I realized today that earlier this month I passed my 2 year unbroken streak of smoking or grilling something at least once a week
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I just bought a cast iron grate for my Weber. How do you folks season something like that?
I don’t own one, but I’d wash it, dry it, and oil it well with a neutral oil like canola. Then light the grill, put the grate in place, close the lid, and let it go for a few hours.
It’s always a good idea to oil your grill grates when cooking too, but with cast iron I’d be extra liberal with oiling the first few times using it.
As AruthurItas said, clean and dry it, but I would probably use a high temp oil like avocado or sunflower oil to season it a few times before initial use.
The Madrid derby today inspired me to grill Spanish style: pinchos morunos and bacon wrapped dates stuffed w/ goat cheese, served with marinated carrots
Grilled for the second time in 3 days, but keeping it simple. Tonight was Korean BBQ chicken and soy glazed eggplant
I grilled those wild leeks I was.posting about. They were good. Milder than raw. And I think I grilled them a touch too long because the leaves shrivelled pretty hard. But, good.
Recipe.called for lemon juice on top after grilling and i.forgot it. I think.that would help bring the flavour out.
Anything that’s just leaves will tend to burn up on the grill. For one way to deal with that, scroll up to my 4/15 grill with baby bok choy. Put some folded aluminum foil on the grill to protect the leaves, but leave the stalk part exposed to the heat. I haven’t tried grilling wild leeks, but imagine the technique would work.
Right. Sounds better than my method of grilling them and then peeling off a layer or two of the leek and throwing it away, lol.
So I’d like to try smoking chicken wings. Care to share your favorite recipes and hints?
If this post is for me, I am always happy to share. First question is what sort of smoker or grill do you have?
Grilled two ribeyes. One choice one prime. Salted overnight. Then added a spice rub by Neely.
Slow roast to 120. Then pan-sear.
The prime was a little better.
Pellet grill. And while I expect AI to have some awesome suggestions, y’all can read the “you” as “y’all”.
I’ll provide a couple recipes later, but the main tip is that I advise not doing any birds low and slow if you plan to eat the skin. Low and slow makes rubbery chicken skin.
You want to cook at 350 minimum, but something around 425 is preferable as you want that fat under the skin to melt and make the skin crispy. Try a wing when they are fully cooked. If it’s not crispy enough, give them a quick sear on the grill to crisp them.
I do enjoy making wings with dry rubs. It’s very easy: toss them, throw them on the smoker for 50 min-1 hour, done. I often buy interesting sounding rubs from various vendors, but do enjoy making my own. Grab a commercial one that sounds good to you, or have fun making your own. Here’s a good all purpose rub that I think works well with chicken:
- 1/4 cup paprika
- 4 teaspoons table salt
- 4 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 4 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Got this one from the virtual weber bullet site. It’s slightly spicy. You can easily tweak the heat up or down by adjusting the cayenne. If you taste it before putting on the chicken, keep in mind it will be a lot spicier than it will after it’s on a bird and cooked.
I use an oven, not a grill. But i roast birds all the time. I start at 425 until the skin is crispy, and then turn down the heat and cook until done. The more time until dinner, the lower the oven. But i like to rest a whole bird at least half an hour, an hour for something large like a turkey or a goose.
I used to start at 450 or even 475, but my oven doesn’t smoke quite as much at lower temps, and it comes out similar.
(The smoke is from fat the spatters out of birds roasted at high temps.)
This is one of my current favorite wing recipes. I adapted it from a regular Peruvian chicken recipe. Most people haven’t tried this style of wing either.
Peruvian Wings
Marinade:
6 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon aji amarillo paste or another chili paste such as sriracha or sambal
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon aji panca paste or 1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Jalapeño Cilantro sauce:
1 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems
3 to 4 jalapeños, seeded and diced
1/4 cup/1 ounce crumbled feta cheese
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice, more to taste
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or basil
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 tablespoon aji amarillo or other chili paste
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Marinade will be enough for 2-3lb of wings, and lots of sauce leftover which is a good thing. If you have 3lb of whole wings, I recommend you remove the wing tips to make sure you have enough marinade.
Cooking notes:
Find the aji panca and aji amarillo at Latin supermarkets. You can buy a pack of both on amazon.
Make the sauce in a blender until smooth, adding some of the oil slowly at the end
Very important: Pat the chicken dry thoroughly before putting in marinade. You want the marinade to be thick to cling to the chicken. If it’s too watery you won’t get as good a turnout.
Marinate a minimum of a couple hours, but It’s best to make the marinade the day before and marinate overnight. I toss the wings around in the marinade periodically to make sure they are well coated.
The jalapeno-cilantro sauce is great. You can adjust the heat to preference by whether you seed the jalapenos or not. With no seeds/ribs, it’s a mild but flavorful sauce and that’s the way I typically make it. Put all the seeds/ribs in to get more heat.
Smoke hot 375-400. Should take roughly 45 minutes - 1 hour depending on wing size and temp. Flip halfway. If needed, finish by grilling directly over hot coals to get skin crispy.
I forgot one other tip for chicken in general: go light on the smoke. In my smoker I use a small amount of mild fruit wood for chicken (apple, cherry, peach,…whatever you’ve got.). I don’t like my chicken to taste too smoky.
Pork and beef can handle a lot more smokiness IMO.
2 questions:
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Anyone have a favorite meat temp probe that they can use w/ their phone? Weber makes one that attaches to my grill, but wondering if there are better ones.
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What is your “go to” for bacon? I have been trying different brands and haven’t settled on a favorite
I tried a really cheap one I got on Woot, and it was mucho sucko, the Bluetooth was always losing connection. I got the Weber and it’s been absolutely fantastic. Great connectivity, good UI on the app. So I don’t have a large sample size, I got the Weber and see no reason to buy anything else.