Food Do you grill, bbq, smoke?

We've grilled three times recently! This seems unusual for April.

A week ago, I did portobello mushrooms stuffed with pesto and mozzarella. They were freaking delicious. Then, we did veggie skewers with friends on Saturday along with some veggie burgers, followed by grilled pizza on Sunday.

My Weber kettle is getting a workout. I need to buy more charcoal. I also need a steak. Mmmm, steak.

 

Sigh. I'm going to have to transition to using a small propane grill all the time. It's an older Weber Go Anywhere: Weber Go Anywhere Portable Propane & Charcoal Grills | Weber.com It was Grandma and Grandpa's before they decided they were done traveling and didn't need a portable grill anymore; it's still in great shape because everything Grandpa ever owned he took fantastic care of. We frequently use it for camping, but I'm going to have to adjust to using it at home. I may have to purchase a new grill surface for it.

 

I made some candied bacon on mine over the weekend. That stuff is like crack.

 

Very thick cut bacon, brown sugar, and cayenne.

Put a thin layer of brown sugar down in a 9"x13" foil pan. Lightly sprinkle cayenne pepper powder on it. Put a layer of the bacon down with the pieces close together or touching, but not overlapping. Put another layer of brown sugar down and more cayenne. Repeat until you have 3-6 layers of bacon with a layer of brown sugar and cayenne powder between each, and a layer of brown sugar and cayenne on top and bottom of the entire thing.

Have your smoker at about 275-300* and place the pan in it, making sure the heat is offset enough that it won't be direct on the bottom of the pan. Let it smoke like that for about an hour, depending on how many layers and how thick the bacon is. Eventually the brown sugar will melt and combine with the bacon grease into a syrupy consistency. After an hour or so turn up the heat just a bit until they syrupy goodness is starting to bubble, but not so hot anything is sticking to the bottom. At this point you can start moving the bacon around in the pan and making sure all sides of each piece are getting coated. Give it 10-15 minutes like this, then remove the bacon from the pan and flash it on direct heat for 10-30 seconds per side. This caramelizes the brown sugar completely and gives it a candied crust.

 

It is awesome, and it isn't too difficult.

You could probably do it in the oven, but I think the smoker adds a great depth of flavor. I typically use cherry wood in the smoker when doing it.

 

I know several people who have gotten them. It is the same principle as the BGE, but the price difference does come with some disadvantages. However, it is still a decent choice, especially if you are mainly going to grill. For serious smokers, there are a few DIY upgrades that are recommended (gasket improvements and the like) that can be easily found online.

There are decent write ups online for a hardcore comparison if you search. (I'd recommend reading 3-4 of them before forming a strong opinion, as most of them seem biased in one direction or another to me. )

 

Fwiw, most BGE dealers around here were willing to negotiate price quite a bit. Especially if you get some accessories, which you'd need with either set up. I would have to go dig up exactly what I paid for my entire package, but it was about 30% off of retail IIRC. Not sure if that makes enough of a difference for you.

But yeah, I think the Kamado would be a big step up from an offset. Especially if smoking stuff is not the primary use.

 

Did you season the grates first?

And the pizza stone is a good, almost necessary idea if you don't have the plate setter accessory for it.

If you get serious about smoking, you'll probably want to get a more accurate thermometer. Maverick makes several models with dual probes (one for the meat, one for ambient smoker temp) at various price points dependent on the range/features. They are pretty solid units.

Though I have a BGE, the basic principles are the same as the Akorn, and I have quite a few buddies with Akorns. If I can do anything to help, let me know.