Recipe: Seasoned Grill Fries with Dip

This incredibly simple yet versatile recipe requires a little bit of inside preparation before cooking, but is well worth it in the end.

Required:

3-6 large russet potatoes of roughly similar size
olive oil, preferably in a pump sprayer bottle
salt and pepper, any additional seasonings you like
2 cups of sour cream
1 cup BBQ sauce (you can guess which kind I prefer)

Take the potatoes and clean them under running water with a stiff bristled brush to get all the stuff off the skin. These used to live in the ground, remember?

Put them all in a large stock pot and fill with cold tap water to about 1" above the line of the potatoes. Put on stove over high heat until boiling; pot can be covered to speed up the process, but remember to remove the lid once the boiling starts unless you really enjoy cleaning your stovetop.

Allow potatoes to boil in the water for around 15 minutes and then remove from heat and drain. Let them cool for around 10 minutes to make them easier to cut without smashing. Boiling them first allows the outer parts of the potato to partially cook through, leaving the remaining inner sections (the ones that will be thinner once you cut them into wedges) to be cooked on the grill. If you boil them the right amount you'll see a line when the potato is cut in half where the very center section is still completely uncooked.

Once cool, cut potatoes into wedges using a sharp knife; I usually get 12 wedges per potato by quartering the potato first then cutting three wedges out of each quarter. For really large potatoes you might want to cut each quarter into 4. I'll leave it up to you, but don't call me in the middle for help.

Arrange the wedges skin side down on some type of large platter or cooking sheet and spray or brush lightly with olive oil.

Season the potatoes with spices you like and that go well with the food you're cooking. I always start with salt and pepper, but use things like ancho chili powder and dried cilantro flakes to give them extra flavor. You could always used a prepared spice blend as well, such as lemon pepper, cajun seasoning or even Old Bay. Make sure you get a good coating of stuff on them, as some of it is going to fall off while you're grilling. If you're putting them on the grill an you notice a side that looks a little light on the seasoning, you can always rub the potato in the residual oil and spices left on the platter that didn't land on potatoes the first time around.

Make sure your grilling surface is cleaned off; oil or non stick spray is usually not necessary. These are best cooked over indirect heat with the lid on, but can be flipped over the coals to really crisp them up if you like. When they're cooking at the right temperature they'll make a whistling noise as they cook. You'll know they're done when the outer part of the potato is a medium brown and starts to bubble up a little.









Mix the two cups of sour cream with about a cup of BBQ sauce for a delicious dip. Make sure you keep this in sight however, or you'll spot people putting it on their burgers before the fries are even done.









Feel free to experiment with different seasoning and dip combinations; I've probably made these a few dozen times and they've always been delicious. Ranch dressing with a bit of hot sauce is always a great combination as well.

Give them a shot, I'm sure you'll make them again and again.

Recipe: Grilled Thai Chili Glazed Chicken

I was sitting for about ten minutes in the produce section of the supermarket trying to figure out what I wanted for dinner, but wanted to use up some of the stuff I had in the house before buying a ton of fresh ingredients. I ended up walking out with three limes, a fresh ginger root and a clove of garlic for the modest price of $2.49 American. Ginger and garlic are included in a lot of the asian cooking I do, so I knew I was off to a good start.

I started by dicing up some of the garlic and ginger and toasting them in a little oil. I usually season the oil this way when I cook with a wok, but haven't really tried it as the beginning of a glaze before. Once my kitchen smelled like a Chinese restaurant, I added the juice of two limes and the zest of one. Then 2 cups of honey and 2 Tbsp of Sriracha chili sauce got dumped into the pot. I continued to simmer this mixture for a few minutes to allow it to reduce slightly, then removed it from the heat to allow it to cool off before I had to cook with it. Once cooled, the glaze will be much thicker and stick to the chicken on the grill more easily than at a warmer temperature.








