Any Time is Grillin Time

[olbriar]

With excellent weather, I'm revisiting the Blackstone today. I will griddle some diced chicken and jumbo shrimp in garlic butter. I'll add that to some fried mixed veggies while I brown my rice. It's a fun Blackstone cook and one of our favorite meals.

 

[olbriar]

The stir-fry was spot on tonight. Either we were extra hungry for it or it was the perfect blend of spices, meats, and veggies. We devoured it in short order.

The Blackstone or a similar griddle is the perfect tool for such cooks. I put the vegetables on first with a squirt or two of water and cover with a cooking hood to steam. I then melted a half stick of butter and my garlic and added my chicken chunks. I turned the vegetables over and covered them again. Turned the chicken chunks over and added my shrimp. I removed the hood over the vegetables and added some oil and scooted the pile onto the hotter part of the griddle. Turned the chicken and shrimp over one last time. I turned the veggies again and added the fried meat and some stir-fry sauce, tossed it about to stir then placed the mix in a disposable tin and moved to the cool side of the cooktop. A bit of butter and garlic for my fried rice and the wife's fried riced cauliflower and then added the rices. A fried egg in each rice and a bit of sesame oil. Stir until browned and I add oyster sauce to mine before I remove it from the griddle.

I hope that wasn't too terribly boring The deal is the cook would be difficult to achieve on a stove top and would dirty a lot of pans. On the griddle it's just a matter of stirring the different piles as they cook. Cleanup is to turn the griddle on high, add some oil, stir it around and scrape off the excess oil and food into the waste container. It's then ready for the next cook.

I had no idea how much I would enjoy this cooker. I love my smoker and I enjoy my grill but the ease of use and cleanup of the griddle top makes me use it more than any of the other cookers.

 

[Unforgiven]

The stir-fry was spot on tonight. Either we were extra hungry for it or it was the perfect blend of spices, meats, and veggies. We devoured it in short order.

The Blackstone or a similar griddle is the perfect tool for such cooks. I put the vegetables on first with a squirt or two of water and cover with a cooking hood to steam. I then melted a half stick of butter and my garlic and added my chicken chunks. I turned the vegetables over and covered them again. Turned the chicken chunks over and added my shrimp. I removed the hood over the vegetables and added some oil and scooted the pile onto the hotter part of the griddle. Turned the chicken and shrimp over one last time. I turned the veggies again and added the fried meat and some stir-fry sauce, tossed it about to stir then placed the mix in a disposable tin and moved to the cool side of the cooktop. A bit of butter and garlic for my fried rice and the wife's fried riced cauliflower and then added the rices. A fried egg in each rice and a bit of sesame oil. Stir until browned and I add oyster sauce to mine before I remove it from the griddle.

I hope that wasn't too terribly boring The deal is the cook would be difficult to achieve on a stove top and would dirty a lot of pans. On the griddle it's just a matter of stirring the different piles as they cook. Cleanup is to turn the griddle on high, add some oil, stir it around and scrape off the excess oil and food into the waste container. It's then ready for the next cook.

I had no idea how much I would enjoy this cooker. I love my smoker and I enjoy my grill but the ease of use and cleanup of the griddle top makes me use it more than any of the other cookers.

You have kindled my taste for stir fry. I just need the weather to break a little bit.

 

[olbriar]

I'm making a Costco run today. I used up the last of my stir-fry vegetables the other day. They sell a big sack of a great blend of veggies that I split into thirds and vac seal. I hope I can find it again. I need some staple items and I'm always anxious to walk their meat coolers. I don't need any beef but white pork, fish, and poultry will be shopped. I'm especially interested in their fresh caught cod. I can buy cod at my local market that is very good and clean it just isn't very cheap.

 

[olbriar]

Costco was busy for mid day Friday. I managed to get out of the place for less than $200 bucks for a change. I bought zero meat however. I came home bummed. They had zero bargains in the meat department. Even the canned and frozen fish offerings were more expensive than I'm paying local. To top it all off, they didn't have my stir-fry veggies this time. It wasn't a wasted trip. I did replenish some everyday use items at a savings and it's always fun to shop there.

