So!
It was a beautiful day to be outside and mess around with fire yesterday. Decided this week that I wanted to do a direct heat cook with my new LSG. So, I fired her up and threw a bunch of coals and odd shaped splits that I wasn't planning on using, just to see how she behaves and all that stuff. Yanked out the divider plate between firebox and warmer (HEAVY BTW). Plus, call me weird, but I felt obligated to do my own "burn out" even though it's seasoned.
Anyway, I have been seeing lately this trend of using pickle juice as a brine for chicken. We make pickles at home, and buy them all the time. So for a few weeks, I've been saving the jars in the fridge. Between the store bought and our own, we had enough to submerge 9 chicken thighs. Sadly not pictured, but it's chicken in green liquid...use your imagination :laugh:
Side note, I used my SV (set to 32F) and ran it for 20 minutes to defrost the chicken, as they were not fully defrosted. Holy moly, that really works. Not sure for other sizes and cuts, but I was impressed by the science of circulation.
Another side note: HOLY CHIT 1/2" still is heavy! lol. I was taken aback with the sheer weight of the firebox grate, ash pan, and fire basket. Nothing I couldn't handle, but I'm not slinging 1/4" 1/2" steel all day either.
Okay, so after a 8ish hour brine, I pulled them out, patted them dry...and added a little SPG and paprika for color. Didn't want to go too heavy on the salt.
On to the bottom rack of the warmer they go! Earlier, I calculated that the thermometer on the door is roughly 50F cooler than the rack I was using. So I was trying to cook between 275-300 the whole cook. I think I went a tad over, but meh...stopped caring about that kind of stuff a while ago.
I went skin side UP for the first 30 minutes...I think next time I will just do 45-60 minutes, but it got some color and so I flipped
Like I mentioned before, it was a beautiful day, so beer, BBQ, music and sports were on my agenda. Couldn't think of anything better to do than drink some beer, cook some food, watch some racing, and listen to an assortment of classic rock
So 90 minutes or so later, they were done! I discovered I have a hot zone towards the back, which makes sense. Will need to rotate next time to even out the cooking. Temp-wise they were reading between 180-195.
Crispy Skin? Check Tender meat? Check Pickle taste? Check. Was surprised how much pickle taste comes out of these, but OMG they were freakin DELICIOUS!
All in all, this was a successful cook! My LSG behaved VERY well and very predictable. Noted some things for the future cooks. I barely touched the thing. I made 9 thighs for 3 adults and 3 kids...all gone. All told me this is a "make again" meal. I will take that!
Thanks for looking!
It was a beautiful day to be outside and mess around with fire yesterday. Decided this week that I wanted to do a direct heat cook with my new LSG. So, I fired her up and threw a bunch of coals and odd shaped splits that I wasn't planning on using, just to see how she behaves and all that stuff. Yanked out the divider plate between firebox and warmer (HEAVY BTW). Plus, call me weird, but I felt obligated to do my own "burn out" even though it's seasoned.
Anyway, I have been seeing lately this trend of using pickle juice as a brine for chicken. We make pickles at home, and buy them all the time. So for a few weeks, I've been saving the jars in the fridge. Between the store bought and our own, we had enough to submerge 9 chicken thighs. Sadly not pictured, but it's chicken in green liquid...use your imagination :laugh:
Side note, I used my SV (set to 32F) and ran it for 20 minutes to defrost the chicken, as they were not fully defrosted. Holy moly, that really works. Not sure for other sizes and cuts, but I was impressed by the science of circulation.
Another side note: HOLY CHIT 1/2" still is heavy! lol. I was taken aback with the sheer weight of the firebox grate, ash pan, and fire basket. Nothing I couldn't handle, but I'm not slinging 1/4" 1/2" steel all day either.
Okay, so after a 8ish hour brine, I pulled them out, patted them dry...and added a little SPG and paprika for color. Didn't want to go too heavy on the salt.
On to the bottom rack of the warmer they go! Earlier, I calculated that the thermometer on the door is roughly 50F cooler than the rack I was using. So I was trying to cook between 275-300 the whole cook. I think I went a tad over, but meh...stopped caring about that kind of stuff a while ago.
I went skin side UP for the first 30 minutes...I think next time I will just do 45-60 minutes, but it got some color and so I flipped
Like I mentioned before, it was a beautiful day, so beer, BBQ, music and sports were on my agenda. Couldn't think of anything better to do than drink some beer, cook some food, watch some racing, and listen to an assortment of classic rock
So 90 minutes or so later, they were done! I discovered I have a hot zone towards the back, which makes sense. Will need to rotate next time to even out the cooking. Temp-wise they were reading between 180-195.
Crispy Skin? Check Tender meat? Check Pickle taste? Check. Was surprised how much pickle taste comes out of these, but OMG they were freakin DELICIOUS!
All in all, this was a successful cook! My LSG behaved VERY well and very predictable. Noted some things for the future cooks. I barely touched the thing. I made 9 thighs for 3 adults and 3 kids...all gone. All told me this is a "make again" meal. I will take that!
Thanks for looking!