I seasoned three boneless, skinless chicken thighs with salt and dried cilantro flakes and went outside to get the grill set up. I used about 3/4 of a chimney starter all on one side of the grill so I could do higher heat indirect grilling; once the chicken started to firm up, I brushed the glaze on every few minutes, flipping them over every other time. The glaze stuck well, and many of the garlic and ginger pieces were stuck to the outside of the chicken for a good long time allowing it to soak up the flavor as it cooked.

As you can see in the picture, the glaze stuck to the grill grates as well; the excess that dripped down into the bottom of the grill actually solidified and stuck my lower vent to the inside of the bowl. Once a fresh batch of coals were dropped in the next day it freed up again as the honey warmed up.

Before going outside I set up my steamer to cook some sushi rice to go with the chicken, but ran out of time for a vegetable. Oh well, something to remember for next time.
















After plating the chicken I put little drips of Sriracha all over, and piled the rice up to the side. The honey, lime and chili flavors work well together, I can't wait to make this again. Never be afraid of fresh ginger, no matter how ugly it looks.

Sometimes the best recipes are the ones you make up as you go along...

Tools of the Trade: Eastman Outdoors ZaGrill Pizza Cooker

Look, everyone loves pizza. I've been making them at home for a quite a few years now on a pizza stone in the oven, but have fallen in love with making them on the grill a little more recently. Pizzas can be cooked directly on the grill grates, but the higher temperature can lead to burned spots in places or dough that is not cooked all the way through depending on the type of dough you use.

We recently got a ZaGrill Pizza Cooker from Eastman Outdoors; this ingenious little product has a double heat shield in the base to keep temperatures more consistent on the bottom of the crust. The nonstick cooking pan is removable, which makes taking the pizza on or off the grill a snap. It won a Vesta award in 2005 for its design as well.

First we get the coals ready to maintain a temperature around 450 degrees, spread out evenly over the charcoal grate. Once we're in the correct range, the ZaGrill base is put on the grates to get up to temperature.

My girlfriend Sarah is an artist at rolling out pizza dough in a round shape of uniform thickness, so while I was outside playing caveman she was inside getting the dough ready. We used Trader Joe's refrigerated pizza dough for this pizza, rather than making our own; this dough is very consistent and we've used it quite a few times in the past, so we knew what to expect. At less than a buck for a bag of dough, the price and quality are hard to beat. They also make a garlic/herb version as well as whole wheat if you'd like something a little different. Flour was spread across the butcher block to keep the dough from sticking and rolled out into a 12" circle to fit on the cooking pan.

It is important to poke several air holes in the center section of the dough to keep it from puffing up and making a dough-dome when it starts to bake. We also brush a light coating of olive oil on the outer rim of the crust with basting brush. Then we liberally sprinkle on basil flakes and ground italian seasoning, as well as a layer of fresh romano cheese. I'm not a huge fan of most pizza crusts, but I've never left a scrap of one after we've made it this way.







Place the pizza on the cooking pan and onto the ZaGrill base in the grill with your temp around 450 degrees. Put the lid on and cook until the outer crust begins to brown slightly, but not to the point of the center section looking cooked; this usually takes about 5-7 minutes. Remove the entire pan from the grill and place on a clean heat safe surface, keeping in mind that the crust is exposed below the pan slightly through the air holes.

Now that you don't have to worry about the crust moving around on you, add your toppings. We used Trader Joe's pizza sauce for this as well, since we were already there buying dough; its a little on the bland side, so we added more seasonings to it after spreading it on the crust with a smooth bottomed 1 cup measuring cup.








Next we added the cheese and toppings; we went with grated low moisture mozzarella, provolone, parmesan and asiago with sliced pepperoni and green peppers. We like to layer the cheese in with the toppings, so it all sticks together and the flavors mix together while the pizza cooks. The instructions included with the pizza cooker tell you to cook it at 475 degrees for 25 minutes, but the initial test I did like that ended up with scorched cheese and an over crisped crust, so we went with less time and temperature this time around.

