How to Braise Over a Campfire Often these days, cooking methods come with some sort of fancy, high-end piece of technology. Whether that’s infrared thermometers, sous vide machines, or vacuum sealers, it can feel like the true ‘down and dirty’ methods have fallen by the wayside. Well, we’re here to change that (ok -- that might be a bit ambitious). If nothing else, we can offer a bit of an antidote to the gadget-fueled cookery that feels so pervasive these days. Braising is one of mankind’s oldest cooking techniques. It...

How to Sear a Steak Using the "Cold Grate" Method We all love nice, dark grill marks, right? Those dark brown crosshatches, they seem to suggest an undeniable perfection in the way our steak was cooked. When we go to restaurants, that’s often what we expect from grilled items. When we cook steaks in our backyard, that’s what we aspire to achieve. What if we told you those grill-marks aren’t everything they’re cracked up to be? What if we told you those grill-marks are the sign of a grill that just doesn’t get hot enough, and perhaps of an ...

How to Braise Oxtail on the Grill Oxtail is -- you guessed it -- the tail of a cow! Once upon a time, it did exclusively mean the tail of a male, but not so much these days. It’s a gelatin-rich meat, which means it requires a slow-and-low preparation to really achieve that perfectly tender texture. When the gelatin melts, it creates a hearty, rich body to whatever liquid it’s cooked in -- this means that it lends especially well to braising. In addition, it’s quite boney and fatty, so we’re going to double down on our brais...

How to Smoke a Leg of Lamb Once in a while, we stumble upon a recipe or technique that’s both extremely easy and extremely delicious. Smoked leg of lamb fits this bill exactly. While the shoulder of the lamb is generally a more popular cut, it tends to work best for a pulled style, similar to a pork butt. On the other hand, a perfectly smoked leg of lamb is great for carving, when cooked to a medium rare/medium. Lamb is an extremely popular protein for just about every country in the world except America, unfortunate...

How to Caramelize Onions (The Reeeeeeally Slow Method) If we could sum up the entirety of BBQ with one phrase, it would probably be: slow and low. By utilizing longer cook times and much lower temperatures, we give our proteins time to break down and tenderize to perfection. It’s not always easy, and it’s almost never quick, but the results are absolutely worth the effort. So, what if we extend this practice beyond proteins? Today, we are going to look at a slow-and-low approach to another common ingredient: onions. Perfectly caramelized onio...

How to Smoke Meat Using the Minion Method As we all know, there’s no shortage of configurations and methodologies for setting up your grill or smoker. Ask ten different Pitmasters how to best set up for smoking, and it’s possible you’ll get ten different answers. If we keep in mind what exactly we are trying to achieve during the smoking process, and perhaps think outside the box, we can narrow down our options a bit. That’s why, for our money, the minion method of setting up a smoker is the absolute winner. The ‘minion method’ (no...

How to Make Pizza on the Grill Typically, when we do recipes or technique articles, we point towards hearty, robust proteins. Legs of lamb, pork butt, ribeyes -- that sort of thing. But one of our favorite things about grilling is the versatility that comes with the cooking method. The truth is, you can grill just about anything. Today, we’re talking the ultimate crowd pleaser -- pizza! We’re going with a pulled pork pizza. Seeing as we are going to be grilling our pizza, we thought the pulled pork idea would make sense....

Steakhouse Secrets That Chefs DON’T Want You to Know Ordering a Steak Well-Done? Want it well-done? You’re getting the worst steak in the house (and you deserve it). Now, given that you’re on our website, we suspect you know better than to eat a steak that’s cooked well-done. Chances are, you wouldn’t even dream of it. But, perhaps someone else in your party isn’t quite so well-informed, and decides they prefer their meat cooked through. The steak that gets ordered well-done won’t get spit on. It won’t get rubbed on the floor. It won’t get ...

How To Reheat Brisket Grillaholics, we’ve already shown you how to choose, prepare, and smoke the perfect brisket, but in doing so, we forgot to mention one, extremely important thing to consider. Let’s be honest, nobody just makes “a little bit” of brisket. Brisket, like all other meats, is best prepared in quantities that would have medical professionals concerned for your safety. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I made brisket when I DIDN’T have tons of the stuff taking up all of the space in my refrig...

How To Check The Doneness Of Your Steak Grillaholics, it’s no secret that we love steak. In fact, I’d argue that it might be my favorite food of all time. After a stressful day at work, there’s almost nothing better than the sight, smell, and sound of throwing a Porterhouse steak on the grill, and searing it to a perfect medium-rare. But that perfect medium-rare wasn’t always easy to attain. When I think back to when I first started grilling, and all of my failed attempts to grill a steak with a perfect crust and pink center, I...

Grilling On Christmas Christmas time is here! Bring on the jingle bells, the dead pine tree smothered in ornaments and the stack full of gifts – oh, and don't forget the BBQ grill! What's that you say? You don't usually bust out the grill for Christmas? It seems you've been preparing Christmas dinner all wrong, my friend. Allow me to open your eyes to the wonders of a char-grilled Christmas. Why Should You Grill on Christmas? You should grill on Christmas for the same reason you grill any other tim...

All About Marinades Ever has a grilled steak that was just PACKED with flavor? I mean, don’t get me wrong... An untouched, undiluted steak, seasoned with nothing more than salt and pepper is a glorious thing to behold… But sometimes, you want a little something more. Now, there are several ways to impart more flavor into your meat before grilling. Dry and wet rubs for instance, are one way to do this. Brining is another. And then, there are marinades. What Is a Marinade/Marination Marination is the process of i...

The Dangers of Wire Grill Brushes Nothing brings a family together more than enjoying barbeque that's fresh off the grill. And, when enjoying the closeness that grilling brings, you'll want to be sure that your family's safety (and taste buds) are kept in mind. Every true Grillaholic knows that one of the keys to delicious barbecue is a clean grilling surface. After all, Picasso wouldn't start painting on a dirty canvas, so why should your masterpieces start any differently? Many people use traditional grill ...

Top Gifts For Men This Christmas Holiday shopping is never an easy task, but it's even more difficult when you're shopping for the men in your life - even if you're a guy yourself. Whether it's a father-in-law who buys everything he wants himself or a friend who only likes really expensive electronics, men are notoriously difficult when it comes to gift-giving. If you're struggling for ideas, here are some of the top gift categories for men this holiday season. Tailgating Gear Have an diehard football fan...

Searing Meat to Keep in the Juices - Fact or Fiction? IT’S FICTION! Sorry to drop the bomb like that, but we wanted to get it out of the way. The idea that searing meat locks in flavor has been proven, time and time again, to be little more than an old wives’ tale. No matter how many times chefs and scientists debunk the idea, it doesn’t seem to go away. Even the mighty Alton Brown couldn’t put the myth in its grave after a 2008 test on the Food Network. Well, today we’re going to do our best in the fight against grilling myths. By looking at th...

Top 7 Reasons To Grill In The Fall You know, when I woke up this morning to a crisp, 43° morning, I quickly realized that summer was officially gone. And that got me thinking...to most people, summer is considered the "only" time of year to grill. But as Grillaholics, we take pride in the fact that no matter what the season, grilling is always on our to-do lists. As you start weatherproofing your home for winter, you may be tempted to put the grill away till spring — but hold your horses! Most grilling experts know tha...