 

[olbriar]

I'm firing up the Weber tonight and grilling some boneless skinless chicken thighs. I hope the grill has survived being idle for so long. I hope it's not like the old charcoal grill I had at the cabin that when spring came I found a family of mice had moved in. I was wanting to replace it with a gas grill anyway.

 

[olbriar]

I pulled a turkey breast out of the freezer and put in fridge for a slow thaw. I plan to smoke it this weekend after an overnight brine. I'm going to use an apple cider based brine with mostly sweet spices, rinse and pat dry, and use a sweet smoke seasoning during the smoke at 275°. My target internal temp will be around 160° or so and will let it rest as it reaches 165° serving temp. I will bake a couple of sweet potatoes and fix a boxed dressing and premade gravy. Easy meal that is sounding good.

 

[olbriar]

My turkey breast is on the smoker after hanging out in a spiced apple cider brine over night. I was pretty disappointed in the breast when I unpackaged it last night. I thought it was a three pound breast but it was a three pound package. It was packed with a gravy starter and a lot of liquid. The breast only weighed 29.9 ounces. I'm glad I bought it on sale. I smoked it at 275° for an hour and a half but just turned the smoker to 240° The breast is cooking way fast.

 

[Unforgiven]

My turkey breast is on the smoker after hanging out in a spiced apple cider brine over night. I was pretty disappointed in the breast when I unpackaged it last night. I thought it was a three pound breast but it was a three pound package. It was packed with a gravy starter and a lot of liquid. The breast only weighed 29.9 ounces. I'm glad I bought it on sale. I smoked it at 275° for an hour and a half but just turned the smoker to 240° The breast is cooking way fast.
View attachment 171499

Oof, a lot of times when packed in a fluid its a salty brine, which would mess with your salt intake.

 

[olbriar]

Turkey is on the high side of sodium for a white meat. My dressing and gravy is salty. I'm in trouble
I rinsed the breast prior to my brine was all I could do. I guess my meal is going to be that cheat day instead of some pizza. Pizza in March maybe. It's entirely my fault for not reading the packaging. I'm not happy. I'll shop more carefully or simply buy a small bird next time.

 

[AugieTN]

Salt increases blood pressure, correct?

 

[olbriar]

Yes sir. Humans need sodium but over consumption is not healthy. Grabbed off the net:
But too much sodium in the diet can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.
Americans eat on average about 3,400 mg of sodium per day. However, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends adults limit sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg per day—that's equal to about 1 teaspoon of table salt! For children under age 14, recommended limits are even lower.
It is recommended that I keep my sodium intake below 1500mg daily. I don't know if that is the recommended level for all heart trauma victims or it's just my best course. One meal of high sodium intake is not going to kill me. It's not good for me. As a daily over consumer and decades of smoking is what was the most likely cause of my current health status. I was not over weight. I did not have a blood sugar problem. My cholesterol level was not the problem. Heart problems did not run in my family. I lived a super active lifestyle and was in great physical shape. High blood pressure and smoking are the only culprits left to blame. I considered myself a conservative sodium users until I started trying to all but eliminate it from my diet. I did not and do not use much salt. However, everything we eat has salt and I gravitated to items that were high in sodium. I now realize that I lived a very high sodium diet and have all of my life.

 

[olbriar]

Okay, I'll quit bitching about my turkey breast. My dinner was no doubt high in sodium but it was very good. I managed to cook the turkey to perfection. It was very tender and very juicy. I think it was the juiciest turkey breast I've ever eaten. If it's going to be less than healthy, it's makes me feel better when it's good... and my dinner was.

I tried something today with my turkey skin. I read somewhere that the key to a crispy smoked skin was to completely dry the skin before adding any rub. It was drying the skin or the sugary cider and brown sugar brine or the 275° smoker temp or a combo of the them that produced an eatable smoked skin.

