BBQ Season 2007
 

Yes, official BBQ season approaches. I am considering having a BBQ and reinviting all of the Cellar people I invited last year (I hope you can make it Brianna).

During the winter I bought a rotisserie for the grill. I have my eye on an an 8.5 or 12 quart cast iron dutch oven with basket. Although I don't think my wife will approve of deep frying, I'm considering using it as a sort of pressure cooker on the grill, putting in veggies, frozen chicken, and spices and letting everything cook low for a while.

Of course they are also good for boiling corn, seafood, etc.

The shipping weight of the 12 quart is 31 pounds, including packaging. Filled with 3 gallons of water that would make it about 50 pounds so I am not sure a grill top would hold it.

I love BBQ! My favorite is BBQ lamb or maybe the short ribs. hmmm Oh and of course grilled zucchini is a must! :)

I love lamb. This being the Easter season there are a lot of sales on leg of lamb. I am considering trying this on the rotisserie but I am concerned about overcooking. I like to serve and eat meat medium well, but from what I hear lamb roasts get dry at that level.

Marinate them first and bast them when you are cooking.

I've got a 5qt dutch oven that I use on my grill all the time. It holds more than enough food!
It does get awfully heavy though.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...vey/beans2.jpg

I've got 3 pork butts on the 'Q right now to make pulled pork for a b-day party today. MMmMMmm

Thanks, I was thinking of mixing olive oil and honey but I'm not sure about the combination. I might go with olive oil and garlic instead. Or mustard, or crushed mint, or.......

I'm probably not going to know what I will use until the day of the BBQ.

I was thinking of also taking a cheap cut of beef and grilling it on high on the rotisserie until the outside gets black and crusty and then putting it into a dutch oven with a little water, veggies, and seasoning and letting it slow cook. That way I get my grill crunch flavor and still have that pull off the bone softness. I want a big enough dutch oven to hold a 5-7 lb roast.

Rich , go here , they have all kinds of good stuff ,
http://www.campchef.com/
and aluminum dutch ovens , lighter weight
I have thought about gettign on of their turkey roatsers ,

rich, honey is likely to burn if you use it as a baste. You need to be careful of the level of heat you're using.

I think lamb is best medium rare because as you say, it's very likely to be dry if it's cooked over medium. If you want to cook it more, I would recommend getting a cut that still has a lot of the animal fat left on. This will help keep the meat moist through cooking and will also improve the flavour.

Edit: Also, make sure the meat is at room temperature before you start cooking. This will also help keep it tender, and don't forget to rest it for at least 5 minutes before carving.

BBQ season is on the way out here, although in the part of the country where I live, they're pretty much an all round thing. I can't wait till we extend our deck so I can bring the BBQ upstairs and cook on it more often.

I am going to do a cured ham on the grill tomorrow. Since it is essentially already cooked it just needs a little heating up. I'm going to indirect heat cook it, smothered in pureed pineapple and dijon mustard.

Then I plan to eat until I don't feel so well.

And that will be the start of BBQ 2007.

I get hungry when I look in this thread. :o

There are times when I am so glad I'm not a vegetarian. This is one of those times.

:drool:

Gearing up
 

I finally settled on a dutch oven. After dithering about the size to buy, I settled on the 8.5 qt oven.

Amazon's 4-for-3 sale decided it for me. The promotion is to buy 4 items from a selection of Home & Garden and the cheapest is free. Only the 8.5 qt was included in the sale. This, coupled with the fact that I thought the 12qt would be too heavy for my portable grill, decided it.

1. "Hamilton Beach 26200 Flip 'n Fluff Belgian Waffle Baker"
2. "Deni MT48 48 Blade Meat Tenderizer"
3. "Lodge Logic 11-1/4-Inch Pre-Seasoned Grill Pan"
4. "Bayou Classic 7460 8-1/2-Quart Cast-Iron Dutch Oven and Lid with Perforated Aluminum Basket"

Okay, the waffle maker is not technically a BBQ item, but I've always wanted one ever since I went to a breakfast buffet in California that had a self serve waffle maker.

I'm really looking forward to trying the meat tenderizer. I sometimes buy steak and egg bagel sandwiches from McDonalds and I am amazed at how soft they can make a cheap piece of steak by punching holes in it. I'm hoping the meat tenderizer can make the London broil cuts I buy more tender and cook more evenly on the grill.

I have been forbidden to grill on Mother's Day, so the roll out for this stuff will have to wait until June 9th, our first BBQ party of the season. I will of course be practicing before then.

I was thinking of trying to make hush puppies using the dutch oven and basket. I've never done it before but I see a lot of recipes out there.

BTW, I almost freaked out when I saw the total at Amazon. I got free shipping, but by default they place you at standard shipping at checkout. The shipping for the items was over $40.:eek: I had to click on budget shipping to get the charge removed.

Sort of like the hot searing pan frying steaks in a cast iron skillet and then putting them in the oven. We have done it a few times and it is real good but smokes up the house big time. I need to do that again.

For me that's the number one benefit of a grill. Even if I do everything right there still might be smoke and our smoke alarm is too sensitive. Outside I can take more chances.

I already have the grill, a cast iron griddle and a rotisserie, so with the dutch oven I will have covered most types of cooking.

I really want to do what they do on those cooking shows with the sandwich makers, where they throw in rice and frozen chicken breasts and have a meal in 15 minutes.

I'm thinking of taking oil and seasoning and sauteing some onions and peppers in the dutch oven. Then I would pour in some cooking wine, scrape any bits off of the bottom, and throw in frozen chicken breasts. Put on low heat and I should have dinner in a short time.