David B. September 20th, 2010
Posted In: BBQ Maintenance
Rocks or briquettes? The fundamental difference is lava rocks need to be replaced every season or two (depending how long you use them). Briquettes, while more expensive can be turned over and reused. You can buy lava rocks or briquettes here.
Rock & Briquette Maintenance:
What do I need to know about Lava rocks?
Heat Plates:
David B. September 5th, 2010
Posted In: BBQ Maintenance
Cooking grids, when properly maintained, should last for many years. It’s a quick job to maintain it, and should be part of your normal grilling routine.
Ultra-Fast Grid Maintenance Routine:
If you find broken welds, cannot adequately remove rust, or have excessively chipped or missing porcelain, you may opt to replace the cooking grid
David B. August 16th, 2010
Posted In: BBQ Maintenance
David B. August 1st, 2010
Posted In: BBQ Maintenance
Valve knobs
Valves:
Spiders have a habit of spinning webs inside the gas jets (also called orifices) which will restrict gas flow. Debris in the lines may also clog these tiny holes. Here are some guidelines to maintain your valves.
David B. July 11th, 2010
Posted In: BBQ Maintenance
Grill igniters endure a lot of wear inside a gas grill. Positioned right at the burner, these miniature “spark plugs” face intense heat every time the gas grill is fired up.
Over time, grease and residue coat the burner’s grounding surface, and the heat can crack the porcelain insulator on the igniter’s electrode.
When this happens, gas grill igniters may “bleed” sparks through the crack, leading to delayed ignition after gas has built up – or sometimes, no ignition at all.
For safety reason, grill ignitors should be replaced when this occurs, and burner surfaces cleaned up in the ignitor area.
Burner portholes in this area should be kept clean and open. The spark gap between electrode and burner is about 3/16″.
An ignitor sends a high voltage along the wire to the ignitor electrode inside the collector box. The collector box collects gas which sparks the light.
If this information did not help you fix your grill gas ignitor, replacement will be necessary. Need further assistance? Please contact us.
David B. June 27th, 2010
Posted In: BBQ Maintenance, BBQing HowTos
Summer feels like it’s finally here, everyone is unpacking their camping gear and revving up their BBQs. It’s a time for family, friends, and good food. With that in mind, we’ve come up with a fantastic menu to kick off this grilling season.
Quesadillas on the BBQ are so easy and they taste fantastic, I particularly like them with the Cheesy Tomato Dip.
These hamburgers take a bit longer to prepare than normal, but they are well worth it for something extra special. And I can’t emphasize enough how delicious this potato salad is, please, please try it!
Grilled Pineapple? Yes, it is fabulous. Just thinking about those hot skewers dipped in chocolate makes my mouth water. So yummy.
Berry Lemonade, drink it as is or spike it with vodka, either way it’s the perfect summer drink. Hmm wait, maybe that title should go to beer!
David B. May 29th, 2010
Sweet, sour, and refreshing: the perfect summer drink. Add some vodka if you want a kick.
This recipe is part of our Memorial Day Menu.
Makes: 2 pitchers
Ingredients:
Step 1: Preparing the Berries
– Puree the berries in a blender with about 1 cup of the lemonade until smooth.
Step 2: Mixing it Together
– Pour the lemonade into your pitchers, top with the pureed berries and stir to combine.
– If you don’t want the berry seeds in your lemonade, strain the lemonade through a fine sieve and put into the pitchers.
David B. May 29th, 2010
Quesadillas on the BBQ? Yes it is as good as it sounds! Crispy on the outside, cheesy and peppery on the inside – it doesn’t get much better. They’re good on their own, but for a real treat try them with our Cheesy Tomato Dip, yum.
If you want to make the recipe even simpler, you could just use salsa and cheese for the filling, it is still delicious.
This recipe is part of our Memorial Day Menu.
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients:
Step 1: Starting the Grill
– Preheat your grill to medium low heat.
Step 2: Preparing the Filling
– Mince the roasted red peppers, chipotle chiles (if using), garlic cloves, and cilantro.
– Put them all into a small bowl and mix together with some salt and pepper to taste. (If you’re using salsa, add this now)
– Grate your cheese if it’s not already done.
– Slice the red onion into thin half moons and separate the segments.
Step 3: Assembling
– Place on tortilla on a plate and brush the top of it with olive oil.
– Flip the tortilla over and spread a third of the pepper mixture onto it, leaving a border of around 1 inch clean on all sides.
– Place some slices of onion on top of the peppers.
– Top with a third of the grated cheese.
– Put a second tortilla on top and press down slightly. Brush oil onto the top of this tortilla.
– Prepare the rest of the tortillas in the same way.
Step 4: Grilling
– Bring the quesadillas out to the grill on a plate. Also take a heavy frying pan or smilar (without a plastic handle).
– Slide the quesadilla onto the grill (as you can see we could only fit on one quesadilla at a time), and carefully put the frying pan on top of it to weight it down. If you’re cooking more than one quesadilla at a time, just move the frying pan around, it doesn’t have to be on them all the time.
– After a few minutes the bottom tortilla will go crispy, flip the quesadillas over now and brown the other side. Replace the frying pan to make sure they’re nice and flat.
– They’re done when both sides are crispy and the cheese has melted. This should only take a few minutes.
Step 5: Serving
– Cut each tortilla like a pie, into 8 pieces.
– They’re yummy on their own, but even better with a dip. I particularly like them with our Cheesy Tomato Dip and Creamy Guacamole.
David B. May 29th, 2010
Posted In: Appetizers, Recipes
Makes around 4 cups
This is my favorite guacamole recipe; I love how the cream cheese makes it extra creamy. And paired with the lime juice, I could eat it with a spoon!
This recipe is part of our Memorial Day Menu.
Ingredients:
To serve:
Step 1: Preparation
– Cut the avocados in half and remove their stones. Then scoop out the flesh and put it in a bowl.
– Finely dice the onion and garlic, add these to the bowl with the avocado.
– Squeeze the juice out of the lime, using either your hand, a fork, or a citrus juicer and add to the bowl.
– Cut the tomatoes up into a small dice and set aside.
Step 2: Mixing it up
– Add a bit of salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper (or cayenne).
– Now add the cream cheese and mix/mash it all up. (Make sure the cream cheese is nice and soft! You can always put it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds at a time to soften it more) You can do this in a food processor or blender if you want, but the thought of having to clean an appliance always motivates me to do it by hand.
– Make sure the cream cheese and avocados are well mixed together, and then stir in the chopped up tomatoes. (The tomatoes are stirred in after the mashing stage so they don’t get turned to mush)
– Now the most important part, checking the flavors! Don’t skip this part; it is crucial for a well balanced guacamole. Try tasting it with the chips or whatever you’ll be eating it with. Does it need more lime juice? More salt? More red pepper?
Step 3: Serving
Scoop the mixture into a nice bowl and top with chopped cilantro
Of course guacamole is good with chips, but it is also delicious with our Grilled Quesadilla recipe.
David B. May 29th, 2010
4.7