Episode-1773- Outdoor Cooking, Grilling, Smoking and More
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Grilled Salted Steak – Just One Thing You’ll Learn About Today!
This is yet another Tuesday show chosen by an audience poll. It also wraps up Tuesday shows for April. But remember you still have until May 3rd to vote on May’s Tuesday “Just Jack” shows.
Today we talk about one of my favorite things, cooking and doing it out doors. If I took a guess I would say I generally cook out doors about 4-5 days a week on average year round. Yes even in the cold of winter! There are weeks in the summer when I cook outside almost every day for weeks on end.
Why? The keys to me are
- Flavor nothing beats grilling or smoking
- Recreation I just enjoy it
- Not heating up the house
- Space we have a nice but small kitchen
In fact when we lived in Pennsylvania for three years neighbors thought I was a bit wacky standing on a snow covered deck with the weber smoking away.
Again it is just my preferred way to cook.
Join Me Today to Discuss…
- Why is this a survival topic
- You have to eat
- It is “off grid cooking”
- It does use many “bushcrafting” techinques
- The basics involve the techniques
- Grilling
- Roasting/baking
- Slow cooking
- Smoking (hot, warm, cold)
- Frying/boiling/using a pot or pan
- Terms I use, not necessarily the right technical terms
- High heat
- Medium heat
- Indirect heat
- Low indirect heat
- Safe space – not for wimpy college kids
- Thoughts on different tools and what they are good at
- Charcoal grills
- Gas grills
- Side box smokers/grills
- Electric smokers
- Outdoor stoves and burners
- Rocket stoves
- Fire pit cooking
- Dutch ovens
- The Smokenator
- Making your own “special stuff”
- Glazes the basics
- Herbs and seasonings and stuff you should be using
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Garlic
- Peprika
- Onion Powder
- Whole pepper corns with a grinder
- Cumin
- Oregano
- Dill (weed and seed)
- Fennel seed
- Red pepper flakes
- Chili powder
- Brown sugar
- Honey
- Dry mustard
- Mustard seeds
- Parsley
- Kosher/sea salt
- Vinegar
- Oils and Fats
- Soy sauce
- Your favorite BBQ sauces
- Worcestershire sauce
- Fish sauce
- Prepared mustard
- Horseradish sauce
- Sesame seeds
- A coffee grinder
- Aluminum foil
- Good tongs and a good spatula
- Some of my favorite things to cook and how to do it
- Salted Steaks – Thick cuts only
- Dover Hunter Style Chicken Thy’s
- Roasted finger potatoes
- Smoked pork shoulder with the smokenator
- Grilled mussles/clams/oysters – so simple so don’t make it hard
- Carrots with sage and butter
- Sweet potato planks
- Grilled jicama Fries
- Bacon wrapped jalapenos
- Apples stuffed with sausage and sage
- Grilled avocado – yes really
- Grilled peaches – for desert apricots are good too so is pineapple
- Whole skinned catfish or “catfish steaks”
- Sandbass on the half shell, many fish work for this
Resources for today’s show…
- Join the Members Brigade
- The Year 1773
- Join Our Forum
- Walking To Freedom
- TSP Gear
- PermaEthos.com
- AgriTrue.com
- GenForward
- TspAz.com – Support TSP When You Shop on Amazon
- Vote On TSP Tuesday Shows
- Smokenator – Choose the right one for you size grill.
- Jacks Smokenator Video on Ribs
- Smokenator Cooks 4 Pork Roasts on a Weber Grill
- How I Make Basic Sausage
- My Basic Sausage Recipe
- Apple Corer
- My Favorite Outdoor Cooking Stove
- The Classic Weber Kettle Grill
- Charbroil TRU-Infrared Grill
- Coffee Grinder I Use as a Spice Grinder – Not on Prime but the Best I have found, sold in many box stores too.
- Several Types of Tongs I like for Grilling not Brand Specific just the form factor for info here
- Great spatula for turning whole fish and large items, I own this exact one
- The Exact Fish Sauce I Use Strait from Thailand
- My Favorite Thai Peppers for Making Chili Oil – these ship direct from Thailand, free!
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Jack, always love the shows – but this one may have been one of your best. I consider myself a damn good “griller” but after listening to the show I feel like I didn’t know “jack-shit” – no pun intended. Just got a grass-fed steer that we raised back from the butcher – can’t wait to try some of your techniques and recipes.
Jack,
What about a link to the pepper grinder you love? I have bought several over the years and have been very disappointed.
Had to do some research they are now branded as Fletcher’s Mill but the exact same product, you won’t ever buy another one unless you want two! http://amzn.to/1XWbj8O
Another great show. Thanks Jack!
You didn’t cover the basic burger, for obvious reasons, but like not poking meat, people…. PLEASE stop squishing the crap out of your burgers when ya grill. Feel doneness by touch. No need to squirt all the moisture out looking for blood.
It will keep your burgers moist and much tastier.
Jack I learned about the smokenator from you and used it for a couple years and loved it. However my brother turned me on to a similar product called the “slow ‘n sear” and I like it even better. Similar to smokenator but holds more coals and more water, so great for longer smokes.
http://www.abcbarbecue.com/#!slow-n-sear/cab8
Ill check it out but that approach seems like you could do it with a dish of water and a few bricks.
Great tip using a coffee grinder as a spice grinder. I do the same. It allows me to store whole spices, like coriander or cumin seeds, toast them in the cast iron pan when needed then crush/grind as required. Whole spices have a much longer shelf life so allow for excellent bulk purchases (w/in reason) and fresh toasted and ground makes a big difference! I also use it to make chile powders from the big bags of whole dried chile…enchiladas anyone?
What about breakfast? Another must have is a cast iron griddle. Not only is it great for grilling fish, but it brings pancakes, folded omelettes, sausage egg and cheese English muffins and BACON to the grill. Cooking and eating breakfast outside on a summer morning while it is still cool beats grilling steaks while it is 98 deg outside.
For spatulas, get the Dexter 8 inch x 3 inch cake/steak turner, with a little practice you will be flipping over easy eggs on your well seasoned griddle. It is now the only spatula I use.
For tongs, Adcraft XHT-16 16″ Long, Extra Heavy Stainless Steel Utility Tong they don’t have the bells and whistles others have but I use it to lift the lid on the dutch oven or flip the grate on the Lodge Hibachi.
There is a reason that these are used in nearly all restaurant kitchens.
Now for a dutch oven potato recipe:
Take new potatoes (as small as you can find or cut larger ones into chunks) and put them in a dutch oven with olive oil, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh rosemary. Cook with more bottom heat than normal for baking in a dutch oven. You want to get them crispy so you need that bottom heat. Stir them every now and then. When they are getting crispy add diced onion. Give them about 5 minutes or so and a couple stirs. Then add about 10 times as much as you think you should of fresh sliced garlic. I put in an entire bulb. Stir it again and add butter and fresh grated parmesan cheese. Now take the pot off of the coals and put the coals on the lid for only top heat.
Don’t think of outdoor cooking as being opposed to indoor cooking. I did those potatoes outside because the regular oven had a Prime Rib in it for Thanksgiving dinner. When Jack says to do things before you have to, don’t take that to mean you need to practice them for an emergency. Incorporate them into your daily life. You will find that they can actually be conveniences. It’s nice being able to watch a football game on tv (running off the inverter) while at the dove field before the birds come in.
Jack i loved this show.
i have a side smoker and for thanksgiving i smoked a turkey for my wives extended family. Created a brine and thawed the turkey in a cooler with the brine. they fell in love with it