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Get Your Gas Grill Ready for Memorial Day Weekend – Boston, Sudbury, MA

Joseph Coupal - Friday, May 27, 2016

Memorial Day is here, and believe it or not Summer is just around the corner which means barbeques and outdoor gatherings. Before you do your first grilling this season, it is a good idea to make sure your gas grill is ready and in prime working condition.

First off check your propane tank to make sure you have plenty of gas. Also check to make sure your tank is not rusted or damaged. Next take a close look at your LP gas hose and regulator. Check for cracks, cuts, abrasions or kinks of any kind. If you see any of this type of wear go ahead and replace the hose and regulator assembly.

Now while your grill is cool, go ahead and clean the inside of your grill. Use some type of gloves as this is a fairly dirty and messy process. Using whatever type of cleaning brush you desire, clean the cooking grates from front to back. Flip the grates over and do the same to the bottom side of the cooking grates. Once you have completed this step, remove the cooking grates from the grill and set them aside. Make sure to set them on some newspaper or some other kind of scrap material to prevent grease and oil from staining your patio or deck.

Either using the same cleaning brush or some type of flat scraper, clean all excess grease and debris off the top and bottom of your heat tents. If your grill has porcelain coated heat tents I would recommend using a cheap plastic putty knife as this will not damage the surface. You can scrape the debris off directly into an open trash can. Once you have finished cleaning the heat tents, set them on top of the cooking grates.

Using the plastic putty knife, scrape any excess grease and debris from the inside of the firebox into the bottom of the firebox. This would include the cooking grate ledges, heat tent ledges any flat spots on the burners, etc.

At this point check your main burners. Check the overall condition of your burners, looking for any rust through (surface rust is fine and very common but not to be worried about), cracks or breaks. If you see any of these issues go ahead and replace the burner or burners that have these issues. Also check to make sure that none of the burner ports (holes) are clogged. If they are, you can use a paperclip to clean the holes. Never use a toothpick or anything that could break off inside of the burner. It is also a good idea to remove each burner to make sure that spiders or other creatures have not clogged the burner or air vents with nests and debris. Follow the instructions in your owner’s manual for proper removal and replacement procedure.

Next, check to make sure that there is a spark at each electrode when you push your ignition button (this may be difficult to see on a bright sunny day). If not, you may need to clean the electrode tips and the sides of the burner next to the electrode to get a better spark. You can use an Emory cloth or Scotch Bright pad to accomplish this. Also check to make sure that the gap (or space) in between the electrode tips and burners are about the same on all of your ignition points. If there is a difference between these gap sizes you will not get proper spark at every point. Typically this can be adjusted by lightly pushing the electrode tip in or out as necessary. Be cautious when doing this because you do not want to break the electrode.

Once you have completed these step you will need to proceed in one of two ways depending on how your grill is constructed:

  1. If your grill has a removable grease tray and grease cup at the bottom of the firebox then remove and empty the grease cup first. Then remove the grease tray and hold it over a large open trash can, scrape all of the excess grease and debris off using the plastic putty knife. Once you have finished cleaning the grease tray, reinstall it into your grill along with the grease cup.
  2. If your grill does not have a removable grease tray then remove and empty the grease cup first. Reinstall the grease cup and then you will need to scrape any excess grease and debris off the bottom of the firebox and into the grease cup using the plastic putty knife. You may need to empty and replace the grease cup several times depending on how much debris is in the bottom of your firebox.

Now put your heat tents and cooking grates back in place and you are ready for your first barbeque of the season… Enjoy!!

For more information on grills, propane and supplies, contact West Sport in Sudbury.

landmann-usa.com

Pellet Grills are the One Grill Solution for Grilling and Smoking – Boston, Sudbury, MA

Joseph Coupal - Monday, May 16, 2016

If you could have just one outdoor cooking appliance, what would it be?

Backyard grilling has always been a big American pastime, but in recent years this has been joined by an explosion of interest in slow smoked barbecue, cooking meats slowly at low temperatures with indirect heat and plenty of smoky flavor. This has led to a boom in smoker sales, but for most people that means a second unit, and usually a big one, since many smokers are of the offset variety and require a lot of space.