After about 15 minutes at 450 degrees, we started checking the pizza every two minutes or so. The smell was phenomenal, and the hardwood charcoal we used added a little bit of aroma and flavor you wouldn't get from cooking with an indoor oven.

The pizza came off the grill at right around the 20 minute mark and was given a few minutes of rest on a pizza stone (didn't want to use a wheel cutter on the nonstick surface) before cutting into it. Its life was very short after it was sectioned into slices. The crust was just about perfect, slightly crispy without being burned; a lot more evenly browned than I expected it to be. The flavors of the toppings got along with each other very well as would be expected, and the 5 different cheeses added an interesting depth of flavor. The crust was amazing with the added herbs and sharp taste of the romano; if you haven't tried this on homemade pizza you might want to give it a shot. Even the Philly pizza fanatics over at Pizza is Delicious would approve.

The ZaGrill Pizza Cooker is useful for cooking refrigerated and frozen pre-made pizzas as well as rolled dough of any type. The included instructions are most likely for the frozen variety due to the higher heat and longer duration it would take to bring these up to temperature, although it isn't noted. It is also important to mention that at the low cost of $19.95 shipped on Amazon.com, you could easily use a couple simultaneously if you had a large enough grill to accommodate them.

The removable pan is also useful for grilling vegetables or smaller items that would normally fall through the grates, but don't tell Nick you used it for that.

Eastman Outdoors also specializes in tons of outdoor grilling and frying equipment, you might want to check out their entire product range; its all top quality stuff.

Look for more grilled pizza recipes here in the future, we're going to keep this going.

Tonight's Dinner

It's hot so let's keep it simple.

Yellow, orange and red heirlooms dressed with some simple olive oil and vinegar and a few sprinkles of Locatelli Romano.









Boneless pork loin chops. Pork chops are one of my favorites and when they're on sale, I stock up. Salt and cracked pepper are all you need.



On the plate.





That's it. Simple and ready in no time.

Tools of the Trade: Maverick OT-03BBQ Digital Grill Thermometer

Let me start by saying that for the money, this is a VERY impressive thermometer. I'm not going to go all infomercial on you by describing all of its features and benefits and then asking you "how much would you pay?" or anything, so I'll come right out and say it. $24.99 is all this thing costs. Maverick did an amazing job with the design of this unit, and I'd gladly pay $40 for one now that I've used it.

I've used digital thermometers in the past to measure the internal temperature of something I was cooking, but never one that gave me the air temperature in the cooking chamber of the grill. For this I've tried bi-metal candy/fryer thermometers stuck in the vents, standard off-the-shelf oven thermometers and the venerable Outset F810 (which since writing my previous review got stuck at 300F and has gone to glory) on the surface of the grill; while these are all inexpensive solutions, none of them are really ideal. With any dial type thermometer on the grill surface you have to lift the lid to check your temp, which gives your coals additional oxygen, making it even harder to keep the temp regulated. The thermometer in the vent is good for some things, but the tip never gets near the grill surface (dome temp and grill surface temperature can vary by 30 or more degrees) and can bang into your food when you put the lid on. Additionally, you can't close the lid vent all the way to cool the coals down and still monitor your temperature.

While this Maverick BBQ thermometer is their entry level product for this application, don't let the low price fool you. This thing is packed with features, and all of them are very well thought out and easy to use. The first time I used it, I didn't even look at the instructions. I'm not saying this to impress you with my dazzling ability to figure things out, but to give you an idea of how intuitive the design really is; anyone can read the instructions and use something the first time, but what will happen if they don't use it for a year and can't find the instructions again?

Included in the package is a probe with a metal clip that holds it to the underside of the cooking grate, the thermometer unit and a stand. The stand stays clipped to the back of the thermometer when you aren't using it to keep it from wandering off; in this position it can also be used to hang the unit on a wall. On the back of the body of the thermometer are a pair of magnets that can be used to stick it to any nearby metallic object. I wouldn't think it would be wise to stick it to the outside of your grill when it was in use, but you could also use this model as an oven thermometer.