 

[olbriar]

Tomorrow we are making another Costco run. Chicken thighs were the only meat we bought our last trip. I'm hoping their fresh caught fish has come down in price. I want to buy another chub of ground beef. Naturally I'll be looking for bargains as well. I'm hoping they have the large bag of frozen stir fry veggies back in stock. I couldn't find the product last trip and it is the best blend I've found and at a great price. The rest of the cart will be filled with the why not items that always run up the checkout price.

 

[olbriar]

I got off easy at Costco today. We shopped but didn't buy much. The only meat bargain I saw was their 87% lean ground beef was priced at $ 4.19 a pound. Even at it's savings it wouldn't appeal to everyone. You have to divide it into meals and vac seal the meat or fix an eight pound meatloaf.
It works well for us being as pound packages is too much meat for most of the meals we prepare.
Costco didn't have any fresh caught cod and I didn't see any bargains with the other fish. We struck out in the meat area. They still did not have the stir fry veggies we liked so well. Our basket was pretty empty at checkout.

 

[olbriar]

I pulled a whole packer out of my freezer tonight. I plan on smoking it this Sunday. Meat still has a weird to bad flavor to me. It will be interesting to see if I can eat any of the brisket. I told the wife that she might have to eat it all. It's a shame that I didn't butcher the point from the flat when I first bought the roast. I'll likely butcher before I smoke the packer being as the two sections cook differently. I'll vac seal the flat once it's done and we'll dine on the point a couple of meals. The packer weighs 12.15 pounds. I bought it when it was on sale for $2.77 a pound. Those were the days....

 

[ocnbrze]

blackstone has a pellet/griddle combo unit:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blackstone-Blackstone-Culinary-Pellet-Griddle-Combo/5012925771

this thing looks amazing and to be honest, the price is not bad either.....especially what it can do.

 

[olbriar]

That's quite a setup. Both smoker and griddle are my go to tools. I love smoking a steak and then searing it on the blackstone.

 

[AugieTN]

blackstone has a pellet/griddle combo unit:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blackstone-Blackstone-Culinary-Pellet-Griddle-Combo/5012925771

this thing looks amazing and to be honest, the price is not bad either.....especially what it can do.

That's a beautiful grill

 

[ocnbrze]

been watching a few youtube video. one of them had me concerned with the accuracy of both the included probe and the control dial of the unit. they were not very accurate and was not cooking a pork butt correctly. it seems that that unit was a lemon. the other videos showed that both the probe and control were pretty spot on. it is concerning though. probably might want to get insurance for it.

 

[AugieTN]

I noted that it's pretty heavy 275lbs

 

[olbriar]

I would long for more griddle real estate. I have the four foot model Blackstone and I'm spoiled to the cooking area where I can spread out and cook multiple items at a time. I'll have a pile of frying veggies and a pile of meats going while I'm frying my rice and my wife's riced cauliflower. Or I'll have bacon eggs and pancakes all going. A 22" griddle would be perfect for a one dish or a sear station. It would be very handy having the two cookers taking up a single space however.

 

[Unforgiven]

I have 36" wide smoker and 36" wide griddle. I'm not giving up the surface.

 

[olbriar]

I have 36" wide smoker and 36" wide griddle. I'm not giving up the surface.

I'm sure one can learn to cook on a smaller surface. My original Traeger was a small smoker and the hopper was under the hood decreasing the cooking surface even more. I got by but longed for more cooking area. It was eventually allocated to the cabin and then its ultimate retirement. You can have small cooks on a large surface but impossible to have a large cook on a small surface.

Correction on my Blackstone size: It is the four burner 36" model and not 48". I was dreaming.

 

[Unforgiven]

Correction on my Blackstone size: It is the four burner 36" model and not 48". I was dreaming

I missed that. I do have a 22" griddle as well, and it is cramped for things like stir fry. It is much easier to take camping with me though.