The Borg's Sunday BBQ

[Bondbug 32]

I am now exploring new cooking area's

Pizza

Now of course everyone cooks pizza but as the usual Borg way I am going into cooking it 100%. I bought a pizza stone. Love it it cooks from heat on both sides. My first attempt was great, although I used a store bought crust. Next will be making my own dough etc. Then evenually my goal will be to cook a pizza on the BBQ

 

How are the pizzas going? We have an old fashioned wood oven, built into a corner of the dining room. Everytime we make bread, we have pizza - same dough. We like our pizzas fairly thick (Neapolitan I think) rather than the thin crispy jobs. So we cheat and cook them in shallow plates. If you want to cook them on the oven floor they need to be thinner both as to dough and filling.

I also built an outdoor oven which we use for BBQs and that does quite well for pizzas. I made a shovel thing out of a bit of zinc sheeting and a wood pole and that is fine for any of those breads that are flat and round and swell up - pitta, fouace, nan bread, chapati. You can do those on a BBQ, but better with a flat sheet (griddle?) than a grille

 

But BBQ in summer...too hot out there, man. Slaving over a hot BBQ on sweltering hot days - makes me melt to think of it. Magic for fine days in autumn or winter. But again, we use wood. A few bricks, or even a shallow trench, to part enclose the fire, a sheet of iron or a grill on top. A bit like an evening around a (very small) Guy Fawkes bonfire and baking potatoes in the edge of the fire. You can do this at home, even in the back yard of an old terrace house. Guitar and a few folk songs.

 

A small point about using the BBQ. Is there not a theory that it is bad to let fat from whatever is on the grill drip onto the heat and smoke onto the food? Some people here wait till a good stock of red hot cinders has build up then push them into a circle just outside the grilling area. Not sure that it works too well except in an enclosed area like an oven with no front, where heat comes from on top as well. But I have also seen BBQs where the food is held between vertical grilles in front of the cinders

 

And did someone mention meat loaf. That's also a standard for oven days. And hey Gogo, I hate to say this but a mixture similar to haggis without the oatmeal makes a very good meat loaf. He-he!

[Borg 0]

Well to be honest I am having trouble with the dough. So far my best attempts have been using store bought crusts ( gasp ) But I love using a pizza stone and a peeler. "BBQ-ing" in the summer? Well its always summer here so I BBQ on the front porch running inside having a cold beer and watching out thru the window HEY that doesnt make me less of a "cook" than standing out side next too it *lol*.

"A small point about using the BBQ. Is there not a theory that it is bad to let fat from whatever is on the grill drip onto the heat and smoke onto the food?"

Actually that and the smoke and flavor from either the charcoal or wood or a combination of both is what gives the meat the flavor. If you didn't have the "fat" turn into smoke you might as well cook in a gas or electric stove inside

[Bondbug 32]

But I love using a pizza stone and a peeler.

 

Sorry to be higorant, but wot is these mate (photo?)

 

"A small point about using the BBQ. Is there not a theory that it is bad to let fat from whatever is on the grill drip onto the heat and smoke onto the food?"

Actually that and the smoke and flavor from either the charcoal or wood or a combination of both is what gives the meat the flavor. If you didn't have the "fat" turn into smoke you might as well cook in a gas or electric stove inside

 

Couldn't agree more. There's that kill-joy quote there, and then there's others telling you to use vine cuttings or chuck on rosemary cuttings for better flavour. Stuff 'em. I'll stick to non-sappy wood and rosemary (we've plenty of that), till wifey finds that kill-joy quote and we can get a really really really informed medical opinion. Then we can ignore it.

[Borg 0]

Pizza stone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_stone

unlike cooking pizza the "normal" way the stone allows the pizza to cook from both sides

Pizza peel

http://www.fornobravo.com/brick_oven_cooki...izza_peels.html

 

It's basically normally a wide flat wood implement with a long hand used for putting the pizza on the stone and bringing it to the table afterwards

[Bondbug 32]

Thanks Borg.

 

 

So that zinc and wood spatula thing I knocked up is called a 'peeler' is it. Sounds logical....puts it in multi-language kitchen vocabulary note book.