The real beauty of the design is that not only does it display the temperature inside your grill, but it allows you to set a target temperature; if you go more than 15 degrees above or below an audible alarm goes off to let you know your grill needs attention; since it goes on average temperature over a 10 second span, the displayed temperature isn't shooting all over the place making it harder to read quickly. When you are close to your target temperature the display will read "optimal" to let you know you're making the right choices. The Start/Stop button on the top of the thermometer can be used to temporarily silence the alarm, I'm a big fan of the placement of this button as you can easily hit it without removing your gloves. If the beeping gets to be too obnoxious while you're shuffling your food around with the lid open you can always switch the alarm off. The display is huge and very easy to read from a distance, which is certainly a plus.

The folks at Maverick didn't stop there; they added a timer so you can keep track of how long you've had the food on, or put it in count down mode so an alarm goes off once time has expired.

The probe is built to withstand temperature spikes up to 700 degrees, but the manual recommends that you not exceed 482 degrees for more than 4 hours as the braided stainless probe wire might deteriorate; placing the probe close to the edge of your cooking grate away from direct heat should keep it well below that unless you're trying to use your grill as a blast furnace.

This is a great device to help you learn the basics of temperature control as well; I sat next to the grill and maintained 350 degrees for around a half hour in an empty grill with very little effort. In fact, I was seated most of the time enjoying a beer, not hopping up to check the dial. I can't wait to try it out on a much longer smoke in the very near future.

This thermometer can be purchased semi-locally at Fred's Music and BBQ Supply in Shillington PA (just outside Reading) as well as on Amazon for a few dollars more.

Go grab one- pick up a couple racks of ribs while you're out to save yourself a trip later!

Tools of the Trade: 5 low-cost accessories for your Weber One Touch kettle

Since many of you already have a Weber, I wanted to put up some info on some "cheap upgrades" for your grill, just in case you didn't already have them. A few of them have different versions, and I'll show the variations so you know which one will work best for what you want to do. These products are all made by Weber, so a perfect fit is guaranteed.

1. Grill Cover- This bad boy can really keep the grill looking fresh for years, but keep in mind that these come in both standard and premium versions. The gray standard version is low cost (under $10 most places) and is great for keeping dust off the grill if you have it stored under an overhang or in a shed, but isn't really well suited to protecting the grill from the elements for long, especially in the winter. I call this the "one year cover" as that's about as long as they seem to last without tearing. The premium black version costs about twice as much, but lasts years longer. Keep in mind that although it seems like common sense, no cover is going to last very long if you put it back on a hot grill.
2. Tool Holder- Unless you have a table right next to the grill, you're going to want a place to put your utensils when you aren't using them. Most propane grills have some utensil hooks built in (and often one or more work tables), but no such luck on their round charcoal counterparts. The good news for you is that this gem of an accessory costs less than $5, and clips right onto the rim of the grill. They make a polished stainless version as well for about twice as much; while it looks a little classier, it has one less hook. Both work on the 18.5" and 22.5" models. For the money, this might be one of the biggest time saving additions you could get.
   
3. Charcoal Rails or Baskets- When setting up the grill for indirect cooking, these little guys keep the coals where you put them; the center section stays at a moderate temperature to keep your food from burning to a crisp before it has a chance to cook through. You could do without them, but for between $9 for the rails and $18 for the baskets, why would you? The baskets are designed to work only with the 22.5" models, but I prefer the rails as they can be clipped more towards the center to give you larger hot zones if you need them. These work perfectly with a hinged grate, as they can be positioned directly below the hinge for drop in convenience.
4. Side Work Table- This one is a really great idea. I move my grill a lot, so I haven't purchased one yet, but when it stops getting tossed in the back of the car all the time this will be one of the first things I buy. The earlier versions were made of wood and clipped to the rim and one of the legs, but the new ones are made of high temp plastic. The newer version seems like it would be a little more stable since it has legs that touch the ground, and it also includes three tool hooks. If you are planning on getting one of these they do make a cover that accommodates the table so you don't have to remove it every time.
5. Rapidfire Chimney Starter- I know we sound like a broken record at this point, but if you only take home one accessory with your new grill, this should be it. Works with all types of charcoal, and lights it quick and easy with no lighter fluid. They last for years if you don't leave them outside. Can be had for under $15 if you get one at Home Depot or Lowes when you're picking up your lumber and sheet rock screws. Grab the newspaper off your neighbor's front porch and light up your coals, you'll be cooking before you know it.
   

