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Inclusion in Grail’s List does not constitute an endorsement by Larry Gaian, The BBQ Grail Blog or BBQ Grail Media Group, unless otherwise noted.  The companies are listed for your convenience in researching BBQ and Grilling related products.  Please use due diligence when purchasing from these or any other business.  And even when endorsed by Larry Gaian, The BBQ Grail Blog or BBQ Grail Media Group there is no guarantee you’re going to like the product or the company.  Purchase anything at your own risk.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

• Brown Eyed Baker: Bread and Butter Pickles
• Savor The Senses: Grilled Eggplant & Bok Chou with Korean BBQ Sauce
• Taste With The Eyes: Miso Yaki Onigiri
• Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker: Thai Shrimp With Noodles
• Cuts: Recipes for Every Day: Garlic Parm Pull-Apart Bread
• Scott Roberts: St. Louis Wing Ding
• Jane Deere: Sriracha Thai Chili Powder
• Grilling 24 x 7: Garlic Basil Pork Burgers
• Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice: Pork Tenderloin with Maple Mustard Sauce
• Jason’s BBQ Adventures: Tequila-Lime Shrimp Tacos

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

This year we will conducting various polls about grilling/barbecuing/smoking.  If you have ideas or suggestions about polls please drop me a line or two by using the “Ask The BBQ Grail” link at the top of the page.

[poll id=2]

We don’t shop on Sunday so I was limited to what I had in the pantry for the brine.  Thankfully, we always have plenty of Kosher salt and brown sugar.  But what was I going to add to the brine to give it a little POP?  This is what I came up with:

BBQ Grail’s Smokey Pepper Poultry Brine

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts water
• 3/4 cup Morton’s Kosher salt (if you use Diamond Crystal Salt use 1 cup)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons McCormick Sweet & Smokey Pepper Blend
• 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

Heat the water and add all the brine ingredients.  Stir until salt and sugar is dissolved.  Cool brine mixture to at least room temperature.  Place brine mixture and chicken in a container.  Make sure all the chicken pieces are submerged.  Brine in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours but not more than 8 hours.

Remove chicken and rinse well.  It’s important to make sure you remove as much of the salt as possible.

Grill on a medium/hot grill until 165 degrees internal.

Rest for five minutes.  Serve.

The McCormick’s Sweet & Smokey Pepper Blend added a great little bite to the brine.  Combine with the brown sugar it gave the chicken a nice flavor.  I got some of the ‘smoke’ flavor I wanted while giving the family the grilled chicken they wanted.

Growing up I was never exposed to very many different fresh vegetables.  Vegetables were something you “had” to have on the plate and for the most part not a great deal of thought went into them.  Most of the time they were the frozen type that got nuked in the microwave just before we all sat down at the table.

Winter squash is a vegetable that has always sort of baffled me.  I’d pick them up at the store and wonder just how in the world you could eat something as hard as these appeared to be.  Last year I gave Acorn Squash a try for the first time and really enjoyed the flavors it gave me off the grill.  So when Mrs. Grail sent me to the store with the instruction of “just get a vegetable” I decided to give Butternut Squash a try.  The squash grilled up great and tasted fantastic.

BBQ Grail’s Grilled Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, thyme or oregano
• 5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• Salt

Directions

Slice the butternut squash in half and remove the pulp and seeds from the bulb end.  Slice the squash into 1/2 slices.  Cut the bulb end slices in half.  Combine the oil, vinegar, honey and herb in a bowl and mix well.  Place the squash in a plastic zip bag and pour in the oil mixture.  Remove as much air from the bag as possible and seal it.  Place the bag in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Heat your grill to medium hot.  Remove the squash slices from the bag, retaining as much oil mixture as possible.  Season the squash slices with a little bit of kosher salt.   Grill the slices about 5 minutes per side.  Remove squash from the grill and drizzle with oil mixture.  Cover with foil and let rest for 12 minutes.  Serve.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

I’m not sure I have a BBQ idol, but if I did it would be Adam Perry Lang (APL).  Over the last couple of years no single person has influenced me more in my BBQ techniques than APL.