The problem of multiple grills is confounded, because when most people say they are having a “barbecue” they really mean grilling, or cooking over flame, the most common form of backyard cookery. Most of us use our smokers for a limited number of specific slow cooked BBQ specialties such as ribs, brisket and pork shoulder, but grills do everything from a single steak to hamburgers for a crowd, hot dogs, chicken, pork chops, vegetables, seafood and so on and soon. Some smokers, especially vertical ones, can double as wood or charcoal burning kettle-style grills, but this is not typically a solution for the frequent griller.

Because grills typically get used more often than smokers, convenience becomes a big factor: while it is well worth lighting a hardwood charcoal fire to cook ribs for six hours, few people want to bother with this to make a couple of hot dogs, or burgers for two. This typically reduces grill selection to a choice between more convenient propane or more flavorful wood fired cooking, two very different types of grills, and some people want both – along with a smoker (there is also a very limited niche of dual-fuel grills that can burn wood and propane).

But many Americans live in an urban or suburban world of limited outdoor space, a single patio or even balcony, and if you have to choose just one grill that truly can do it all, the choice is simple: it is almost impossible to argue against a pellet grill. These can slow smoke or grill, do both very well, and easily, with real wood and real fire but without hassle or time constraints, lighting quickly with no mess or chimney starters, and then cooking accurately with minimal supervision.

Pellet grills burn small hardwood pellets about twice the size of a pencil eraser, which you buy in bags. Like wood chunks, they come in different “flavors” like hickory, oak and mesquite. They are not brand specific and are readily available in stores. Different brand grills work differently, but at the higher end, better pellet grills generally have a storage hopper for the pellets and an electronic auger which feeds them into a firebox. This typically has an electronic igniter, an element that heats up when you start the grill, and when pellets are dropped onto it, they catch fire. Once it gets going, new pellets are ignited by the old. The whole thing is computer controlled, and you set the temperature with a digital thermostat, just alike a wall oven, then the computer and auger feed pellets as needed to precisely maintain the temperature. That’s pretty much it – whether you are slow smoking at 215° for 12 hours or searing steaks at 500° for two minutes per side, you turn it on, set the temperature, and wait for it to heat up, which is slightly slower than propane and much faster than a wood fired smoker or grill.

PROS:

Convenience – To make ribs, turn the smoker on to 220° with the flick of a switch and the push of the temperature control arrows, and less than 15 minutes later the ribs went in. With a regular smoker, it’s 15 minutes in the chimney starter just to ignite hardwood charcoal, than another 25-30 minutes to get the smoker itself going and settled down after the initial weave of excess smoke. And while it’s never a good idea to leave a fire burning apparatus unattended, this is largely a case of “set and forget.” Once the ribs or brisket or wings go in, you can do something else until it’s time to check, spritz or sauce them, no refueling or tinkering required.

Efficiency – As long as you have pellets on hand you never have to unhook a tank and take it to the gas station again, and the pellets are cheaper and much easier to ship and store than hardwood charcoal. A 20-pound bag (from $12) takes up very little space, and one bag easily gets you though three 4-6 hour smokes and several high-temperature grilled dinners.

Accuracy – Once lit, the temperature never fluctuates by more than 2-3 degrees with zero supervision. A regular smoker requires a constant eye and adjustment of vents and fuel and even using a remote digital thermometer to monitor it.

Versatility – Pellet grills are just as adept at grilling as slow smoking, can go up to 600°, and for a wood grill, the high temperature is even harder to regulate steadily than the low, but here, you punch in 450° you get 450°. You can grill steaks, burgers, corn on the cob, and more direct grilled, all with great success.

For more information on pellet grills, contact West Sport in Sudbury.

Forbes

Need a New Grill? Memorial Day Means Outdoor Grilling – Boston, Sudbury, MA

Joseph Coupal - Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Memorial Day is widely regarded as the unofficial kickoff to backyard grilling season, yet surprisingly, Mother’s Day is the fifth most popular outdoor cooking day of the year.

But the calendar is becoming increasingly irrelevant as America’s love of all things grilled and smoked is more of a year round phenomenon than ever before, and even in the long lasting wintry weather, many lit a smoker for the first slow cooked outdoor ribs of the season as soon as the snow was clear.