One of the big advantages to the Weber One Touch grill series is the ability to control the temperature with the top and bottom vents; the unfortunate part is that the grill doesn't come with any type of thermometer to monitor your progress. Many people go through years of owning a kettle thinking that closing the vent in the top will hold the heat in and increase the temperature when the opposite is actually true. More airflow from the vents means more oxygen for the burning coals, and the temp can go up rather quickly when airflow is increased. Soon we will be writing several articles on temperature control, and even a few product reviews to give you an idea of what's out there.

Grilled Vegetables

After sampling some grilled zucchini at The Taproom, I've been meaning to recreate them on my own. Back home, my mom would throw any vegetable you could think of on the grill and I definitely owe my love of grilled veggies to her. Seared flesh, whether vegetable or animal, is never unwelcome on my grates.

During the work week, I won't get home til about 7 o'clock which doesn't leave a lot of time for finding fresh produce or hitting any of the plethora of farmer's markets in the city. Last week, I was searching for produce stands around the chadds ford area, which is where I work, and came upon a listing of farm stands in the Brandywine Valley. SIW Vegetables is located on south creek rd. just off of route 1, south of 202. During lunch last week, I took a drive to check it out and it was everything I hoped for. Multiple wagon carts held all kinds of just picked veggies and fruits. Knowing me, you can guess I zeroed right in on the tomato cart. Heirlooms, Uglies, Grapes, Jersey's, I was in heaven. Corn on the cob, squash and zucchini soon found their way into my bags as well. I'm ashamed to admit, I've been slacking on the corn on the cob this year and fully intend to make up for it. A ten spot later and I was on my way. This farm will definitely be a weekly trip for me and I'm considering joining their CSA next year.

So onto tonight's grill.

Corn on the cob.
Growing up in southeastern Pennsylvania meant that every summer, you could count on eating corn on the cob multiple times a week. At least in my house anyway. To this day, my parents still have the same propane burner setup and huge aluminum pan that spent as much time poolside as we did. Always full of water, always filled to the brim with dozens of ears of corn.

Now there are a few different ways to cook corn on the cob and everyone has their favorite. My go to method is simple. I will pull the corn husks down but not off and get rid of all the corn silk. Pull the husks back up and recreate the cocoon around the corn. The husk will act as an insulator and keep the corn from scorching.






Once I've got my coals ready, I'll arrange them centrally in grill so I can use the edges of the grate for the corn. Putting the ears directly over the coals will have the heat burning thru the husks in no time so set up your grill however you prefer for indirect heat.






Those are gonna sit and roast for about 20-30 minutes like that. Meanwhile, I sliced up some zucchini and yellow summer squash and hit them with some olive oil from the Misto. The misto is a pump action oil sprayer that Scott found and we both use it religiously. After a quick spray of olive oil, I dusted the veggies with some garlic pepper and set them aside.








Checking on the corn, I'll see if it's starting to shrivel at all and make sure to rotate the ears for even cooking. Hell, take a small bite and see how far along it is. You'll notice the outer layer of husks with start to dry up and brown but the inner layers are still protecting the corn from damage since they're loaded with water. Here I pulled them off and hit them with a blend of butter and olive oil from Olivio that's readily available in any dairy section. Quick season with salt and pepper, pull the husks back up and thrown back on the grill.






