(AW) Getting the skirt dripping

Beef and Lime Fajitas

Feeling ambitious again, and decided to do beef and lime fajitas. The butcher recommended a cheeper cut of beef, the skirt, as it is a quicker cook. In order not to cheat, we also decided to cook the onions and peppers on the BGE.

What we did

Marinated the beef overnight in out fajita spices and lime. Fired up the BGE direct with the cast iron grill. Added the beef and cooked it until it his 135f. In the mean time, we added a little oil to a pan, and added the onions (home grown) and peppers to fry. Served with cheddar cheese and salsa! Very nice.......

(AW) Chicken Kebabs

Back to the simple dishes

Nothing special now, other than I needed to ween myself off steak! 

What we did

Chicken marinated in Piri Piri spices, and then cooked on the grill (direct method) until cooked.

(AW) Another day, another steak

Fillet

Decided to try yet another cut of beef, this time fillet. Well after instructing the butcher to make sure they were at least an inch and a half thick, I fired up the egg to the 700f mark. This was the moment of truth. Could a quality cut of meat handle the harsh temperature of searing? 

Well, yes. In fact, when served at 135f, it was the best steak I had ever eaten, and I have enjoy Kobi steak in Manchester with MN a few years back. 

In fact, the steak was so epic, I totally forgot to take a picture!!!!

(AW) More steak and chicken kebabs

Hot, Hot, Hot

Now I have a craving for epic steak, it was time to try another cut of beef, and add chicken kebabs to the cook.

We also patted the steaks in black pepper and salt just before I put them on the BGE. No other marinade was necessary.

The kebabs were with chicken breast chunks marinated in spices over night.

What we did

Usual direct set up - Steaks seared at 700f this time for 1 1/2 minutes per side, then drop the egg temp to 400f and cook the steaks until the internal temp is 135f. The chicken cooks at the 400f temp for about 15/20 mins.

(AW) First steak on the Egg

Getting her 'HOT' whilst keeping my meet 'moist'

Time to try and crank up the temp on the egg. Decided there was only one thing to cook, and that was steak. So we grabbed 3 nice bits of Sirloin (no point in potentially ruining more expensive cuts) and 3 bits of BBQ pork steaks.

Bravely I cranked up the temp on the BGE after 'seasoning' the cast ion grill with a little rape seed oil. We decided to use the reverse cook method. 

It turned out perfect, one of the best steaks I had ever had. From now on I will only eat steak cooked this way!!!!

What we Did

With a full fire pit, we got the egg unto about 600f with only the cast iron grill (direct cooking). Slapped on the steak for 1 1/2 minutes a side (always closing the egg as it cooks). Once it was cooked on both sides (that's how to get the great black char lines) we removed the meat, wrapped it in foil to rest, and closed down the egg, until it hit about 350f. We then added the pork, and with a meat probe in the steak we cooked it until the steak was 135f internal temp. 135f is medium rare. 

(AW) Pulling the Pork - Another 'first'

Low and Slow

Still too scared to try a high temp cook, we opted for a standard 'low and slow' recipe.

Pulled Pork. This was a family favourite when we were in the US, so with the power of the BGE, we thought we would give it a go!

It was very tasty, especially with BBQ sauce, but it wasn't quite as stringy as we wanted. I must be due to the run away temp spike we had at about the 6 hour point. My friend MN recommend the whole cook should take about 10 hours or more. We were at 192 at 8 hours. We obviously cooked to high for too short a time!

What we did

Marinaded the pork butt over night in a mixture of spices. Got up at 0430hrs and lit the egg. Set up the BGE with a full fire bucket, platesetter legs up, steel grill and slapped on the butt with a meat probe in.
Cooked it at 250f until the internal meat temp hit 170f.
We then wrapped the pork in foil, and carried on cooking until the internal temp hit 192f.
We then took it in and pulled it.

(AW) Beer Can Chicken - 'The sequel'

Still not safe to do a high temp cook, we thought we would try and improve on the Beer Can Chicken.

Decided to skip the veg and spuds, and just concentrate on getting the bird bang on. Same detail as the last cook with the rub and beer (including the swig). 

(AW) Beer Can Chicken

The Virgin looses its cherry

Well, after reading the instructions (I know, but this was alien territory for me), we realised we couldn't do a high temperature cook for a few sessions.

We therefore set our sights on Beer Can Chicken.

Well, it was like no chicken I had ever tasted before. It was sooooo moist. We mis-judged how long the veg and spuds would take, so they were not perfect, but the bird was great....

And the duel probes worked a treat! Cheers MN!!!!

OK, so it wasn't perfect, but we could clearly see the potential. 

What we Did

Covered the bird in a rub and put a nob of butter under the skin on the breasts. 

Set the egg up with a full firebox, plate setter legs up, steel grill. We stuck an open can of cheap larger up the arse backside of the bird (took a swig of beer first. Chef's perk) and put it in a drip pan.

Cooked at 350f for about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours and until the meat probe, which we stuck in the thigh, hit 165f.

(AW) A present from a 'FREIND' :-)

Unexpected, but very welcome was a gift I received today from my Egg'ing friend up North. Evidently it makes Egging better.

It is a duel probe thermometer, one probe measures the internal temp of the meat, the other the temp of the grill. But more importantly than that, it will send that info to e remote monitor. What does that mean? Well it means I can be indoors chilling with a beer, and keeping an eye on the cooking from the sofa!

OK, got the kit, good the meat.... Lets cook!

(AW) Birth of a 'LEGEND'

On the 8th July 2014, after a good friend was bragging about his BGE, I took ownership of the new member to the family.

My very own Large BGE. The roadside delivery made the curtains twitch on the neighbouring houses, as it was in an arctic truck. It was a golden pallet of joy!

Next stop was to stock up on some food, and set up the beast!