 

I had to use zinc: a) because I had a spare piece lying about , b) cos it cost nowt, c) cos I couldn't work down a decent bit of wood to the right shape.

 

For the pizza stone, there is down South (Pyrenees) a fashion for cooking on chunks of slate. They are not porous but this could be similar? As far as I undertand wiki, the pizza stone goes under the pizza only, and in the oven ?

'Zat right?

 

For the BBQ (open fire between bricks I'm afraid) we have an 18" square of 1/4" thick steel which we use for cooking things where a grille is not suitable. The peeler is good for that too.

 

We also have this problem (a serious one judging by this thread) that I dislike chicken, for reasons I have explained elsewhere. Limiting, to say the least.

Edited August 2, 2008 by Bondbug

[Borg 0]

No problems we have vegetarians here too but I think everyone gets something out of the threads you can always adapt a menu if you see something you like basically to your own needs.

The first time I used a Peeler it was a disastrous mess I forgot the corn meal to keep the dough from sticking. I still have a long way to go to catch up to Ike in the Pizza department

[Lord of the North 10]

We also have this problem (a serious one judging by this thread) that I dislike chicken, for reasons I have explained elsewhere. Limiting, to say the least.

 

Well as to pizza toppings, you are only limited to your imagination. You don't have to use chicken if you don't want to. When I do up a pizza (I will admit I use a store bought dough that I get from the bakery in my area grocery store, sold fresh or frozen.) I will use any of the following; bacon bits, diced ham, crumbled ground beef, or chicken (all browned first of course) these items can be done with or without BBQ sauce but prefer an alfredo sauce for the BBQ versions. I have also used tuna, shrimp, and "baby" scallops with these tho I sometimes use no sauces, lighter than normal amounts or a scampi sauce. As to veggies I have used corn, broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, onions, peas, and on the seafood one nori sliced julian style and spread sparingly (nori can add a salty taste to it if over done).

 

While in Japan I loved a pizza place I found with an all you can eat buffet at the far end was there experimental section. You would see unusual toppings and they asked how you liked it. If a topping was disliked they would not make it again. If it was missing something they would pair it with another topping or sauce. If it was well liked it would be added to the pizza menu rotation. It was were I was first introduced to pizza was tuna, corn, nori.

[Bondbug 32]

Well er....I was really refering to chicken in the context of the BBQ nthread.

 

But look what a burst of super info on pizzas it brought out I agree, pizzas, a bit like spaghetti and rice and couscous etc, are just a basic format on which you can put anything that takes your fancy. Almost.

 

Something in there suggests you also do pizzas on the BBQ, or did I get that wrong. Just that I think that's something Borg was asking about?

[Borg 0]

No you were right. That's the next way I am heading. I want to perfect the pizza going from dough up. Then I want to cook it on the BBQ with recipes for pizza on the BBQ I have seen.

Tonight I BBQ'd Oh surprise *lol* I made kabobs - green pepper, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, onion. The meat marinating for one day. And after everything was done I took it into the kitchen to " rest" and cooked up some shrimp. Surf & Turf on a BBQ yummy

 

Edited August 2, 2008 by Borg

[Lord of the North 10]

Something in there suggests you also do pizzas on the BBQ, or did I get that wrong.

 

Unfortunately I live in a condo in central New Hampshire and with the condo rules there is only one kind of BBQ we can use on our porches. Due to fire safety we can't use charcoal or gas grills, we have to use electric BBQs. and so even tho I would love to BBQ a pizza I still use my pizza stone in the good old oven.

[Bondbug 32]

'Struth Borg you must have a shed full of BBQ equipment. Love that 'hopper' with the shrimps in.

[Borg 0]

Unfortunately I live in a condo in central New Hampshire and with the condo rules there is only one kind of BBQ we can use on our porches. Due to fire safety we can't use charcoal or gas grills, we have to use electric BBQs. and so even tho I would love to BBQ a pizza I still use my pizza stone in the good old oven.