I can remember one of the biggest “I’ve just got to do that” moments was after watching an episode of the Food Network’s “Th Best Thing I Ever Ate.”  Today I can’t remember who the host of that particular segment was, but I do remember they were raving about the smoke beef ribs at APL’s restaurant in New York City.

These were not your normal beef back ribs.  They were more like a roast on a bone.  I just sat there staring at the screen, knowing that since I wasn’t going to be eating them any time soon I had to try to make them myself.  I searched high and low for the type of ribs they were.  I googled, I Tweeted, I Facebooked all to know avail.  I could find what cut of meat they were.  Finally I just asked APL on his Facebook wall.  And he responsed.  I was like a 12 year old girl at a Taylor Swift concert.  APL answered me.  (Okay enough with the melodramatics)  They were “Plate ShortRibs.”  So off to the butcher I went to buy some.  They came out great. (The original blog post is here.)

My next  APL moment was when I bought a copy of Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste, and Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking What a simply fantastic cookbook this is.  I had tried to find 15 to 20 other BBQ bloggers that were willing to take turns cooking recipes from it and blogging about them.  The goal was to cook our way through “Serious Barbecue” from front to back.  I still hope to someday accomplish that task.

APL’s latest book is BBQ 25. Unlike “Serious Barbecue” this new book is about the simplicity of bbq.  APL explains in his introduction why he took this approach:

“There are two sides to me.  One is obsessed by technique and detail.  The other is spontaneous, adaptive, and not too concerned about getting bogged down with complicated processes…

“But les is often more.  This is that book.  This is the backbone of barbecue.”

“BBQ 25″ should appeal to all bbq/grilling skill levels.  If you fancy yourself a backyarder with some skills you’ll be tempted to jump right to the 25 recipes in the book.  But don’t overlook the beginning of the cookbook where APL has written some extremely helpful “tips.”  The “Glossary of Techniques” explains the processes used in each of the recipes.

Each recipe is broken down into the following “techniques:”

• Before Cooking
• Tools
• During Cooking
• After Cooking
• Cooking Method (Pre-Grilling, Direct or Indirect heat)

Even for the most skilled griller the explanation of these techniques is a good refresher.

The 25 recipes are divided into Five Categories: Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken and Fish/Misc.  Each of these protein categories are futher divided into Quick Cook, Medium Cook and/or Long Cook areas.

Whether you choose to tackle the Quick Cook recipe of a filet mignon or the “Long Cook of a Pork Butt each recipe will give you step by step instructions on how to preare that recipe.  From taking the meat out of the refrigerator to setting the table the recipe will guide you through the whole process.

One of the newest and most popular trends in cookbooks today is having stories/memories to go along with each recipe.  None of that here.  This is a down and dirty BBQ cookbook.  Simplicity at it’s best.  Lots of pictures and diagrams will make even the most unskilled griller appreciate their new found ability to turn out fantastic food.

This is a must have cookbook.  If you can master one recipe from each of the categories you’ll be the envy of 90% of all backyard grillers.  Get this book.

Photo By David Loftus

20. Whole Chicken (Spatchcock/Butterflied)

Serves  6-8

Two 3 ½ – 4 lb. chickens, spatchcocked/butterflied, thighs & legs slashed

INGREDIENTS FOR BRINE

• ¼ cup sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp freshly ground
• black pepper
• 10 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
• 2 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves
• 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 6 cups cold water
• 2 Tbsp canola oil or vegetable oil

INGREDIENTS FOR BASTE/GLAZE

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp water

PREPARATION

Combine all the brine ingredients in a large bowl or large sealable plastic bag. Mix and crush the ingredients with your hands, directly or through the bag, squeezing them to release the maximum flavor. Transfer half the brine to another bowl or bag.

