Our favorite woods for barbecuing, smoking and grilling are: Pecan, Oak is my overall favorite, but if I want a deep smoke flavor Apricot is very smokey.
Hickory is great especially when using BBQ sauces. Cherry wood is a sweet flavored wood.
One of the obvious reasons to use wood in the BBQ/Smoking and Grilling is smoke flavor, but another important reason is the smoke will retard and even suffocate fire flare-ups, the easiest way is to use small size wood chips the size no larger than an egg pre-soaked in water 1 hour to 15 minutes before use, the water absorbs in the wood chips and aids in releasing the smoke from the wood at a slower more even pace, providing protection from flames jumping up toward your meat due to fat dripping on the hot coals.
Simply toss a handful of wet wood chips on top of your hot coals and/or mesquite, do this every 20 to 30 minutes for up to 4 hours, you will see the difference in taste and actually see the smoke billowing through the cracks and exhaust hole on your Grill.
Some cooks like to soak their wood chips in such liquids as: Beer, pineapple juice, apple juice, dark liquors (not too Much).
If you have never used wood in your cooking your missing an important element. Smoke!
There are many woods on the market such as Mesquite, Apricot, Cherry, Walnut, Almond, Peach, Walnut, and many more we will discuss in the future.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
SMOKE SMOKING & WOOD
When I hear the term smoke, or to smoke food, one must use wood it is an important part of smoking, barbecuing and grilling, it adds that smoke element that cannot be duplicated, there are imitation liquid smoke that can be added to sauces but why not have the real thing, besides meat cooks great over a combination of charcoal and wood. We must incorporate the element of heat as there is no smoke without flame, and there is no cooking of meats without heat, this can be accomplished by purchasing mesquite charcoal which has the wood element for smoking and charcoal for heat, however additional wood can be used for more better smoke flavor.
It is a general rule that meats can only absorb smoke flavor for the first four to five hours of cooking, so if for instance you are smoking a turkey for 6 hours add wood only up to the fourth or fifth hour of cooking time.
How much wood to use? If the chunks are the size of your fist I use a couple three to four per hour depending upon the size of your BBQ grill, the larger or the more meat the more it can handle. if they are small chips a handful every half hour.
Wet or Dry Wood? If the wood is chunks or chips some Grillers prefer to soak their wood in water for a few hours before cooking, there are also Barbecuer's that will use fruit juices to add an extra flavor like pineapple, apple juice, etc. Both wet or dry produce about the same amount of smoke, the dry is more instant and are good for suppressing fat flame-up's when small chips are added to the hot charcoals and all grill openings are closed until the flame-up is out.
Dry Wood Be aware that dry wood will have jumping flames so don't have any food directly over the wood or near it.
Wet Wood does not have jumping flames the moisture keeps the wood burning a little longer, if you listen you can hear it sizzle.
Our Big O.G. Charcoal Grill measures
22" x 34" equals 748 square inches and top shelf warmer grill 9"x34" adds 306 inches for a total of 1054 square inches.
See O.G. Grill below.
It is a general rule that meats can only absorb smoke flavor for the first four to five hours of cooking, so if for instance you are smoking a turkey for 6 hours add wood only up to the fourth or fifth hour of cooking time.
How much wood to use? If the chunks are the size of your fist I use a couple three to four per hour depending upon the size of your BBQ grill, the larger or the more meat the more it can handle. if they are small chips a handful every half hour.
Wet or Dry Wood? If the wood is chunks or chips some Grillers prefer to soak their wood in water for a few hours before cooking, there are also Barbecuer's that will use fruit juices to add an extra flavor like pineapple, apple juice, etc. Both wet or dry produce about the same amount of smoke, the dry is more instant and are good for suppressing fat flame-up's when small chips are added to the hot charcoals and all grill openings are closed until the flame-up is out.
Dry Wood Be aware that dry wood will have jumping flames so don't have any food directly over the wood or near it.
Wet Wood does not have jumping flames the moisture keeps the wood burning a little longer, if you listen you can hear it sizzle.
Our Big O.G. Charcoal Grill measures
22" x 34" equals 748 square inches and top shelf warmer grill 9"x34" adds 306 inches for a total of 1054 square inches.
