MCS Wins Again

[58limited]

Well, more for Panhead John than for me but I too benefited from his lack of self control. PJ bought a new SnS Kettle (his second one) and is now a die hard SnS kettle snob. He paid me money* to take away his pedestrian and unwanted Weber kettle and I was happy to oblige. He threw in a rotisserie, a side shelf, and a stainless griddle plus some cool old cast iron pots that still have their protective coating of rust and dryer lint

In all seriousness thanks to PJ for offering me all of this for a good price. Of all the cookers I have I don't currently have a kettle - until now. I've had them in the past and they are one of my favorite grills. I'm just as excited about the cast iron as I am about the kettle. I helped PJ assemble his new SnS kettle, it is the first one I've seen in person and I was very impressed with it.

*Not really, I paid him.





It was hot outside and I needed some water so I went looking for a Coors Light in PJs fridge but found this instead

[ofelles]

It's always interesting when you satisfy your MCS. Unlike most others what you get is new to you but usually old! Luv it!

[mrichie1229]

Why buy new when gently used will do?

[DaveD]

Resistance. Is. Futile.

[Panhead John]

And I gots me a brand new SNS Kettle to play with when visiting the old battle ax. 🥸 The 2 Weber kettles I owned served me well over the years, cooked hundreds of good meals on em…but, once you’ve owned an SNS kettle, you probably ain’t going back to Weber. [a comparable 3 legged Weber that is]

[Alan Brice]

Beautimus! PJ.

[mrichie1229]

Nice cooker! I look forward to the write up when you do your first cook.

[Panhead John]

mrichie1229 Thanks! That’s actually my 2nd SnS kettle, I bought it to use at Mom’s when visiting. I’ve got one at my house I’ve owned for over a year now. I’ve done many many cooks on it already.

[barelfly]

Wins all around I say!

My $30 wonder kettle I have at the lake, it’s a four legged keeper as well….

[CaptainMike]

I frickin' love you both! Wish I lived closer.

[Panhead John]

Back at you brother!…..We’ll leave the light on fer ya!

[Oak Smoke]

This is vote for getting y'all to Texas. Just consider it the biggest case of MCS you’ve faced. Get here as soon as you can.

[Panhead John]

Git here ASAP! No need for sweaters.

[fzxdoc]

Well, sounds like a fun day was had by all. Good to hear that you left with a lightness in your wallet. That means PJ has still got game. Seriously, though, you got some good stuff there in that CI haul. I'll be keeping an eye out for your CI refurb posts.

Kathryn

[58limited]

First use of the Weber; I also used the PK-O since it was a large cook:

Lots of chicken tikka tandoori - not sure how many pounds but this is the meat from 14 chicken thighs that I skinned and deboned. I cook this in bulk and vacuum seal/freeze for later use. Some of it will be used today to make Chicken Tikka Masala. This is a new recipe and - Oh Boy! - is it good fresh off the grill.



This cook took every skewer that I have including the one I just bought from SammyJ












Finally, I fire roasted about 15 lbs of tomatoes for fresh tomato sauce - half are on the grills in this picture.

[Troutman]

That’s one hell of a cook, makes me want to get my skewers out and do something 👍🤜🏼

[fzxdoc]

What a fun day you had, 58limited . All that chicken looks good. I've about given up on using BS chicken thigh pieces for shish tawook (same chicken pieces, different spices) because the pieces are just too small, even if I cut them double long and fold them. By the time they reach 165°ish, they are shrunken and the smaller pieces were almost too crispy to eat. I liked them back in the day before I got a Thermapen and just removed them when they looked good!

Not being a big fan of kebabs made with chicken breast because they dry out too fast getting up to 165°ish, I have had luck grilling very small (4 oz) chicken breasts in both a spicy Indian yogurt marinade and the shish tawook marinade. I can indirect grill them up to a safe temp , quickly sear, and still have moist chicken if I keep a close eye on them.

Tell me your trick with BS Chicken thigh kebabs. For me, no matter how carefully I cut and skewer them, I still end up with way too many itty-bitty pieces that are not kebab-friendly, even if I squish them tight together on the skewer.

Kathryn

[58limited]

No secrets and I'm not really making sure they come to temp, just getting some char on them. They will be used in various curries so the meat will finish cooking then if needed. I got small pieces too, I just bunched them together on the skewers.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, for the info, 58limited . I made some shish tawook two nights ago on my gasser with GGs so the hit/miss results are still fresh in my mind. Lots of good char and flavor by the end but those little pieces were too crispy. I had made larger pieces by folding over the thigh parts that had to be cut like strips to get a decent size. I tried to load the skewers by size so I could pull the skinny pieces the minute they came to temp while the skewers with larger pieces continued to cook.

K

[jfmorris]

Kathryn, the issues you describe with chicken kabobs drying out are why I've gone to just doing my chicken thighs "shawarma" style, with 2 skewers through a stack of marinated boneless skinless thighs, then cut up into chunks for serving, trying to get some blackened bits from the outside of the pile mixed in as much as possible. I cook indirect until pushing 160 or so, then sear to get some color over the SNS.

[Soonerpop]

Glad you lads had a great day together. And you got a nice bunch of gear, already showing the results. But that stuff in the fridge…also not real beer.

[Panhead John]

Just to set the record straight, that was not my refrigerator technically. My niece stayed there for a few days recently and that was her beer she left behind. As a side note, the Boost was not mine either…..🤓

[Alan Brice]

Panhead John deny, deny, deny.

[Soonerpop]

Panhead John You keep calling it beer. It clearly is not.

