Forman and Kirkland prepare our dinner-

Sometimes you just don't want your meal to be particularly involved. Sure, fresh ground and blended meats cooked as burgers over an well laid charcoal fire are a fine meal. However, tonight we invited Foreman and Kirkland to provide us with a meal.

My daughter, Beth, did a lot of the preparation. Slicing tomatoes and red onion. "Why didn't you use the mandolin?" I asked. My wife had given us a mandolin slicing tool for Christmas. "I forgot we had one."

I like my onions sliced thin. So, I got out the mandolin. It is a V blade model. I used the safety grip to push the onion through the blades. Ah, nice and thin. Not as well shaped as I wanted. The onion was just a bit wide for the guides on the mandolin, and hit the blades at a sleight angle.

The meat was Kirkland brand ground beef, formed and frozen into uniform patties. I broke off half a dozen meat bricks and tossed three onto the George Foreman grill. We hadn't used this particular cooking tool on the frozen patties. I guesstimated eight minutes, based on grilling experience on the barbecue.

The first three were well done, a bit more than I care for. The next three were done for six minutes. The George Foreman grill does not require turning the meat. The drippings run off into catch trays. Easy-peasy. Paper towel clean-up, most of the time. Not a bad tool. Very little smoke, and set-up is pretty easy.

"Bacon." said Beth. She set up a half-dozen slices on the Foreman. We closed the lid. After a few minutes we peeked. Hmmm. Turning black at the tips, still white and fatty in the middle. I closed the lid and let it go a couple more minutes. The finished bacon was not particularly nice. The middle of each slice was still just barely cooked, the ends burnt (but still edible to a bacon mad eater such as myself).

The components brought together with inexpensive factory buns, honey mustard, ketchup and whatever else anyone wanted, and it was a fast and reasonably satisfying meal. Don't forget those cheese slices that come in little plastic jackets. Great burgers? By no means. A good meal? Unquestionably.

So, what did we learn, Dorothy? Kirkland burgers done from freezer to Foreman are best cooked about six minutes. George does not do bacon well. If you like to slice your vegetables on a mandolin, be sure they are the right size to fit between the guides. The George Foreman grill is not a bad grilling tool for indoor use, quick set up and fast clean up.

I still want to experiment with mixed freshly ground meats. I want to experiment with that for the rest of my life. However, for a quick meal, the team of Foreman and Kirkland make an adequate burger.

Holy Mackerel, it's the Fourth of July!

We did some fishing on the Santa Cruz Wharf here in California last week. I froze the Mackerel and single Perch when we got home, since there was not time to cook them prior to the beginning of my work week. I am away from home during my three or four day week, alternating. It is a strange schedule.

So, before I got home the fish were put in the refrigerator to thaw. Thursday I went out and got some fish baskets to use to grill the fish, and got set up to cook when my son-in-law got home from work. He and I went together on the fishing trip, and it was a meal for us to share.

I popped the fish in the baskets and set them on the grill. I had prepared a full starting chimney of Kingsford charcoal and set it up in the fire box of my Char-Broil Silver Smoker. I was using the fire box as a grill for this one. The coals were free of flame and had an even heat.

This was my first attempt at direct grilling fish. They cooked rather quickly, being rather small and the fire being perhaps a bit hot. It was no more than two minutes to a side and they were about done. I gave the Perch a bit more time, but it was only a matter of seconds.

The fish turned out rather nicely. I had done no seasoning since I wanted to experience the flavors unaltered. We are not big fish eaters in our household. None of us had experienced Mackerel before, and most of us were also new to Perch.

I liked both fish. The Mackerel, being small, were hard to eat without getting some bones. The Perch was a bit easier to eat. Most of the family found them too "fishey." I had expected them both to be a bit stronger, actually.

I look forward to catching more Perch and Mackerel, since they are common to our wharf. I suspect I will be eating the larger fish and devoting the rest to serving as bait. I will continue to fish in hope of the rare Halibut or some other special treat, but surely won't be disappointed by a nice mess of Mackerel or Perch.

Two days later and I am grilling again. The Fourth of July! Family and food! Hot dogs and hamburgers, with all of the trimmings and traditional sides. Potato Salad, beans, chips and more. The hot dogs were from Costco, as were the frozen burgers. The dogs cooked up nice in the main cooking chamber. The burgers were pretty good, as well.

The burgers I tossed on frozen. Once the juices were flowing on the top of the burger I gave them a flip. I liked the well-shaped patty, and the flat surfaces rather than the thick lumps most home made burgers have. However, the flavor proved rather monochromatic. It was a burger, but just a burger.

The main cooking chamber has a greater distance between the coals and the cooking surface. I used the firebox as a place to keep the starter chimney going. Prior to cooking I laid out a layer of charcoal in the cooking chamber. I then got a chimney of charcoal going. Once it was well started I moved most of the coals over onto the unlit charcoal in the cooking chamber.

I left a few hot coals in the chimney. To this I added enough charcoal to fill the chimney. In short order I had plenty of hot coals to add to the fire, as required. I kept cooking as long as people kept eating. When necessary I pulled either the left or right grate, loaded in coals, and dropped the grate back in place. I really love my cooking gloves for this. Lodge brand, in my case. With reasonable care I can handle some pretty hot stuff with these gloves.