Some people will use grill baskets to grill vegetables or smaller items that can fall through the grates but I usually cut whatever I'm grilling longways so I can avoid that. You may lose a few men along the way but it's a price I'm willing to pay for grill marks.






Obviously your cook times will vary depending on how thick you cut the veggies but they don't usually take very long. I had these on for about 10 minutes with a flip in the middle.


End Scene







what are you gonna grill next?

Johnsonville Irish O'Garlic Sausages

Yesterday we shot over to the grocery store to pick up some bratwurst to grill up for lunch while we were waiting for the ribs to smoke. The regular Johnsonville brats were totally sold out, which I suppose is what you'll find if you go on a beautiful Saturday in the summer. In the freezer case we spotted one solitary package of what I believe to be a new offering from Johnsonville, as I'd never seen them in the store prior to this trip.

If you thought Ireland's contribution to American cuisine was limited to potatoes and Lucky Charms cereal, boy were you wrong! These Irish inspired sausages are "spiced with a wee bit O' Garlic!" according to the package, and were raw sausage; not one of the fully cooked variety that Johnsonville also sells. In fact, when compared to the Original Bratwurst variety, the only addition to the ingredients list is garlic.

So for all practical purposes, these are bratwurst. You grill them exactly the same way, slowly over low heat, turning frequently to avoid burning. Make sure you never puncture a bratwurst during cooking; handle them with tongs that do not have sharp ends only, and never use a fork to pick them up. It usually takes around a half hour to cook them this way, but its absolutely worth the effort. You'll know they're done when they're browned on almost every side and little geysers of juice begin to spew out of the casing.

We all really enjoyed these and will absolutely buy them again. The garlic flavor wasn't overpowering, but added a little element to the taste that made these sausages a little more interesting. Like any good sausage, they go great with a beer. They are a welcome addition to the Johnsonville bratwurst line, give them a try if you see them in your local store.

Charcoal and you; picking the right bag.

As we've discussed in earlier posts, charcoal is the only way we cook. On very rare occasions I will use a propane grill at a friend's house if I need to, but my loyalties lie in fuel that comes out of a bag, not a bottle.

There are many brands of commercially available charcoal, but not all coals are created equal. The one thing that I think is most important to mention at the beginning of this article is this; NEVER use an easy start or "match light" charcoal if you care about the way your food tastes. This also includes the stuff that you "light in the bag" to save time. This stuff is always made with some type of chemical accelerant in the formula; this is similar to soaking what could have been perfectly acceptable charcoal briquets in a bucket of lighter fluid. You can smell it as soon as you open the bag, and since it isn't just on the outside layer, that smell will continue to permeate your food as you cook. Nobody likes drinking gasoline, so why make food that tastes like it? You also shouldn't add more of this type of briquet in the middle of cooking, especially not by pouring the bag into a hot grill... the little chunks of broken briquets and the dust in the bottom of the bag are very flammable.

There are two major types of charcoal you can buy in the store, lump hardwood and briquet. Almost everywhere you go you can get the basic blue bag of Kingsford, and to be honest, that is what I use most of the time.

Hardwood "Lump" Charcoal:

While not nearly as uniform in size or appearance as briquets, lump charcoal is made the same way it has been for centuries. Wood is allowed to smolder, but not actively burn due to deprivation of oxygen. The end result is mostly carbon; it is a lot lighter than it started out, and burns in a more predictable fashion than wood chunks would. Lump charcoal is not as readily available as briquettes, and usually costs substantially more for the high quality stuff. Another thing worth mentioning is that the lumps can be quite fragile; try to get a fresh looking bag that hasn't been too banged up, and don't throw it around on the way home unless you really want smaller chunks and more dust for some reason.