So far I have only used my pizza stone in my oven. It is propane since we have no natural gas down here in the islands. So far it has tasted GREAT. the only difference when I do get it on the BBQ will be I can add the smoky flavor, and using woodchips the apple or mesquite or hickory wood chips to add even more flavor

BondBug I do shall we say have way to much BBQ equipment, well "they" say that I don't *lol*

[Borg 0]

O.K. getting ready to try something new this week end.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

 

I have used a rotisserie before on a charcoal grill but it has been a long time and never on a Weber before. Which for some reason cooks things sooooo much better. I will take pictures and post. Thinking about brining and doing two Cornish Game hens

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One of many reviews I read but got a kick out of this one

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5.0 out of 5 stars Mmmmmm, turkey, June 11, 2004

By S. Peterson "theswedishchef" (Santa Rosa, CA) - See all my reviews

After brining my 13 lb turkey overnight, I started up the coals and set the turkey spinning. A little over 2 hours later, I took it off the grill and let the bird rest on the countertop. The smell drew every teenager in the house to the kitchen. The bird was completely picked over before I was able to make the rest of meal. So much for the other food groups. It was completely devoured. There was literally nothing left. My wife, daughters, and their friends kept repeating, "That was the best turkey I ever had. You deserve a trophy!" We now have their friends calling wanting to know when I'm going to roast another bird.

 

Folks, this is a must-get addition to this grill. Forget about the chicken with the beer can up the old caboose. I am not the most experienced grill master in the world but this thing made me into a neighborhood hero.

 

I'm off to Safeway for another Butterball. I wonder where I'm going to put my next trophy?

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Edited August 19, 2008 by Borg

[Borg 0]

Yeaaaa I got the rotisserie early and of course I couldn't wait. It is a amazing the number of people I know, some do, and some don't have Weber charcoal grills but most were unaware that they do have a rotisserie for it.

In the grocery store picking up a chicken to brine and put on the rotisserie I saw a nice looking, small, just enough for two, pork loin roast. I couldn't resist I bought it and took it home and put that rub I gave a recipe for along time ago in this thread. After a few hours I took it out and put it on the rotisserie.

If you own a charcoal weber grill notice how big that additional ring is! Keeps the food away from the coals. I think I have become after decades of BBQ'ing a Weber spokesman *lol*

[gogoblender 3,070]

Wow, Borg the pics you've been adding to this thread are fantastic! The shrimps in the hopper as Lord noted look deeelicious. And that pic of the weber is a gold mine!

Glad you made it out from Faye's grip okay, and I'm really enjoying reading about your cullinary exploits.

 

Just wish you could email me some.

 

 

gogo

[Borg 0]

I LOVE my new rotisserie Did a chicken today

you don't need a knife

you don't need teeth

enough said

And look at all that fat that drained off! Got to be more healthy

[Lord of the North 10]

Mom asks " Where's ours Borg?"

[Borg 0]

All right loving the new rotisserie tonight I put together three things in one basked. 1. chicken ( on the left) 2 pork chops( the meat in the middle) 3. steaks ( far right). All with their own particular seasonings

[tomi 0]

Ahh is it Sunday already?

 

And wow! Now I'm hungry! Very nice, delicious ones!

[Genenut 8]

showing pics without samples is just evil there borg .....

[Lord of the North 10]

I'm going to have to break out the electric BBQ today.

[jibjab 0]

mmmm BBQ

[Borg 0]

I'm going to have to break out the electric BBQ today.

If your going to use an electric BBQ let me suggest get a bbq smoker box where you can buy wood chips, soak them in water for a while before you bbq. I like Jack Daniels Whiskey soaked wood to add flavor

Not a site recommendation just a site for explanation

http://ezinearticles.com/?Use-BBQ-Wood-Chi...&id=1248923

Edited August 31, 2008 by Borg

[Lord of the North 10]

I'm going to have to break out the electric BBQ today.

If your going to use an electric BBQ let me suggest get a bbq smoker box where you can buy wood chips, soak them in water for a while before you bbq. I like Jack Daniels Whiskey soaked wood to add flavor

Thanks Borg I'll have to give it a try sometime.

[fRACTAL 0]

Aww reading this thread makes me wish we had a barbeque, and the weather to actually use one

~Doom