In which I declare appalling ignorance, and risk my man card...

[Wineslob]

grilling is STILL cooking, darlin'.....   And, yes, I still get dirty handling the charcoal during prep and I don't like it!!  Then there's the whole disposal of the ashes bullshit and clean up afterwards.

 

 

[Wineslob]

BTW  I'm a grilling snob, I only own Webers.  Charcoal, of course.   

[Thor]

BTW  I'm a grilling snob, I only own Webers.  Charcoal, of course.   

By the time you get the charcoal even ready, I'll be almost done eating whatever I've cooked unless I'm using the rotisserie.

[IassaFTots]

 

 

 

[Wineslob]

By the time you get the charcoal even ready, I'll be almost done eating whatever I've cooked unless I'm using the rotisserie.

Hell, that gives me time to pop a cork, and open up a bottle of wine too...

[FiddyBeowulf]

You need to get one of these:

Makes grilling so much easier.

[Thor]

 

 

 

 


 

[IassaFTots]

 

Whatever...........never knew a Texan to bitch about getting dirty  

ETA: 

[JLO]

BTW  I'm a grilling snob, I only own Webers.  Charcoal, of course.   

I'm with you - nothing compares to a Weber!  My ex stole it from me after we divorced.   

Now, my guy does the grilling and he uses a gas grill. 

Not for me.  I don't trust gas - it's just a personal thing - from a long-since-past experience. 

Nothing better than a Weber in my book!  And I love the charcoal taste. 

[Thor]

Whatever...........never knew a Texan to bitch about getting dirty  

ETA: 

Well, ma'am, there's a time to get dirty and a time to stay clean. It's bad enough grilling in 100° heat and then to get dirty, too?? No thanks!! Besides, I have my share of getting dirty  with other things....... 

[FreeBorn]

So...when we got married three and a half years ago, friends of my wife gave us a very nice propane grill.  With no tank. 

It has taken me until today to get a tank, and I in fact got two of them.  Up next, learning how to cook stuff.

I'd like to start easy.  Hamburgers and small steaks.

I have no idea how.

Between the BS's and denigrations of my manhood, if y'all would pass along such information as cooking times and how to keep the meat from becoming suitable as brake shoes or shingles.

Thanks to all!

Alrighty then, we've had several weekends since you embarked on your quest to get in touch with your inner Neanderthal and now Labor Day is history soooooooo... How'd it all turn out??? 

[ExGeeEye]

Whale...

Whilst groshyshoppin with the specimen of femininity who had the horrible misjudgment to marry me, we found a small cut of beef that comes two to a package for always under $5, and most often under $4, soaked it overnight in a marinade and cooked it too rare..

So we got another pair, and this time I cooked it too well.

I've just about got the hang of it.  I have three more packs in the freezer and one in the fridge that I'm going to try once without marinade; meanwhile my precioussss is off visiting her folks through Saturday, and when she gets home will help me assemble the one complicated thing I'm good at-- a faux-Mediterranean rotini salad-- for the next day's church picnic.

I'm almost confident enough to try a more spendy cut of meat; and I'd guess burgers would be about as easy as sin at this point.

[FreeBorn]

Sounds good! 

Grilling can be a great family get together thing, whether it's just two empty nesters having fun with each other's company or the whole clan. I love grilling. July with perfect weather or January with the wind howling it's just as good and especially in winter after all the holidays and everything that goes with them food wise I can really get into a grilled steak and the summer salads that go along with it. Goes over real well with a Sunday football or NASCAR crowd at the house while the snowdrifts are piled up outside. It's a short hop from the back door to the grill and back.

You mentioned your Fox mediterranean salad. That's a huge part of grilling/barbecuing, all those yummy summer salads that go along with it. I can grill just about anything fairly well, I know what I'm doing around the grill outdoors well enough but inside the house I am a complete kitchen retard. My wife however is a Goddess of all things culinary.

She's not here right now, doing the rare night shift, so I am risking my very soul by sneaking into her recipe box to offer up one of her mother's gems (when the cat's away...). Honestly, I am not worthy, heathen footsteps in the temple, just sticking my filthy fingers in there at all (gasp!). Her mother passed when my wife was just 11 years old in the summer of the Bicentennial and my wife has her box of recipes.