Put the chickens in the brine, transfer to the refrigerator, and brine for at least 3 hours, and up to 24 hours.

COOKING METHOD

Indirect Grilling

Prepare the grill for indirect cooking; the temperature should be 300°F. Drain the chicken and dry with paper towels. Glisten with the canola oil.

Put the chickens skin side up on the well-oiled preheated grill and cook, covered, with the addition of wood of your choice (I prefer fruit woods when available), for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all the baste/glaze ingredients in a small bowl.

Baste the chickens, using a regular brush or an Herb Brush (see page 4), and continue to cook, covered, basting every 15 minutes, for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is done: the juices should run clear when a thigh is pierced, and the thickest part of the thigh should register 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Transfer the chickens to a cutting board, skin side up, and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into 6 pieces each (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks).

From BBQ 25 by Adam Perry Lang copyright 2010 with permission of William Morrow/An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

I have heard the cedar fencing might have a chemical or something in it which would preclude one from wanting to eat anything cooked on it. Got any advice? — Bob Sheets

Bob,

The infusion of unique flavors to your food is the biggest reason for using wood planks.  Store bought fence boards are perfectly okay to use.  However, since it’s the infusion of flavor and not chemical toxins you want it’s important to make sure you select a fence board that is untreated.  If you can’t easily determine from signage in the store if the fence boards are untreated make sure you ask a store employee.

You can normally buy a 6 foot long fence board for under $5.00 which is a much more cost effective alternative to wood planks that are cut and packaged specifically for grilling.  If you don’t have the ability to cut your fence board down to size the lumber store will normally do it for you for a minimal fee or sometimes for free.  When cutting your planks down to size you need to consider the size of the meat you’re cooking, the size of your grill and the size of the sink or bucket you are going to soak your plank in before use.

While nothing beats a grilled meal, every year outdoor grilling accidents cause 19,000 Emergency Room visits and 7,900 home fires.  This is the reason UL, a leading product safety organization, is sharing simple, yet critical, grilling safety temps that families need to know and use.

Before reading the tips check out this video from Underwriters Laboratories on how fast an unattended grill goes up in flames:

Prepare For Safety First:

• Keep your grill a safe distance from your house or any building whenever possible
• Never us a grill in a garage, breezeway, carport, porch, under an awning or any other surface that can catch fire
• Be cautious of overhead obstruction including tree branches while grilling
• Keep a fire extinguisher handy when grilling and know how to properly use it.
• Never us gasoline or kerosene to light a charcoal fire.  Both can cause an explosion.

Safety While Cooking:

• Never leave the grill unattended, especially when young children or pets are nearby.
• Never attempt to restart a fire by adding additional lighter fluid to an already-lit grill, as this can cause a flare-up
• Keep kids, pets and bare hands away from the grill.
• Use insulated, flame retardant mitts, barbeque tongs and utensils when grilling
• Coals get HOT–up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wait until coals have completely cooled before disposing of them.

Last year Ted published, Napoleon’s Everyday Gourmet Plank Grilling, what may be the definitive plank grilling cookbook and will be discussed in-depth in future blog posts.  Today’s post deals with his book Sticks & Stones: The Art of Grilling on Plank, Vine and Stone which was published almost 10 years ago.  I came across several references to this cookbook and knew I had to add it to my library.

The test of time is the best way to measure how good a cookbook is.  Even 10 years later “Sticks & Stones” is still available for purchase new.  This tells me Ted has wrote a masterpiece and it doesn’t take but a glance through the pages to know how good this cookbook it.

Whether it’s grilling on planks, marble, terra cotta or using grape vines as skewers “Sticks & Stones” make something that looks complicated and hard to do easy for backyarder.  If you want to impress your guests with great tasting grilled food along with great presentation possibilities you’ll want this book.

The book takes it’s inspiration from the skills developed over thousands of years of plank grilling by the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest.  Ted Reader and his co-author Kathleen Sloan takes you through selecting planks and preparing them for grilling.  There’s also an introduction to selecting stones, vines and twigs for grilling.

