable with apple
Good with poultry, red meats, game and lamb.

Fig
Mild & fruity like mulberry
Good with all meats.

Grapefruit
Produces a nice mild smoky flavor.
Excellent with beef, pork, fish and poultry.

Grapevines
Tart. Aromatic, but can be a heavy flavor so don’t overdo it.
Use sparingly on poultry or lamb but otherwise if used in moderation is good with red meats, pork and game.

Guava
Flowery fruity taste
Good for all meats,

Hickory
The most common wood used. Sweet to strong, heavy bacon flavor. This great flavor works well with pork, ribs, hams, poultry, and beef.
Good for all smoking, especially pork and ribs.

Kiawe
Kiawe (pronounced key-ah-vey) is a wood that can is only found in one state in the U.S. Hawaii. Very hard to come by. The wood is dense with a dark thin bark. It is similar to mesquite with a sweet strong flavor
Good for beef, fish and pountry

Lemon
Medium smoke flavor with a hint of fruitiness.
Excellent with beef, pork and poultry.

Lilac
Very subtle with a hint of floral.
Excellent for smoking cheese. Good with, pork and poultry.

Maple
Mildly smoky, somewhat sweet flavor. Maple adds a sweet, subtle flavor that enhances the flavor of poultry and game birds. Smoke a pork roast with them for a sensational taste experience.
Mates well with poultry, ham, cheese, small game birds, and vegetables. Wonderful for smoked turkey!

Mesquite
Strong earthy flavor. One of the most popular woods in the country, mesquite is a scrubby tree that grows wild in the Southwest. Sweeter and more delicate than hickory, it's a perfect complement to richly flavored meats such as steak, duck or lamb. Burns hot and fast and it probably the strongest flavored wood.
Good with most meats, especially beef and most vegetables.

Mulberry
A mild smoke with a sweet, tangy, blackberry-like flavor. Similar to apple
Good with Beef, poultry, game birds, pork (particularly ham).

Nectarine
The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory.
Great on most white or pink meats, including chicken, turkey, pork and fish.

Oak
Most versatile of the hardwoods blending well with most meats. A mild smoke with no aftertaste. Oak gives food a beautiful smoked color. Red oak is believed to the best of the oak varieties.
Good with red meat, pork, fish and big game.

Olive
The smoke favor is similar to mesquite, but distinctly lighter.
Delicious with poultry.

Orange
A tangy, citrus smoke. Medium smoke flavor with a hint of fruitiness. Orange gives food a golden color. Produces a nice mild smoky flavor.
Excellent with beef, pork and poultry.

Peach
Slightly sweet, woodsy flavor, milder and sweeter than hickory.
Great on most white or pink meats, including chicken, turkey, pork and fish.

Pear
A nice subtle smoke flavor much like apple. Slightly sweet, woodsy flavor.
Good on Poultry, game birds and pork.

Pecan
Sweet and mild with a flavor similar to hickory but not as strong. Tasty with a subtle character. An all-around superior smoking wood. Try smoking with the shells as well.
Good for most things including poultry, beef, pork and cheese. Pecan is the best for that beautiful golden-brown turkey.

Persimmon
A strong, sweet, and dry smoke that is popular in restaurants as it is said the dryness of the smoke increases drink orders of patrons.
Excellent with beef and pork.

Pimento
Also referred to as Allspice, Jamaican Pepper, Myrtle Pepper, or Newspice. This wood adds a natural and somewhat peppery flavor that may also include flavors of several spices combined, such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, similar to the flavors provided when allspice is used as a seasoning to enhance the flavor of various foods.
It is a common wood used in grilling Jamaican foods such as jerk chicken. Often used for grilling poultry and fish.

Plum
The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory.
Good with most meats, great on most white or pink meats, including chicken, turkey, pork and fish.

Sassafras
A mild, musky, sweet smoke with a root beer aftertaste. Some say this is not a good candidate for smoking. Others love it.
Especially good on beef, pork and poultry.

Seaweed
The seaweed is washed to remove the salt and air or sun dried before use. It provides a somewhat spicy and natural flavor to the foods being smoked or grilled.
Commonly used for smoking shellfish such as clams, crab, lobster, mussels, and shrimp.

Walnut
While pecan is hickory's milder cousin, walnut is the strong one. Often mixed with lighter woods like almond, pear or apple. Intense and can become bitter if overused.
Good on red meats like Beef, Pork, Venison and other game meats. Can easily overpower poultry.

Italian Herbs
A strong smoke flavor that is completely unique! You can use fresh oregano, rosemary, thyme or any combination of them with oak wood to give zesty and robust flavors.
Especially good for lamb, pork and poultry. Good for pizza too, when you cook it on the grill.

Oriental Herbs
A strong smoke flavor with oak that's truly amazing! A blend of Sesame seeds and Ginger Root with oak wood or Mesquite gives a nice oriental BBQ flavor.
Especially good for beef, pork and poultry.

Onion and Garlic
Soak garlic chunks and/or garlic cloves in water for 60 minutes. Plop the onion and/or garlic right over the coals. Add more when smoke stops. Does not need produce a lot of smoke like typical woods but it doesn’t need to in order to add an incredible flavor to any meat.
Great with all meats, seafood and game.


Other Woods
Avocado, Carrotwood, Madrone, Manzanita, Hackberry, and willow. The ornamental varieties of fruit trees (i.e. pear, cherry, apple, etc.) are also suitable for smoking.

Wood that should not be used for smoking
DO NOT USE any wood from conifer trees, such as pine, fir, spruce, redwood, cedar, elm, eucalyptus, sycamore, liquid amber, cypress, or sweet gum trees. Cooking salmon on a cedar plank is not the same as using chunks of cedar to smoke meat.

Never use lumber scraps, either new or used. First, you cannot know for sure what kind of wood it is; second, the wood may have been chemically treated; third, you have no idea where the wood may have been or how it was used.

Never use any wood that has been painted or stained. Do not use wood scraps from a furniture manufacturer as this wood is often chemically treated.

Never use wood from old pallets. Many pallets are treated with chemicals that can be hazardous to your health and the pallet may have been used to carry chemicals or poison.

Avoid old wood that is covered with mold and fungus that can impart a bad taste to your meat.


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