543 Magazine

Category: Food & Recipes

  • How to cook on a charcoal grill

    How to cook on a charcoal grill

    grill

    Ten thousand years ago —- I think it was on a Tuesday — our collective ancestors had a great hunt. A huge hunt.

    For days, the tribe carried their spears and bows and moved along with a herd of antelope. They would follow the herd and then thin off a few of them — forcing them to run from the group and create a smaller herd. Then they would follow that smaller herd and thin that off making yet another smaller group. And then a few more off from that one.

    Eventually, the tribe had a single antelope — a large one — trapped in a cavern. They faced the animal. They surrounded it. And they brought the great beast down.

    The tribe was very happy.

    They carried the prize back to their camp. They sang songs and butchered the game and began to cook the meat on the fire and as they rejoiced and enjoyed the thrill of the hunt — as they talked and joked and listened to the meat sizzle on the open flame — one of the hunters began to think. He pondered and worried until he eventually spoke.

    “You know,” he turned to his friends. “If we ever start living inside,” he paused. “If we ever start wearing clothes and cooking in metal boxes and sleeping in beds. If they ever invent jobs and bills and stress.”

    His friends watched as he pointed to the meat sizzling over the flame.

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    “If that ever happens,” he stated. “Then I’m going to miss this.”

    There was a silence for a moment as they all thought. Then they consoled their friend. They explained that he was simply tired. Exhausted from the hunt and that there was nothing to worry about. This would never happen.

    And they cooked and talked and ate.

    HOW TO COOK ON A CHARCOAL GRILL

    Cooking on a charcoal grill is amazing. Its part cooking, part camping. It not only creates a cooking surface of high and steady heat but it seals in juices and adds that great smoky flavor.

    And it’s a great way to tap into that hard wired need we males have for the tribal outside campfire.

    Gas grills are great for convenience — and I use ours at least twice a week, year round — but nothing compares to cooking on a charcoal grill — unless it’s cooking over a campfire.

    Charcoal grills come in all shapes in sizes. There are inexpensive, portable grills that are great for tailgating and picnics. Then there are the mid sized grills that you roll out when needed — we have a twenty dollar charcoal grill I bought for my mom six years ago that we use every time we go to her house that works great. And then there are the great permanent charcoal grills such as Weber and Char-Griller.

    But no matter what grill you use, here are the basics.

    Choose good charcoal. For the small amount of money you’ll save, it’s not worth buying a no brand charcoal. I have tried all of them — in grills and in smokers — and I buy name brand every time and just watch for sales — Kingsford charcoal is the brand I like. But experiment and find the one that works for you.

    Place your charcoal on one side of the grill. This is important because it will give you a hot side and a cold side of your grill. By placing charcoal on one side you’ll be able to control the heat. You can move what you’re grilling around the grill and monitor it.

    Light the charcoal. Many charcoal-purists object to using lighter fluid; preferring a wax charcoal brick or some other device. But the truth is, as long as you allow the charcoal to get to get to heat, any lighter fluid has been burnt off. And I have found that many self lighting charcoals retain that lighter fluid taste.

    When the charcoal is white hot, start cooking. But watch the time. Depending on the amount of charcoal you’re cooking, you usually have about forty minutes of prime cooking time before it begins to cool.

    A chimney. A charcoal chimney is a great device to get backup charcoal going. If you have to cook for a large group, or need to keep the coals hot for an extended time, get a chimney going on the side. After about thirty minutes or so, you’ll have red hot coals to add to the grill.

    Here’s a tip. When you think the coals are hot enough, wait another fifteen minutes. It’s not unusual to struggle with the grill until everything is cooked only to come back and notice that now, the grill is where you want it.

    Enjoy.

     

  • The need for one good thermos

    The need for one good thermos

    thermos

    There are a handful of items that every man needs to own — not should own, but needs to own. These objects are not a suggestion; not simply a list that would be nice once we get around to it but are the gear that is part of the required inventory of man-law — the unwritten rules that define the masculine system of life.

    And since these objects need to be part of our possessions, they should be a part of sons and grandson’s inventory as they grow up — our children may not remember what video game they received on their twelfth birthday but they will remember who gave them their first pocket knife, their first wallet and their first toolbox.

    Now this list — the required man-inventory list — includes the following items:

    One good pocket knife. A decent one, in the forty dollar range.

    One silver money clip —- yes, you can still keep your wallet but every man needs a good money clip.

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    One set of inexpensive but reliable hand tools.

    One reliable wrist watch.

    And one, high quality, thermos.

    Now in this brand conscious world, you may think that the word thermos is a misnomer because it describes the company and not the product — just like Kleenex or Xerox — because the actual item is called a vacuum bottle or vacuum flask. But in 1963 the U.S. declared Thermos to be “genericized trademark” and is actually now synonymous with vacuum bottles.

    So feel free to use the word thermos as much as you want.

    The first thermos was invented in 1892 by a German physicist named James Dewar who came up with the idea of a bottle within a bottle and was at first referred to as the Dewar flask or Dewar bottle. Between the outside of the thermos and the inside is a vacuum of air that prohibits the heat from the inside bottle to migrate to the outside. So the heat — or cold — of the liquid becomes trapped inside the thermos.

    Now, because of the popularity of the thermos, you would think that James Dewar became a very wealthy man. But Dewar never registered a patent for his invention and it was subsequently patented and produced by — yup, Thermos, who in 1907 rolled it out for commercial use by the truck load.

    The thermos changed everything. In a time when commercial refrigeration was still decades away and microwaves were pure science fiction, a thermos could transport hot or cold liquids and soups for hours. In fact, when World War II broke out in Europe, thermos turned all its English production to the war effort and every time a British bombing run went out, the men were equipped with a thermos full of hot coffee or soup.

    Now, in our modern world a good thermos is more important than ever for several reasons. By taking a thermos full of coffee to work every day instead of stopping at Starbucks, you save over a thousand dollars a year. Also the waste is drastically reduced — how many half cups of cold coffee do you throw out every year? With a thermos, a cap full of coffee is exposed and the remaining stays warm in the bottle — there are many times I am drinking my morning coffee from my thermos in the afternoon. And a thermos can be used for more than just coffee or tea. A wide mouth thermos is great for carrying soups — homemade soups; see the post on how to make homemade soups — and stews. And how can you compare a lunch of a bologna and cheese sandwich to one of a piping hot cup of homemade soup with crackers?

    For the outdoorsman, sitting in a tree stand or standing in a cold trout stream, a thermos of hot coffee is mandatory. And for those of us who spend most of their time in a car, a thermos is not only financially attractive, but drastically cuts down on the number of coffee stops we need to make — where the number of bathroom breaks remain the same.

    Now there is a world of difference between a thermos and a good thermos.

    A simple thermos can be purchased from a dollar store and is actually just a glorified travel mug; a thick plastic bottle with a cap. And will keep your liquids warm for an hour at best — the stainless steel bottles aren’t much better.

    The use of a thermos only has one rule. Prime it. Before you pour in the hot coffee, fill it with hot water first and let the inside bottle warm up. With a good thermos, the heat of your priming water will drastically increase the length of time the liquid will stay warm. I know several guys who microwave a few cups of water until it boils and prime the thermos. These are the guys who can actually get the coffee to stay warm for 24 hours —- my limit is about eight.

    A good thermos will run you about thirty bucks and will last forever. The big brand names are obviously Thermos and Stanley and they each make several good models.