Lump charcoal lights faster and burns shorter than briquettes do, but with no additives. This makes it a little better for temperature control if you have to raise the temp quickly, but you will have to use more volume over long duration smokes or long cooking sessions with a lot of food being grilled. This faster burning quality can be lessened (if not eliminated) by limiting the flow of oxygen during use. Many people swear that it tastes a lot better, but I haven't found the difference in the brands I've tried so remarkable as to swear off briquets totally. Try both and see what you think.

One brand that I would warn you to consider avoiding is the Cowboy Brand Hardwood Charcoal; my personal experience with the stuff has been that the bag had a lot of bits small enough to fall through the charcoal grate or chimney starter without ever producing heat, and it burned fairly quickly, even with the lid on and the vents almost completely closed. The only positive thing I could say about it is that it is the cheapest lump charcoal I've ever seen marketed, but this is one of the situations where you get what you pay for. Many other people have reported on other sites that they got strange looking non-wood items as a surprise in the bag. Since this isn't a toy in the bottom of the cereal box, I wouldn't want to find any in mine.

I have had a lot more experience with briquets, but look forward to trying out a more varied range of lump charcoal in the future. There is a great database of lump charcoal types and information maintained by the Naked Whiz that is absolutely worth reading. They review all different types of lump charcoal themselves using a very thorough scientific method and allow consumers to submit ratings for the products as well. Based on a review I read there of a local store brand, I plan on picking up a bag of it to try out this weekend.

Briquets:

The original Kingsford charcoal briquet was made from the junk lying on the floor after body panels for cars were made. Yes, I'm being completely serious. Lucky for us, this was the 1920's and the manufacturing plant belonged to Henry Ford. Back in those days, car bodies were made of wood and not metal. Good thing too, because metal shrapnel from the floor of the Nissan plant probably doesn't burn very well compared to sawdust and wood scraps. I imagine the taste would be different too. Must be one of those "right place at the right time" things.

Today, I imagine the manufacturing process and formula has changed slightly, but not the concept. Without getting too much into the way briquets are made, I will note that there are several non-wood elements added to the mix to promote even burning and to allow them to stick together into those little rounded black pillows. Kingsford uses starch to bind the briquets together, mineral char and carbon as well as wood char for fuel, and sodium nitrate and sawdust to make them light more easily. They also add limestone to color the ash white, and borax makes an appearance as a compound to help them release from the mold during manufacturing. Does this taste like anything while its burning? Maybe so. The price and availability of briquets from Kingsford is enough to offset the possibility for many, including myself. As I said earlier, most times I buy the basic Kingsford stuff for my BBQ needs; plenty of competitions have been won with the stuff over the years.

I did try a bag of Kingsford Competition Briquets a few weekends ago while camping, and I was impressed with their performance. The ingredient list on these is a lot lower than with their blue-bagged brethren, including only wood char, starch for binding it all together and borax to release it from the mold. A very scientific review of this new offering from Kingsford was posted on the Virtual Weber Bullet site, showing the fact that they burn faster and produce less ash than the standard issue Kingsford stuff. The attempt was to make something similar in taste and performance to lump charcoal but in the convenient briquet form. I am looking forward to doing a head-to-head comparison of the two at a later date to see if there is a noticeable difference in taste. They do cost almost double what the regular briquets do, so keep that in mind. They were definitely worth another try from what I've seen.

There are plenty of other briquets made by other manufacturers, including many store brands available based on where you live. A lot of times, a little research on the internet can tell you who the products are actually made by, and some of them are actually high quality stuff for less money than the bigger brands. In this case it pays to do your research.

As Nick mentioned in a previous article, the best way to start coals quickly is the chimney starter, and the Weber Rapidfire chimney is the best I've ever used. If you don't already have one, get one soon. Even if you swear you can't taste the lighter fluid, consider this: not only does it light them quickly with no lighter fluid, it costs less than a few bottles of that junk and won't run out.

In the coming months, we'll be trying out several different kinds of charcoal to see what we can learn. We'll let you know what we find out.

Now go outside and cook something!