Fun, New Cook

[Reds Fan 5]

Something new tonight: Beef kofta kebabs from Raichlen's Barbecue Bible. Ground beef, chopped onion, chopped parsley, chopped mint. Grilled direct over high heat. They were terrific.

Raichlen recommends suspending the skewers above the grate to prevent them from sticking and pulling apart when you turn them. As you can see in the photo I tried that. About two minutes into the cook the meat started falling off the skewers. Fortunately, I was able to save them and eventually finished them on the grate. I think I may have formed the meat too thick around the skewer. Another possibility is the meat was too far from the flame and didn't cook fast enough. Curious if my fellow Pit residents have any thoughts on this. In the end, though, they tasted great.

[FireMan]

Oh man, you really have my juices runnin. I love shush kafta. The thing I missed the most from moving away from Motown.
There is a recipe in an ATK from a couple of years back. I am motivated to try it with what you did.

[Reds Fan 5]

FireMan we love middle eastern food and have some good restaurants near us (Chicago suburbs). I've had my eye on this recipe for a long time and finally bought the skewers. The recipe is simple. Fun cook and we will do it again for sure. Some pita, couscous, and a cucumber dill salad went with it.

[Dewesq55]

Love me some kofta Kebab! I'm partial to lamb, but I would mos def try these.

[RonB]

That is a neat idea.

[Spinaker]

This sounds fantastic. I love the idea of suspending the skewers over the grate to prevent them from sticking! Great call.

[Reds Fan 5]

Spinaker , the technique was in Raichlen's book so he gets the credit. I'm trying to figure out why the meat started falling off the skewers. They were chilled on the skewers for an hour per the recipe. My guess is the meat was too thick on the skewers. Next time I may also raise the charcoal grate so the meat isn't as far from the fire. The suspended skewers look cool, too.

[Spinaker]

I saw that, but you are the one doing it, brother! My guess is that as the meat heated and contracted, it was forced to pull back from the wide skewers. I would try to use a thinner skewer, and see if that helps. Great looking cook, sir!!

[Frozen Smoke]

Yep thinner skewers and less meat. i'm guessing the weight of the meat and gravity combined to thwart your desired results. Sounds like you're dialing it in great job on stepping outside the box!!

[Reds Fan 5]

Thanks, Frozen Smoke. Raichlen's early books make it easy to go outside the box. His recipes with AR's techniques is a formidable combination.

[jgreen]

Those look great. If you have a set of grill grates, you could turn them flat side up under the skewers and probably be pretty easy to rescue anything that does fall off.

[Henrik]

Cool! Nice cook, I love it! Try to get them at a restaurant whenever they serve ‘em.

[Reds Fan 5]

Thanks! These were much closer to restaurant than I expected.

[Reds Fan 5]

Grill grates are on my list when I'm ready to purchase more gear!