The Science of Grate Grilling Part FIVE: GrillGrate Grilled Pizza!

Grilling pizza has never been easier!  The raised rail design of GrillGrates provides the perfect platform to grill pizza and the GrateTool makes it easy to handle and rotate for perfect searing and crispy crust.  Here are a couple of tips to grilling great pizza with GrillGrates:

1. Keep your grill temperature under control at or below 400F. This allows you to grill pizza long enough (10 minutes +) to thoroughly cook the the toppings and melt the cheese without blackening or charring the crust.  The key is how long you can grill pizza, not how hot and fast- unless you like black bottom crust.
2. Use Olive Oil on the bottom side of the pizza crust.  The olive oil helps the crust get super crispy.  Even add a bit of seasoning to the oiled crust for more flavor!
3. Quarter turn the pizza after 3-5 minutes.  Using the GrateTool slightly lift and peek at the crust and see the crust is searing and browning.  Rotate 45 degrees when the sear marks are golden brown.
4. Watch Searing on Bottom of the Crust.  If sear marks are black- you are grilling too hot and at risk of blackening the crust.  Reduce heat.  The sear marks are a great guide to determine your grill's best temperature for grilling great pizza.  My gas charbroil is set on LOW, but the GrillGrate temperature is still 450F when the dome says 350F.  
5. Lower and Slower is Better with Grilled Pizza because it gives you time to fully cook toppings to a golden brown too.  Think bubbly brown cheese!
6. Use MamaMary's Gourmet Pizza Crusts.  They are partially baked, find them in the deli section of your supermarket or at Walmart.  They are fabulous on GrillGrates! 

GrillGrates makes grilling pizza a snap! Pizza is a super platform for all types of grilled pies- even fruit, dessert pizzas and breakfast pizzas!  And don't forget left-over pizzas, BBQ pizzas, white pizzas.  The GrillGrate website has dozens of grilled pizza recipes- let us hear yours!

 

The Science of Grate Grilling- The Super Weber Kettle

Another key aspect of GrillGrates is the added protection they provide from excessive flame and dry scorching heat. When BBQ Legend Mike Mills first saw GrillGrates sitting on my Weber at a BBQ contest he called it a 'flame shield' and asked if I'd ever done ribs on it? I sheepishly had to tell him no. Mike told me that one of the toughest questions people ask him is how to do ribs on a Weber Kettle? It's darn hard for most people. Hell, I never even tried! He challenged me to go home and barbecue (not grill) ribs his way. Mike also figured out quick that we were from 'Up North' and had little barbecue experience. That meeting in Douglas was another milestone as we were introduced to the wonderful world of Barbecue from one of the best. Mike Mills was just inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame at last months National Barbecue Association Conference which was a real treat to attend. I am honored to be friends with Mike and his gang from 17th Street. Mike has taught us a lot about GrillGrates and has been generous in his support and help.

Now we're introducing custom GrillGrates for the 22" Weber Kettle and it made me think of Mike.

KCBS Tour Grills Grate Pizza

Our friends at KCBS just completed their nationwide tour of BBQ Cookoffs with their last appearance at Talladega, AL. Mike and Chris Peters do an outstanding job with the KCBS Tour demonstrating grilling techniques and products for their sponsors. Their samplings go fast and the crowds are always appreciative. At Talladega they grilled 50 Pizzas and had a sampling frenzy going on!

Chris and Mike took a page out of my playbook with MamaMary's Gourmet Crusts and GrillGrates! They used chicken that had been previously grilled, KC Masterpiece original sauce and the new Smoky Bourbon sauce, and in Chris's words the "FANTASTIC Grill Grates for quick, easy and DELICIOUS PIZZA!!!" Thanks for sending along the pictures and I look forward to seeing you guys on the road next year. Remember to use KCBS as a coupon code to save 20% on all GrillGrate products in our webstore. GrillGrate, Eat Well!

Christmas Tenderloin

After seeing our daughter hand trim the tenderloin I couldn't wait to get it to the grill. I followed Weber's instructions for a three-zone split fire using a drip pan in the middle to wall the charcoal off to both sides leaving the center as the indirect heating zone.

We cut the tenderloin into two matching halves and I placed them over the coals for the first 10 minutes turning once to get a bit of searing before moving them to the middle of the GrillGrates to complete the grilling. The tenderloin took about 10 minutes longer than Weber estimated and I attribute that to the GrillGrates acting as a flame shield that further protected the meat. Knowing that our clan likes their meat rare, I took the tenderloin off a bit early and gave it a short rest before cutting thick juicy red slices. The trimmed loin fed 8 of us without a slice left and not one plate had any evidence left of a great meal. The meat literally melted in my mouth and the pressure was off. We switched from Pigs Nose (smooth as a Pigs Nose) to Champagne with strawberrys crushed and pureed in the bottom of the glass. The Champagne was so good it carried over to an after dinner treat. There was a StarTrek marathon on TV, the kids retreated to their worlds and we went quietly into space.

