made in usa's blog

calling all cooks!!! calling all cooks! i challenge you this turkey day...

 abuse

   Late one evening last week, I headed over to a friend’s house for a cookout. I was wanting to try some of those hickory wood chunks I had seen in the grocery stores this past summer instead of the charcoal that he had planned to cook with. Agreeing to give them a try, I head over to a Harris Teeter that was on my way and picked up a 10 pound bag of the hickory wood chunks. I love grilling, and trying something different was proving to be exciting. It was like long ago when I would go camping a lot.

   So I get to his house and headed for the grill. I passed the 92% lean raw burgers sitting on the counter. They were beauties too., making me even more hungry. The grill was waiting for me. I love that grill too. The lid is hinged on the frame, making it much easier to use when cooking. You can do just about everything one handed after you start cooking.

   I open the bag of hickory chunks and pour about two-thirds of the wood onto the grill’s crate. Perfect size for this I said to myself. I form a pyramid out of the wood and slowly pour some lighter fluid over them, allowing the fluid to soak into the wood. But just a little at a time. It’s got to soak in first. I wait a couple of minutes and give it another light rain shower of the light fluid. I did this three times, with the third time being a pretty good wetting.

I light the fire and stand back, watching it just like a kid would on a camping trip. It quickly turned into a “campfire in a grill“, and the heat from it was a welcomed warmth as I stood in the cool night air. Now that the fire’s off to a good start, I grab about four more pieces of hickory out of the bag and place them in a jar full of water, letting them soak as the fire matures. It took about twenty minutes for the wood to begin getting that glowing red look. I didn’t allow them to turn as red as I would with charcoal. These little guys would rather dancing with a little flame. I scatter the pyramid of hickory chunks out over the grate, making sure to keep them touching each other and over-lapping one another a little. Smoke begins to immediately fill the air with the sweet smell of burning hickory. Just like summertime again at Jordan Lake, when I would putter into the cove that was lined with campers on the lake’s shoreline. That would be Parker’s Creek Campground , with it’s entrance off of Farrington Rd.

   With the meat on, I close the lid and I make sure all the vents are wide open. I give it a minute and then held my hand about two inches above the vent on top of the lid to check the temp. It took five seconds for the heat to force my hand away. Perfect. I checked it again five minutes later, and noticed it took about seven seconds. I open the lid and gave the fire some air, leaving it open until the wood began to flame up all over with small dancing flames. I close the lid again and kept checking every five minutes, and every five minutes I had to repeat - leaving the lid open for two, and then closing it. Cooking with real wood instead of charcoal requires the cook to constantly monitor the heat coming up out of the vent. My preference is a five-second period of holding my hand over the vent before I have to move my hand away. Six is acceptable, but seven is letting the fire get too cool. Six for slow-cooking. Five for moderate, and four for a pretty hot oven.

   The smell of those burgers cooking, combined with the sweet aroma of hickory smoke, surely brought hunger to the neighbors.

   I kept the fire in small flames at first by opening the lid every little bit, sealing the juice in the burgers with a touch of black on both sides. Then it was lights out inside that grill, with an occasional flicker of flame. Can’t let the fire lose it’s momentum. It took about 36 minutes to cook them well. No pink inside, just a pale light-brown look.

   Now the taste test. I cannot tell you how good those hamburgers were. The flavor was TEN TIMES BETTER than what charcoal would have gave them. My next project will be cooking a turkey the same way. But I can tell you right now that I’ll need about three bags of those ten-pound bags of hickory chunks. That’s probably more than enough, but just in case I’ll be ready for the job.

   I highly recommend you to give this a try this Thanksgiving. I guarantee your turkey dinner will be unlike any other as far as satisfying all the appetites that you and your guests may bring to the table.

 TIPS: a) When opening the lid, keep your head back or the smoke will smack you in the face; b) Slowly pour the charcoal fluid over the pyramid of wood chunks, giving the lighter fluid time to soak in the wood. Repeat doing this about three times, with the last dose of fluid a heafty one: c) Keep the fire hot, giving it the fice to six second hand test. Open the lid when the fire gets too cool. Repeat throughout the cooking process. d) If cooking a turkey or roast, have plenty of hickory wood chunks on hand...three 10 pound bags ought to do the trick. Charcoal can always be your backup if needed.

ENJOY the challenge this Thanksgiving. Your taste buds will sing with joy after the meal! And your guest will sing along with you! And by the way, anyone have any idea how long it would take to cook a turkey over a grill with a lid? And what about salt and pepper, and all those other goodies you pros are keeping secret???

Photo of collegelife.com

Filed under: Nutrition & Fitness