See O.G. Grill below.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
CURING & SEASONING YOUR NEW GRILL/PIT/BBQ/SMOKER
The new grill. Before using your new grill it is best to cure the grill before use.
Curing is accomplished by burning a hardwood in your grill on top of hot coals allowing the interior of the grill to be coated with smoke deposits giving the food a smoke flavor rather than a steel taste. Did you ever eat at a burger joint on the very first day of their operation? The burgers taste like metal because the grill has not yet been seasoned or cured, for instance a wok or cast iron pots have the same requirements.
Let your new grill smoke for a couple of hours, if you can wait to cook, let it smoke until the coals burn out adding wood chunks every 30 minutes, be careful not to allow direct flame make prolonged contact with the grill this may cause the grill material to warp, direct flames are not cooking temperature.
I also like to use a piece of chicken skin or a thigh and use its fat juices to cure the grill surface dragging it on the hot cooking grill surface to distribute the fat which acts as an oil to further cure and season the grill, it's worth the effort.
BEFORE COOKING
After the process above clean the grill top with a wire brush, also sacrifice a clean wet rag and wipe the top of the grilling surface to remove loose smoke deposits, if you intend to cook right after curing just add a few more charcoals or mesquite allow them to catch partially white coals and start cooking after cleaning your grilling surface.
Curing is accomplished by burning a hardwood in your grill on top of hot coals allowing the interior of the grill to be coated with smoke deposits giving the food a smoke flavor rather than a steel taste. Did you ever eat at a burger joint on the very first day of their operation? The burgers taste like metal because the grill has not yet been seasoned or cured, for instance a wok or cast iron pots have the same requirements.
Let your new grill smoke for a couple of hours, if you can wait to cook, let it smoke until the coals burn out adding wood chunks every 30 minutes, be careful not to allow direct flame make prolonged contact with the grill this may cause the grill material to warp, direct flames are not cooking temperature.
I also like to use a piece of chicken skin or a thigh and use its fat juices to cure the grill surface dragging it on the hot cooking grill surface to distribute the fat which acts as an oil to further cure and season the grill, it's worth the effort.
BEFORE COOKING
After the process above clean the grill top with a wire brush, also sacrifice a clean wet rag and wipe the top of the grilling surface to remove loose smoke deposits, if you intend to cook right after curing just add a few more charcoals or mesquite allow them to catch partially white coals and start cooking after cleaning your grilling surface.
Monday, June 15, 2009
DESIGN & ELEMENTS
We designed all our grills with the best materials, hardware and components and should with regular care last 12+ years, try getting that life span from store-bought models.
All our barrels are food grade and were used for fruit juices, no harmful elements.
Every barrel is hand crafted.
Custom barbecue designs are welcome.
Pricing: As of July 2009 $45 to $220+
Shipping in three to four days.
Call 818-674-1344 ask for "D-Rich"
We deliver!
All our barrels are food grade and were used for fruit juices, no harmful elements.
Every barrel is hand crafted.
Custom barbecue designs are welcome.
Pricing: As of July 2009 $45 to $220+
Shipping in three to four days.
Call 818-674-1344 ask for "D-Rich"
We deliver!
Welcome to the Original Grillers, Barbequers and Smokers Association of the Greater Los Angeles Area
Thank you for tuning-in to our blog site. As partners in "The Pitts" entrepreneurs "D-Rich" and L.J. were looking for a better charcoal grill and Smoker than what was on the market, so we decided to make it happen ourselves. We both have experience in various shop trades and we came up with a prototype that has opened the door for many designs to accommodate different cooking styles and requirements. We have created the following designs.
MORE MODELS & PICTURES COMING SOON
- Table-Top Grills
- Smokers 1 to 5 shelves 22 inches in diameter
- Open Grills
- Big O.G. Grill
- Double Barrel O.G. Pitts
- Camping Pitts
- Super Smokers with up to 5 smoking shelves each measuring 22" inches wide 2020 square inches of cooking area, capable of smoking 20 whole chickens or 9 whole turkeys.
- Custom orders including outdoor patio built-in's
- San Fernando Valley California
- please e-mail us for more information at: ogbsla@gmail.com
- We deliver anywhere in Los Angeles for $10
MORE MODELS & PICTURES COMING SOON
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