The recipe section is divided up into 5 sections.  Section 1: “In the Beginning” has recipes for soups and starters.  Whether it’s “Wood-Smoked Butternut Squash Soup with Cumin-Roasted Pearl Onions” or “Maple-Planked Brie with Roasted Garlic and Peppers” you’ll have the perfect start to your plank grilled meal.

A section on chicken, beef, pork, lamb, turkey and games leads to the section of fish and seafood.  Toss in a section on sides and sauces and a section on sweets and treats and you have the makings for a complete meal that will surely impress just about anyone.

There is nothing more All-American than the hamburger in my book.  There has got to be a good reason hamburgers are found at family reunions, picnics, tailgate parties and the like.  It’s because they just scream friends and good times.

In my book there isn’t much you can do to improve upon the hamburger.  So when I got the chance to give August Kitchen’s J-Burger seasoning I took it.  Most “hamburger” seasonings are dry spice type seasonings.  As you’ll see this is far from the case with this product.

I’m always interested in how a product comes to market.  The August Kitchen story from their website:

Why not fresh ingredients?

We were seasoning our burgers with dry, processed powders and decided to give the real stuff a try. We were amazed at the difference it made in our burgers. They tasted delicious and so moist. We then tried our mix with other ground meat dishes like meatballs and meatloaf and realized our seasoning made any ground meat dish taste better but it required so much chopping and prepping.

After constant requests for J-Burgers, having to make extra mix for friends and family to take home, and requests for the recipe, our friends and family encouraged us to take the recipe and bottle it.

We’ve taken our homemade recipe and shared it with everyone looking for that gourmet meal without all the work.

I was expecting more of a sauce when I opened the jar.  Something along the consistency of A1 Sauce with a little chopped onion in it.  I was pleasantly surprised to see, truly a seasoning, instead of sauce.  It actually looked like it had some “meat” to it.

J-Burger Seasoning is a concoction made from Fresh Onions, Worcestershire Sauce  Diced Tomatoes, Bread Crumbs , Olive Oil, Kosher Salt and Spices.  I’ve got to be honest and say that when I first opened the jar I was not impressed with the aroma of the product.  It actually didn’t smell all that great.  But I’m used to a variety of BBQ products not smelling as good as they taste.  So I put that aside and set out to make me some burgers.

The instructions call for 1 tablespoon of J-Burger Seasoning for each 5 oz patty.  I wanted to make sure I could taste the seasoning so I went with 1 tablespoon for each 4 oz patty.

You can see that the chopped onions and tomatoes really add a great deal of thickness to the seasoning.  This made it really easy to mix in into the hamburger.  Make sure you mix it up good, you don’t want any chunks of the stuff to bite into.

Form into your patties and get them on to your hot grill.

I almost always make quarter pound patties for the family and I’ve pretty much got the whole process down to a science for cooking them.  I know how many briquettes to use and how long to cook them on each side to get medium rare burgers.  I’m not sure what it was this time, maybe it was my timing or maybe it was the J-Burger Seasoning but what normally came out as medium rare came out medium to well done.  I’m going to go through the whole process again but use hamburger with a little more fat in it next time.

The burger tasted awesome.  I’m normally a fully loaded burger guy.  I love pickles, red onion, pickle relish, tomato, lettuce and sometimes avocado and jalapenos.  This time I went with 1,000 Island Dressing, tomato and lettuce.  Wanted to make sure I could taste the J-Burger.  It tasted good, it had a nice flavor that complimented the meat and the condiments.  It seemed the meat carmelized a little more than normal.  That also added a nice texture to each bite.

J-Burger Seasoning also comes in a “Onion & Chipotle” version that I’m going to try soon on some meatloaf smoked on the Traeger.

For those with dietary allergies to worry about J-Burger Seasoning contains: Contains yeast, wheat, egg, milk, sunflower, soy and sesame.

Where to find J-Burger Seasonings.