The Greatest Gifts are Friends, Family and Customers!

One year ago my wife and I took the leap off the entrepreneurial cliff again. We had prepared for months and I had the full support of my employer at the time and the support of a great group of friends. Now a year later the support network is even stronger with a whole bunch of new friends like suppliers, new grill industry friends, press, and especially customers. Last week I reached out to this grate group of friends for ideas and advice for holiday grilling and I was delighted by so many grate ideas:

• French Toast- we're trying that this weekend
• Apples- partially cored, filled and grilled- ditto
  
• Pork loin holiday style- designed for several days of nibbling
  
• Even a large bologna roll that was grilled first then cut into thick slices, then add pockets and stuff with cheese and back on the grill! Rocky sent pictures of this grate creation using GrillGrates on a Big Green Egg.
  
• Mike Jediny from NJ even mailed us his favorite spice so we can grill his kickin chicken recipe.
  

Speaking of Mike, he was the fellow who was steam cleaning his GrillGrates and planted the seed for me as we were testing the hard anodized GrillGrates. I just sent Mike a GrateBrush as an early Christmas present. Thanks again Mike and congratulations on bagging two bucks last weekend. Mike also sent in some interesting venison recipes.

Now for a quick Thanksgiving wrap-up. My wife (not I) has oven roasted our Thanksgiving turkey for the past 25 years- stuffed with my favorite sausage stuffing. So when I mouthed off about Alton Brown saying not to stuff the bird I got an earful and a subtle challenge to go ahead and grill it then. So for the first time 'we' grilled our Thanksgiving Turkey.

The bird was super juicy although I dare not rank it above birds of years past... It took just under 3 hours to grill. I had a drip pan under the bird and a separate pan next to it with water (I switched to beer since it was handy) to keep moisture in the grill. I think soaking in brine overnight was the real key.

I will admit to only going 1/2 way by doing it on my gas Charbroil and not the charcoal Weber. The Charbroil held its temperature and I had three of the four burners on as low as possible. Did it taste better off the gas grill? Tough call there. I think I know the answer- use the Weber next time- and I will. Weber put out an interesting survey about grilling Thanksgiving Turkey. Seems 10% of us headed outdoors to grill our birds. That jives with me being a "late" early adopter...

We sure freed up oven and kitchen space. I don't think we'll be roasting too many more Turkeys or chickens for that matter in the oven. I grilled a breakfast pizza early Thanksgiving morning and started the day off well. I also upgraded my carving skills which was overdue. I watched a The NY Times video with a butcher showing a different take on carving the turkey. At least I knew better than to carve at the table! Removing the entire breast and de-boning the dark meat made it a lot easier and the presentation was better too.

Only our middle child was able to get home this year for Thanksgiving. She's not used to being the center of attention- helping in the kitchen, at the grill, at the store. We enjoyed having her all to ourselves, but I think she missed having her siblings around which is a good thing. Friends, family and happy customers. Life is good.

You Know You're a Yankee

if you have only grilled and never barbecue'd. It finally dawned on me that even though I've lived in the South for 15 years, I've never slow cooked anything unless I was running out of fuel. I certainly took to eating barbecue when we moved south, but I have never done the low and slow thing. After attending a couple of Barbecue competitions recently I've developed a great admiration and appreciation for the low and slow crowd and the wonderful way they practice their art.So when one of the real legends, Mike Mills gave me an assignment to barbecue ribs on my Weber Grill (using GrillGrates of course) I took it to heart. I followed his instructions carefully. It was a great excuse to stay close to home and tend the coals. I also promised Mike, no more charcoal fluid or matchlight either, or pre-baking ribs in the oven... I have to admit that I have new admiration for my Weber Grill too. I (me the Yankee) held my temp in the low 200's for over 4 hours and we had championship ribs. Mike's book even divulges the recipe of his Magic Dust and his 5 Bean side. Word got out around my buddies and I'm having a repeat performance tomorrow, now the pressure is on.

Peace, Love, & Barbecue is a fabulous read and I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that this book is the only barbecue book you'll ever need. Now I have to hide it from my Q buddies, because its their holiday gift if I can keep the secret til then. Thanks Mike and Amy- Peace, Love, & Barbecue!

Here's how I worked the Weber:

• 1/2 chimmney of lump charcoal.
• Holey Smoker Box filled with soaked apple chips served as a dam for the coals.
• Re-start 1/2 chimmney every 45 minutes and wait to add.
• I had my infrared temp guage and learned how to shoot through the top vent to get temp at the GrillGrate.
• I refrained from adding coals too often and sometimes the chimney would need re-fueling before the Weber Kettle did.
• Rotate the meat away from the hot side.
• Sprinkle Magic Dust during as the Ribs sweat
  
• Limit beer consumption to 1 per hour if possible