Today I just fired up a double handful of charcoal in my chimney. Once they were started I popped the grate from the fire box on top of the chimney and cooked a burger right there. This worked fine, but I think I would add another hand full of charcoal next time. I was getting workable heat, but a little more would have been nice.

So, a week of lots of cooking, and some new experiences. It was fun, and tasty!

Aspirations, or too much of a good thing?

I found this on the Bass Pro Shop site. I hope to see one when I am in San Antonio next week. I can't pass up a trip to Bass Pro Shop. It's just too much fun!

Research-

I could not find books on real home barbecue. They were all books on grilling. So, where did I go? YouTube!

I have learned a lot from YouTube, watching people share how they barbecue. Various equipment choices. Off-set smoker, upright smoker, Terra cotta smoker (made from planters), and good old Webber Grills used for smoking. Oh, and oil drums.

Dial thermometers. Digital probe thermometers. Remote reading digital probe thermometers. Infra red thermometers. Whew!

One person has a Silver Smoker, which has been modified to help it work better. Lined with fire brick and aluminum foil. New baffles to contain the smoke as long as possible. Good ideas, and I might just try them.

The idea I liked best was a twelve volt computer fan used to aid in temperature control. That is what I needed. I think I shall fabricate something that will help get the heat up. So, perhaps lining the firebox would be a good idea, after all.

Yep, this is fun. Tasty, too.

Barbecue Beginnings

I love barbecue. I am not alone in this passion, and that is good. That means that multitudes are much more experienced than myself, and I love to learn.

It is said, “Barbecue is a destination.” The essence of this sentiment is to leave the cooking of fine barbecue to the experts with the proper equipment. I can accept that good barbecue is a destination, and I would love to visit more fine institutions and expand my mind, along with my waistline.

However, I presently am at home (or work) most of the time. I can’t explore the art of barbecue at work, so I must confine my experiments and adventures to my own back yard. I plan on plenty of destination barbecue in the coming years, but I also want to explore the art at home.

My birthday was this week. I saw a Pontiac G6 I rather liked, but my wife wisely redirected my focus to a barbecue. So, off to Home Depot.

So many choices! So many lovely choices! However, the budget dictated that I refrain from creating a backyard oasis with an island grill, hot and cold running everything, and copious amounts of beer. So, my eyes slid down the rows and shelves, and landed on what now sits in my back yard.

What I wanted to do was REAL barbecue, not just grilling. I found the necessary tool.

It is a Char-Broil Silver Smoker. (It is actually very black.) Yes! The price was right, at $159. A few extras (charcoal starter chimney, thermometer, charcoal and wood chips) and we were out the door for just a bit over $200. That, and considerable effort. Though packaged nicely, it is quite heavy.

It took several hours to build this thing. I say build, because “assemble” falls quite short of the task. The main chamber and the fire box were welded up, and the doors mounted. Just about everything else is up to the user.

Fortunately, the documentation is clear and adequate. I love the bubble packed nuts and bolts. Very clearly laid out, and easy to keep track of during assembly.

The instructions warn that the assembly should have two people, due to the weight. I am a relatively large person, and strong enough for the task, so I went solo. Exercise caution, if you go this route. To reduce weight I removed the components from the package right from the back of the vehicle, and moved them a bit at a time to the assembly area.

This product is well made, and the design allows the novice ( in this case, me) to build the smoker quite easily. I took my time, and finished in about two hours. The instruction sequence allows for surprisingly easy assembly. The assembler is directed to orient various parts in ways that allows components to sit on the ground, or on each other. No holding up heavy parts while you try to align screws and attach bolts.

The Char-Broil Silver Smoker is a design previously manufactured by the New Braunfels Smoker Company. It is an off-set smoker, having a smoke box attached to the side of the main chamber. Indirect heat and smoke cook the meat in the main chamber.

New Braunfels is a town in Texas. If you would like to see the town, I happen to have a slide show video on YouTube. Check out the mlockridge channel.

So, I finished assembly last night, and today I fired it up. Well, first I cleaned it, rubbing off any residual adhesives from the stick-on label with alcohol. I then oiled the inside with vegetable oil. Then I loaded the starter chimney with charcoal, and two wadded-up pieces of newspaper.

The charcoal I used is a lump charcoal by the brand name of Cowboy. Rather than the ground up and compressed charcoal biscuits, it is still bits of wood charcoal. It started beautifully. Once it was ready, I poured the burning charcoal onto the fire grate in the fire box, and arranged the coals to keep up a good burn.

Most of today I experimented with adjusting the vents to control the heat. This was a break-in burn, so no cooking today. I tossed in some of the hickory chips I had purchased, and was amazed by how much smoke a few chips will generate. None had been soaked in water, so they burned up pretty quickly.

The rate of fuel consumption seemed reasonable. I figure that I will want to start the fire about a half-hour (or a bit more) before introducing the meat to the cooking chamber. My first cooking run should be this Sunday.

This unit has considerable flexibility. If you want to grill just a bit of meat, the fire box can serve as a small grill. A grill grate is included. To grill a large amount of meat, the main chamber can be used as well. Fire grates are included so that the whole unit can be used as a grill.

As a smoker, it has a good capacity. A small turkey could be smoked in this unit, and probably will. However, I plan to work my way up to that.

So, a new adventure has begun. I will share it here.