Category Archives: Grilling

DCS Liberty Grills Provide Entertaining Freedom

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The classic grill configuration doesn’t make for easy entertaining. Think about it: you flip the top to land about even with your mouth, which maybe doesn’t matter, as you typically locate your gas grill against something (a wall, a deck, a fence) anyway.

How are you supposed to conversate? Who wants to gather round that?

Now imagine a setup where the grill is more like a cooktop… just open, with no top to baffle your babble or keeps guests away.

DCS outdoor cooking 2012

OK, stop imagining; I found my picture of it.

DCS Liberty Grill

Those who have lots of friends and parties (and are into that kind of stuff) will probably wonder why no one thought of this before. This being the DCS Liberty, which “even allows you to effortlessly host an omelet bar in your outdoor kitchen.” Well thank goodness!

It’s called the Liberty because all the individual applications free up your outdoor living design, unhinging it from all those icky conventions and letting you enjoy your outdoor cooking experience along with – instead of apart from – all your friends.

corner-island-liberty-collection-dcs-outdoor

You can pretty much mix and match all the individual pieces in the DCS Liberty Collection to do whatever you want. This curved shape lets everyone gather round (pun intended).

How To Clean a Grill and Prepare it for Spring

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Along with shorts and mosquitoes, grilling season is coming in hot! Follow these tuneup tips to make sure your gas grill or charcoal grill is barbecue-ready.

Clean the Grill

Clean the interior using a putty knife to scrape off burnt-on food particles inside your grill. This isn’t just aesthetic. Build-up prevents your grill from heating correctly.

To clean your grates, Weber Grill suggests putting them in a dark-colored plastic bag with a cup of ammonia into the bag. After a day in the sun, residue should easily hose off.

If you have a grease drain, make sure it’s unclogged by running a coat hanger down it. Just keep your hands away from the grease bucket, because the grease will drain out fast and could burn you.

Season the Grill

Use nonstick cooking spray to oil the grates, drip pans and inside of the grill. This helps keep food from sticking to the surfaces and speeds cleaning. Light the grill and let it burn empty with the lid closed for 30 minutes to burn off the preservatives.

Level the Grill

Level the grill. If one side of your grill burns burgers while the other leaves them raw, it’s probably not level. Check both side-to-side and front-to-back to ensure even heating.

Check Grill for Leaks

Check for leaks by inspecting connections for tightness and hoses for cracks. Another good way to scope out leaks is by brushing non-ammonia soapy water around the fitting with an old toothbrush. Turn the gas on and watch for bubbles.

And if you need a new grill for spring, visit Warners’ Stellian.

Grilling doughnuts on ‘Twin Cities Live’

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Carla Warner and I got to spend some time grilling outside with the awesome people at KSTP’s “Twin Cities Live” yesterday.

>> See the video

A rare picture of me, left, posing with TCL's Emily Engberg and Carla Warner in front of the Grilled Doughnuts on the Viking gas grill.

I love to cook, so I volunteered to whip up 3 unconventional recipes on 3 of our favorite grills.

On the Big Green Egg, we made Bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers

Hollow jalapenos and completely fill with cream cheese. Wrap with raw bacon and secure with toothpick. Grill on the Big Green Egg or other grill using indirect heat at 350-375 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

On the Vermont Castings, we made Margherita pizza

Heat grill to medium heat. Sprinkle with cornmeal and roll out fresh, refrigerated pizza dough ball to no more than 1/4-inch thickness. Either oil grill grates or place pizza stone on grill. Grill dough covered for 5 minutes. Top with Kowalski’s Signature Pizza Sauce, slices of Kowalski’s fresh mozzarella and sliced Roma tomato. Grill for another 3-5 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Top with fresh basil and serve.

And on the Viking Grill, we made — you’ll never guess — Grilled doughnuts

Grill Pillsbury Grands refrigerated biscuits on a cookie sheet (or well-oiled grill grate) using indirect heat at about 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, melt a stick of butter in a grill-safe bowl away from direct heat. Dip warm biscuits in the melted butter and roll in cinnamon sugar.

Outdoor kitchen ideas: Viking gas wok/cooker

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Viking outdoor wok / gas cooker

Wok this way.

In Minnesota, when the winter weather starts creeping above freezing, I start pulling my shorts out of storage.

And especially this past Super Bowl Sunday, I started thinking of how much I’d like having a kitchen outdoors.

Outdoor kitchen designs usually always include a gas grill. And sometimes, gas grills are built in to a grill island, which offers counterspace and — more interestingly to this blog — space for more outdoor kitchen appliances.

(I’m going to feature several outdoor kitchen ideas over the next week or so, so subscribe to my blog and you won’t miss any of the beautiful outdoor kitchens photos you know are coming. See instructions.)

Outdoor gas wok / gas cooker
from Viking Outdoor Kitchen

Unlike any outdoor gas burner, the Viking outdoor wok burner/gas cooker just has more power. The super-high 27,500 BTU burner handles huge stir-fry portions, and a center trivet converts for large stock pots – perfect for crab or shrimp boils.

All that power means you can saute super fast in the 20-inch wide steel wok, but the wok burner also has enough control to let you simmer at low temperatures.

You can choose to run the WFWT241T on either an LP tank or a natural gas line using an easy, push-button electric ignition. The large knob carries easy-to-read labels, but is childproof, so you don’t have to worry about curious little hands.

The removable, stainless steel pull-out drip tray and grease pan makes clean-up easy.

Plus, it just looks really good, doesn’t it?

Tune up your grill for Memorial Weekend barbecuing

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chicken

If Memorial Day weekend finds you dragging your gas grill out for the first time this summer, make sure you have it party-ready in time for the dinner bell with these maintenance tips.

Clean the interior using a putty knife to scrape off burnt-on food particles inside your grill. This isn’t just aesthetic. Build-up prevents your grill from heating correctly.

To clean your grates, Weber Grill suggests putting them in a dark-colored plastic bag with a cup of ammonia into the bag. After a day in the sun, residue should easily hose off (hat tip Shelterpop).

If you have a grease drain, make sure it’s unclogged by running a coat hanger down it. Just keep your hands away from the grease bucket, because the grease will drain out fast and could burn you.

Season the grill. Use nonstick cooking spray to oil the grates, drip pans and inside of the grill. This helps keep food from sticking to the surfaces and speeds cleaning. Light the grill and let it burn empty with the lid closed for 30 minutes to burn off the preservatives.

Level the grill. If one side of your grill burns burgers while the other leaves them raw, it’s probably not level. Check both side-to-side and front-to-back.

Check for leaks by inspecting connections for tightness and hoses for cracks. Another good way to scope out leaks is by brushing non-ammonia soapy water around the fitting with an old toothbrush. Turn the gas on and watch for bubbles.

That’s all from me. Anyone else have good tips to add?

Thanks to Holland Grill for the info. Flickr photo credit: mccun934