This one I like a lot with all things grilled. (sorry if it seems so abbreviated, those who know their way around a kitchen should get the gist of it).

Broccoli salad~

bunch broccoli flowerettes

10-12 strips bacon fried

chopped onion

nuts (optional)

raisins

1 c mayo

2-3 tbsp vinegar

1/4-1/2 c sugar

That's it, as her mother wrote it in the 60's or 70's. I don't understand the wizardry (and never question) I witness happening before me in the kitchen. She never uses any measuring devices, seemingly doing everything on the fly and I am simply mesmerized as her creations take form and materialize from nothing.

I am sorry I can't offer up a step by step how to of the process but it is an awesome salad. There is some night before preparedness and marinade and I don't think the broccoli tops are cooked, if that helps.

[Eupher]

Whale...

Whilst groshyshoppin with the specimen of femininity who had the horrible misjudgment to marry me, we found a small cut of beef that comes two to a package for always under $5, and most often under $4, soaked it overnight in a marinade and cooked it too rare..

So we got another pair, and this time I cooked it too well.

I've just about got the hang of it.  I have three more packs in the freezer and one in the fridge that I'm going to try once without marinade; meanwhile my precioussss is off visiting her folks through Saturday, and when she gets home will help me assemble the one complicated thing I'm good at-- a faux-Mediterranean rotini salad-- for the next day's church picnic.

I'm almost confident enough to try a more spendy cut of meat; and I'd guess burgers would be about as easy as sin at this point.

A coupla technical details, if'n y'all don't mind.....

1.  Never pierce the meat with a fork while grilling. It's a sin.
2.  Not only physicians are entitled with the means and the skills (developed over time and practice, of course) of palpation. The softer the meat, the rarer it is.
3.  There is a decided need for kitchen retards. We just don't know what to do with them yet.

 

[CG6468]

The softer the meat, the rarer it is.

How true, how true.

[Chris_]

There was a trick I learned at work for testing steaks for done-ness without piercing them with a thermometer.  It works well, especially if you have thirty steaks on the grill that all have to be cooked differently.

Roll your hand into a loose fist with the thumb tucked under the other fingers.  Let's say you are right handed... use your left hand.  With your palm facing toward you, poke the meaty part of your hand at the base of the thumb from left to right.  It's usually a good match for well-done to rare steaks.

[FreeBorn]

"3.  There is a decided need for kitchen retards. We just don't know what to do with them yet."

Feed us!!!   

[Thor]

A coupla technical details, if'n y'all don't mind.....

1.  Never pierce the meat with a fork while grilling. It's a sin.
2.  Not only physicians are entitled with the means and the skills (developed over time and practice, of course) of palpation. The softer the meat, the rarer it is.
3.  There is a decided need for kitchen retards. We just don't know what to do with them yet.

 

Preach it, Brotha Eupher!!

[NHSparky]

There was a trick I learned at work for testing steaks for done-ness without piercing them with a thermometer.  It works well, especially if you have thirty steaks on the grill that all have to be cooked differently.

Roll your hand into a loose fist with the thumb tucked under the other fingers.  Let's say you are right handed... use your left hand.  With your palm facing toward you, poke the meaty part of your hand at the base of the thumb from left to right.  It's usually a good match for well-done to rare steaks.

http://barbecuetricks.com/steak-done-an-ok-handy-method/

[Chris_]

Yeah, that's it.

It's been a while.  Some of those brain cells have taken a permanent vacation since then.

[shadeaux]

I started watching a show on the Create Channel late at night. 

http://www.bbqu.net/

That guy is a grilling fool.  I mean that in the best way.  He cooks on everything.  Now I'm hooked.

For years we used a gas grill.  Nice for steaks and chicken quarters, kabobs, corn on the cob.  I prefer a smoker for whole/half chickens, roasts, loins, turkey. For burgers and sausage I like a grill.  The taste is what makes your barbeque but if you have a sensitive stomach, the gas grill is better, more of a clean cook. I personally like oak and charcoal taste.

Someone just built my husband a pit.  We haven't used it yet, it's been too hot.  He's just about ready to fire it up.  One good thing about starting the learning process, you can eat your mistakes unless you burn the hell out of them.     That's not a bad deal at all.

Good luck.