I Command Fire!
Yesterday, we had a bunch of friends over for the Fourth of July Holiday. So naturally, I took the opportunity to illustrate my mastery of the grill. (Or, at the very least, my ability to imitate Alton Brown's grilling prowess.)
I started with a brand new Weber kettle grill. Simple. Elegant. Utterly unconnected to gas.
I then picked up the last bag of natural wood charcoal at the grocery store. No briquettes for me.
Then, I took a big-ass coffee can, cut out the top and bottom, and used a bottle-opener to put small holes all along the bottom. I made a homemade chimney starter.
I filled the bottom with newspaper (with just a touch of cooking oil: another Alton Brown tip), and filled the rest with the natural charcoal. I lit it. There was white smoke and ash as the newspaper burned away. After a few minutes, the smoke became clear and the heat more intense. I looked inside the coffee can to see a hot orange glow of greying coals.
I Command Fire!
Well, I don't quite command it quite that well. My first test was to put some chicken thighs on the grill. Apparently, the coals were a bit too hot still. The flameups were legendary and the thighs were charcoal themselves shortly thereafter.
The chicken legs and wings I put on next fared much better. Then I went to the hamburgers. By then, though, the coals had kind of died. I stuck some more on the grill while Paula lifted the cooking surface. There were many hot-dog casualties.
Finally, in yet another aping of Alton Brown, I grilled some peaches, and put them over vanilla ice cream.
Oh yeah, there was other, non-grilled food and a whole lot of friends. My friends are wonderful but they do not... Command Fire!
I started with a brand new Weber kettle grill. Simple. Elegant. Utterly unconnected to gas.
I then picked up the last bag of natural wood charcoal at the grocery store. No briquettes for me.
Then, I took a big-ass coffee can, cut out the top and bottom, and used a bottle-opener to put small holes all along the bottom. I made a homemade chimney starter.
I filled the bottom with newspaper (with just a touch of cooking oil: another Alton Brown tip), and filled the rest with the natural charcoal. I lit it. There was white smoke and ash as the newspaper burned away. After a few minutes, the smoke became clear and the heat more intense. I looked inside the coffee can to see a hot orange glow of greying coals.
I Command Fire!
Well, I don't quite command it quite that well. My first test was to put some chicken thighs on the grill. Apparently, the coals were a bit too hot still. The flameups were legendary and the thighs were charcoal themselves shortly thereafter.
The chicken legs and wings I put on next fared much better. Then I went to the hamburgers. By then, though, the coals had kind of died. I stuck some more on the grill while Paula lifted the cooking surface. There were many hot-dog casualties.
Finally, in yet another aping of Alton Brown, I grilled some peaches, and put them over vanilla ice cream.
Oh yeah, there was other, non-grilled food and a whole lot of friends. My friends are wonderful but they do not... Command Fire!