[Henrik]

Very nice! I’ve been ogling the SnS kettle for the last few weeks…is Panhead John a trend starter?

[Panhead John]

trend starter? Yeah, I get that a lot……😂

[Soonerpop]

Um, no.

[fzxdoc]

Kathryn, the issues you describe with chicken kabobs drying out are why I've gone to just doing my chicken thighs "shawarma" style, with 2 skewers through a stack of marinated boneless skinless thighs, then cut up into chunks for serving, trying to get some blackened bits from the outside of the pile mixed in as much as possible. I cook indirect until pushing 160 or so, then sear to get some color over the SNS.

Jim, jfmorris , I have done halal-style chicken like that on the PBC with their hanging skewers that they sell. Do you try to separate the pieces from each other at all, or do you tightly stack them as with shawarma?

Here's a shot of the Halal-Style Chicken Thighs I did on the PBC. They're hanging from PBC skewers through the Great Grate that I made from an 18" SS Weber grate. On the grate is some lollipop chicken drumsticks that I was making at the same time.






Lately I've been using small 4 oz chicken breasts for kebab recipes because they cook more safely that way. I use the same marinade as for kebabs, only I grill the pieces conventionally on the GGs on my gasser. Lots of char that way, especially with a yogurt marinade coating on the chicken.

Thanks for the tip and the reminder. I may try this with my next shish tawook cook.

Kathryn

[jfmorris]

Looks great! And this entire thread has reminded me I've not done charcoal grilled veggies or kabobs in a while. Heck - boneless skinless thighs have quadrupled or more in price around here in the past year or two, and are now more expensive than boneless skinless breasts. Like from 69 cents a pound to $3.69 a pound or something crazy. Bone in skin on thighs are still under 99 cents though...

[mrichie1229]

Looks delicious fzxdoc! This is why you are the PBC Queen.

[jfmorris]

fzxdoc Kathryn, I just stack the marinated thighs on two skewers. The last time I did this, I just grilled it direct, using Grillgrates, on my kamado. Basically deconstructed kababs, with the veggies added after the meat was almost done. I just tossed the loose veggies around the Grillgrates in the space around the meat, brushing with my marinade during the cook. It was much easier than dealing with 2 dozen skewers... and one advantage of using that 3 panel set of Grillgrates on the charcoal grill... the "Grate tool" spatula comes in handy here to get veggies out of the slots between rails!

[fzxdoc]

That looks great, Jim! I'm going to try that on my WSCGC. A good way to break in my new half moon GGs too--maybe add an extra section or two.

I think you may have solved my problem of getting a good kebab-style cook with BS thighs, cooking it safely and not having to deal with the cubed bitty bits overcooking on the skewers.

Thank you so much. You're one big reason why I enjoy coming to The Pit. You've saved my bacon (or BS thighs) on many an occasion.

Kathryn

[jfmorris]

Thanks Kathryn fzxdoc ! Not sure I am worthy of such praise, as I learn more from you and others than I contribute.

I go through ups and downs in my usage of Grillgrates, but this cook was a good example of how they can work well to do a full grill 1-zone setup on your kettle or kamado (or WSCGC!). I have a number of friends here who all use them on their BGE's any time they are doing grilling versus smoking.

[mrichie1229]

These pictures need more likes! Delicious cook jfmorris.

[fzxdoc]

Jim, jfmorris , you're a genius. I made an Indian-Spiced Marinated Chicken with Yogurt Sauce for dinner using BS chicken thighs double-skewered as you showed in your post. It was so much easier than wrangling separate pieces of BS thigh, with its typical thick/thin topography.

Bunched as they were on the skewers to about the same thickness, all of the pieces were perfectly cooked. No scary somewhat raw large pieces/or overcooked dried-out small bits this time like I had with the cubed kebab format in previous cooks. I cooked the thighs indirect only, on the gasser with GGs, flipping first at 15 minutes and then every 10 minutes thereafter for a total of 55 minutes, when the thighs were at 175° to 180°. They were nicely charred and simply delicious.

For indirect cooks, I preheat the gasser with all GGs rail-side up to 700°+ and then turn off half of the burners before putting the raw chicken skewers on the indirect side. The residual very hot temps of the GGs make for a very nice sear throughout the cook, even on the indirect side and even with flipping every 10 minutes after the first 15 minutes.

Having the thighs on double skewers, folded wrong sides together, helped keep the jiggly bits corralled; the skewered whole thighs remained in in more of a uniform spherical shape as they cooked and were so easy to flip in unison.

By the time I had to remove them from the skewers (the first and last pieces on the skewer predictably reached desired temp before the middle pieces did) the remaining pieces held their shape as they free-ranged on the grate and quickly came up to temp.

All in all, it was a very pleasant cook. The chicken was served with a yogurt sauce flavored with the same spice mixture (portioned out before using the remainder in the marinade) used to marinate the chicken.

Served with Indian Spiced Smashed potatoes and a garden-fresh heirloom tomato/avocado/fresh mozzarella salad garnished with roasted salted pepitas. The cool salad was a perfect foil to all of the Indian spices in the potatoes and the chicken.

My apologies to 58limited and Panhead John for hijacking this thread. Now back to your regularly-scheduled programming.

Thanks again, Jim, for solving my BS thigh cooking problem. It's great when all pieces are cooked to a safe temperature at pretty much the same time and are still juicy.

Kathryn

[58limited]

I actually enjoy the tangents that some threads wind up going into.

[Panhead John]

Me too! Sometimes they’re better than the original post.

[jfmorris]

Kathryn, so glad to contribute something that helped you out! Your meal sounds amazing! I’ll have to try the indirect method on the gasser some time.