Griddle cooking in the cold

[jfmorris]

We are hosting a brunch get together on Christmas Eve - our main family time with our kids and possibly my parents, and I promised to crank out lots of bacon and French toast made from home made sourdough. Maybe candied bacon on the kamado. Then my son, who has a Dec 26 birthday, asked for hibachi cooking for his 28th birthday! The entire weekend is sunny but lows in the single digits and highs in the 20’s!

All good, except…. Saturday morning will be 9F at about sunup, and a high of 25F around 2-3pm. I’ll be cooking right before before folks come at 10am. My biggest concern is wind, and I’m toying with relocating the Camp Chef FTG900 up against the house as a windbreak. Or rolling the Genesis over behind it with the lid open as a wind break.

Regardless, I guess the trick will be running the burners a little higher to get the 350-400 I want for the griddle surface. And getting the food into something covered and into the house as quick as possible.

Any other cold weather griddle cooking advice from my northern BBQ brethren, or has that covered it? Or do I need to bust out my old 2 burner Nordicware griddle on the stove top in the kitchen? 😜

[mnavarre]

A) Can you set the Genesis up as a warming oven, i.e. just run one burner to stay 200-ish? I do that with my gasser often when I'm cooking lots of stuff.

B) When it gets cold out I find I use GriddleBot's lid a lot more. Basting domes or aluminum pans can be your friend. Unless you're using the entire griddle to cook I'd think you could idle one or two of the reactors on CVN900 over there and have someplace to keep stuff warm under a dome.

[jfmorris]

Those are all good ideas. Expect to use the full griddle to knock out 5-6 pounds of bacon plus the French toast, but the Genesis and one or two steam table aluminum pans can be a good place to hold warm next to the griddle.

[DavidNorcross]

Hi Jim. I actually do not turn up the heat that much. I just plan on the cook taking longer. I typically cook bacon low on the griddle and just add extra time when it is colder. We are looking at some cold temps as well. Its Christmas time!

[realdocBBQ]

My advice??? GET SOME GLOVES. Cooking in the cold is hard for me.

[jfmorris]

Yeah, I may have a clean unused pair of work gloves in the garage that would let me still handle grill utensils. I don't think my winter gloves will do the job though!

One nice thing is there is a lot of heat thrown out the end of the griddle, so above the side table there is a good place to warm your hands!

[Jfrosty27]

Welcome to my world. The keys are wind and holding temps. I have my griddle in the garage when I cook and therefore out of the wind though. Otherwise, as noted above, just plan on more time. Heating up the griddle and overall cooking time. I hold in aluminum pans covered with foil in a warm gas grill along side. Then rush like hell to get in the house. 🤣😊

[smokin fool]

This pretty much sums it up for me too although I don't cook in the garage, I gut it out in the back yard.
Good set of Carhart insulated bib overalls and parka don't hurt either.....hmm, I shod grab some....

[jfmorris]

Yeah, if it was not a long trip with a 160 pound griddle + tank across the yard and around the house, I might move it to the garage. Might still do it depending on how things are looking. I would just need to crack the door for ventilation, but do most of my beer brewing out there, with the garage door cracked about a foot.

[jfmorris]

mrteddyprincess good tip - I have 2 extra propane tanks, and can move one to the garage overnight, where I doubt it will get below 50F.

[Jim White]

Fortunately, our hibachi dinner plan is for tomorrow before the temps drop here. I’ll be double smoking a couple of hams on Friday in the cold, but shouldn’t have to spend too much time outside with my Kamado for that.

Please let us know how it goes. Watching others work things out is one of the great things about hanging out here.

[fzxdoc]

Agreed, Jim. The inventiveness of our members in the face of a challenge never fails to impress me.

Kathryn

[jfmorris]

Yep - I wish it was tomorrow and not after the temps plummet on Thursday. Of course, you won't get quite as low down there in Gainesville...

[Mosca]

ooo

[Andrrr]

Oh just let the poor guy in to warm up a little.

[jfmorris]

I thought of that! I have a 6 foot sliding door with a small deck, then stairs down to the pool. I could roll the griddle around there, but would need help getting it up the steps. 80 pounds for the cart, 80 for the top, plus the propane tank.

[Sid P]

While I admire everyone’s spirit, I’d punt. I’d do the bacon in the oven and the pancakes on the stove.

[rickgregory]

same here. No way am I standing outside in sub-freezing temps to griddle bacon if I have another option. It's also why I'm probably going to order the stovetop griddle from Steelmade https://steelmadeusa.com/collections/flat-top-grills

[jfmorris]

Haha! Wimps! I have been wimping out, but decided after the last time I did bacon in the oven that it was much easier on the griddle.

[smokenoob]

Can you get one of those EZups with sides? May help if you can anchor it.

[jfmorris]

Good thought, but don't want to invest the money in it. I've got shed(s), brick walls and Hardiplank (concrete) siding walls and such that I can back things up to for a wind break if the wind is up on Saturday morning.

[rlozinak]

I have the same issue here for the weekend, which I will post in a separate thread.

[jfmorris]

Haha you have a different issue in that you will have snow (and probably more of it) on the ground by the weekend, on top of this arctic blast. My forecast is clear and cold. Raining today and Thursday though, before plunging to 6 degrees Thursday night.

[jfmorris]

Guys thanks for all the advice. The best of it all may be to try moving the griddle to the garage, where it will be out of the wind, and I'll have plenty of ventilation if I crack the 2 car door 6 to 12 inches. I brew beer out there with a 102K BTU jet burner all the time, with the garage door open about a foot, and haven't had any issues.

If I stay out in the cold I am thinking I can use some of the foil steam table pans I have (full and half size) as domes to help reduce heat loss from wind with the griddle cook, lifting when its time to flip the bacon or toast. And I plan to relocate a patio table from under the pavilion so I can fit the Genesis and the 6 burner flat top at right angles to each other, under the roof, and pull the propane fire pit table over behind me, so that I am surrounded with heat sources, haha.

[smokenoob]

good plan!

[fzxdoc]

I just gotta see those photos!

K.