Here are some interesting factoids about the current state of barbecuing from  a recent poll:

  • 75% of U.S. adults own a grill or smoker.
  • The majority of grill owners (63%) use their grill or smoker year-round and 43% cook at least once a month through winter.
  • Nearly a third of current owners plan to grill with greater frequency this year.
  • Barbecuing isn’t just an evening activity: 11% of grill owners prepared breakfast in the past year.
  • The five most popular days to barbecue, in order are: July Fourth; Labor Day & Memorial Day (tied); Father’s Day; Mother’s Day.
  • The top three reasons for cooking outdoors, in order are: to improve flavor; for personal enjoyment; for entertaining family and friends.

Now for the really interesting stuff:

Gas grills are easily the most popular style, the choice of 62% of households that own a grill. The convenience factor is extremely high, and the purported flavor disadvantage of gas versus charcoal is not nearly as great as many pundits make it out to be. That being said, if you could have just one grill to do it all, there is little doubt that the best all-around choice is a pellet grill, closely followed by a kamado (ceramic egg) style grills. Yet the pellet grill remains one of the least well-known backyard cooking devices.

With both pellet and kamado you can truly do it all, including very high quality slow smoked Texas or Southern style barbecue, as well as grilling, roasting and all other forms of live fire cooking, with much better smoking results than you can improvise on a gas grill. Yet only two percent of barbecue households own a pellet grill. However, with growing recognition of the advantages and recent improvements in quality this is changing fast – an impressive 8% of those surveyed are considering buying a pellet grill this year.

One big advantage of charcoal/wood grills is that they are cheap, making it easy to have more than one fuel option, and this is often the case, as nearly two thirds of barbecue owning households have gas and more than half (53%) have charcoal, with many overlapping.

The grilling accessories scene is also changing fast, and the most popular new items owners plan to buy this year include pizza stones, broiling baskets and cooking planks.

Here’s the really important news – drumroll please – nearly half (45%) of U.S. adults surveyed plan to purchase a new grill or smoker in 2016. The timing could not be better, because the new selection of grills is better than ever.

If you are looking for a new grill, contact West Sport in Sudbury.

Forbes

Gas Grill or Charcoal Grill: Which is Better? Boston, Sudbury, MA

Joseph Coupal - Thursday, May 05, 2016

Now that it is grill season again, you have the choice of either gas or charcoal. You may be using a gas grill, but you may be considering a charcoal grill to use on the weekends. It is easy to turn on the gas valve, hit the ignite button and instantaneously have a fire.

But maybe you think something is missing! Maybe it’s getting your hands dirty arranging the charcoal, the time standing around watching the coals get hot or even the smell of the charcoal burning. Whatever it is, there is something nostalgic about grilling with charcoal.

Yeah sure there is more clean up, you have to get rid of the used up coals. And then there is always the possibility that the coals will burn out in the middle of cooking. That wouldn’t happen with a gas grill unless you let the gas tank run out.

But there are also a lot of benefits to grilling with charcoal, which leads us to this article. Let’s look at the pros and cons of grilling and charcoal and figure out how they affect the style of cooking.

We put the question of gas vs. charcoal to a couple of professional chef friends who had opposite positions. Although their preferences were different, they both came up with great reasons why they choose their style.

One chef listened and then said, “Yes, charcoal grills are more work and what type of grill you use will depend on your lifestyle and the amount of time you have available, but in the end you can’t compare gas grilling to charcoal grilling. Forget about it, charcoal wins hands down.”

When we asked why he was so enthusiast toward charcoal he said, “Because with charcoal, you add more flavor and you can make a hotter fire and heat is your friend.”

The other chef we spoke with favored a gas grill for the convenience and felt you could achieve the same great tasting food by various cooking methods, food prep, and the use of woods for a smoky flavor.

Who’s right? There is no right answer and it really just depends on personal preferences. It really depends on your life style and how often you plan to use the grill. Look at the list of benefits for both gas and charcoal to see which fits best into your lifestyle.

Benefits of Gas and Charcoal Grills

Gas

  • Push Button Convenience
  • No messy charcoal to deal with
  • Easy to start
  • Control temperature with a dial
  • Control temperatures for longer periods of time
  • Can still use wood for smoky flavor
  • Wind is not a factor

Charcoal

  • More heat
  • Hotter grill
  • Flavor from charcoal
  • More intense smells
  • More hands on experience

For more information on both new charcoal grills and new gas grills and the various grill specials we are offering, contact West Sport in Sudbury.

reluctantgourmet.com


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