It's Not Flavor. It's Disgusting

This week’s topics include a bargain wine suggestion, I find a new toy that’s 17 years old, the best steaks I’ve ever made, the ghosts of meals past, cat litter in the grill, and I break ranks with my grilling brothers.

A Great Bargain Wine Suggestion.  Rothschild White Bordeaux.  This is a low end wine from the Chateau Lafite Rothschild winery.  Classic Sauvignon Blanc.  Yes, I know it’s a white Bordeaux, but that’s Sauvignon Blanc to you and I.  Fruity melon flavors with a dry finish.  Very nice.  $13.99 at Total Wines and you can impress your friends with your fancy French wine! 

Steaks at Home, Revisited.  I’ve admitted in prior posts to making really good steaks at home.  Frankly, when I order a steak in a restaurant, I really want them to bring me something better than I make at home.  Sadly, I’m often disappointed.  As I said in a prior post, it reminds me of how the Red must have felt after our marriage – high hopes and low expectations.

For years I’ve been using Precious to grill steaks.  Precious is a large, stainless steel gas grill.  I love Precious, but she has her limits.  One of them is that she simply won’t get rocking hot.  500-525 is about her max, and that’s with all burners (including the rotisserie) cranked up. Lately, I’ve been thinking I could do better for steaks.

So, recently I go out to my shed and pull out my old Weber kettle charcoal grill.  The Red bought it for me about 17 years ago.  We’ll call her the Original.  Side note – all grills are females.  Similar to boats.  I’m don’t know why, but that’s the way it is.

For Father’s Day, I decide that I’m going to grill steaks on the Original (bone-in rib eyes, of course!), and I refuse to use the ubiquitous Kingsford briquettes.  Do you actually now what’s in those?  Only some of it is actual ‘wood’.  Nasty.  So, I go to my local Ace Hardware (locally owned and operated, by the way), and buy some Ono charcoal.  Ono is lump, hardwood Kiawe charcoal.  Remember my Hawaii posts?  Kiawe is a cousin of hickory.

What is lump charcoal?  Nothing more than chunks of wood that have been burned into charcoal (burning wood in a low-oxygen environment).  No fillers.   No sawdust.  No crap.  Just wood.  In the case of Ono charcoal, I’m talking chunks the size of a Nerf football. 

How to light charcoal?  Have you ever smelled lighter fluid after you light charcoal?  Yes, some of that burns off.   But, I ask you – do you think that tastes good?  Methinks not.  I strongly prefer my chimney starter, using a little newspaper sprayed with vegetable oil. 

Back to the Father’s Day steaks.  I follow the same routine as I’ve done in the past, but instead of firing up Precious, I start a mess ‘o Ono charcoal in a chimney starter in the Original.  30 minutes or so later, I spread out the coals and I’m ready to grill.

I throw the steaks on and follow my normal procedure for creating hash marks that look oh so pretty.  I then flip the steaks and follow the same routine, though after rotating the steaks 90 degrees, I throw the lid on the Original to allow more of that smoky goodness into the meat.  

Foodie side note – this is why you buy thick steaks and pay real money for them.  You have time to add flavors to the meat, without overcooking the meat which, of course, is the cardinal sin of any griller.    

The Review?  The best steaks I’ve ever made.  Period.  Just salt, pepper, olive oil, and that fabulous smoke flavor from the lump Kiawe charcoal.  The smoke permeated the meat, particularly the pockets of fat that make rib eyes awesome. 

The next time you grill steaks, try lump charcoal and my tried and true method for steaks.  You won’t be disappointed.

It’s not flavor.  It’s disgusting.  Before I start the rant, here are some recent pictures of Precious.  She’s about 6 years old and I’m willing to bet she gets used more than your grill.  As clean as you can get a grill.  Yes, I know there’s browning inside the grill, but that’s just permanent discoloration from years of use.

I treat all of my grills like favorite cars that need love and maintenance.  I take each apart a couple times per year (or more) and scrub all of the pieces and surfaces.  Oven cleaner also works.  After each cleaning, I pour a thin layer of cat litter into the drip tray.  The cat litter absorbs the drippings and you just dump it into the trash when it’s time for cleaning.  

Onto the rant…. I don’t know why, but many of my grilling brothers don’t clean their grills.  Yes, they may brush off the grates now and then, but the caked-on ghosts of meals past are left underneath the grates, along with lots of remnants on the front of the grill. 

Perhaps we men see the grill as our last bastion of manliness that She Who Must Be Obeyed hasn’t invaded.  Perhaps it’s just laziness.  Either way, the excuses range from “It adds flavor,  like seasoning a cast iron pan” to “It helps the grill work better by insulating it more.”

My response to any such excuses?  BS.  First, that half burnt fish skin from last month is not flavor.  It’s disgusting.  Sure, the food remnants are probably completely cooked, so there’s little chance of any food borne illness.  The key word being ‘probably’.  Even if it is flavor, it’s the flavor of old, burnt food and unidentifiable stuff.  Nasty. 

Second, your grill is designed to function the way it comes from the store – clean and without the familiar nasty build ups.  You can’t tell me with a straight face that gas burners work better when they’re all clogged up with last month’s tri tip marinade than when they’re not.

Third, food sticks to dirty grates, which doesn’t result in pretty grilled food.

I’m officially breaking ranks with my grilling brothers and I’m sure to get hate mail due to this.  But, if your wife or girlfriend walks by your grill and says something to the effect of “Eww… You should clean that,” she’s probably right.  Put your big boys pants on and clean your grill.

Happy cooking.

WF