Slow cooking in a gas grill
Ralph Williams
temperature (200 - 250 degree) slow grilling of some pork shoulders
and beef briskets. I have tried this on my Weber charcoal grill with
great difficulty. I can't hold the low temperature because the
charcoal won't stay lit.
The gas grill should solve the temperature problem. And the makers of
Nepoleon promote their product for this use, since they even sell a
container to hold the smoking wood which is positioned over one of the
burners to keep the smoke coming.
Has anyone out there had experience with this Nepoleon grill (or other
gas grill) used ffor this purpose?
Jeff Edwards
news:d9366d50.03020...@posting.google.com...
> Has anyone out there had experience with this Nepoleon grill (or other
> gas grill) used ffor this purpose?
I fall into the "other grill" category, but I have tried it. For some
reason I decided to do some ribs once in the gas grill rather than on the
NBBD - I was probably out of lump hardwood or something.
Anyhow, I just kept the burner as low as possible and kept the meat as far
from the flame as possible, using a box of wood chips. The results
were...well...OK I guess. The meat was OK, not burnt or anything. It
definitely was not as tender as slow-smoking, and there was a marked absence
of smoke flavor. Since I tend not to use cue sauce on my meat, that was
disappointing.
I think the main problem, apart from temperature control that my grill did
not have, was the lack of any airflow in a traditional gas grill. Thus,
rather than basting the meat in continuous fragrant smoke, it just holds in
stagnant and bitter smoke when there is smoke at all. Just one man's
opinion.
--
Jeff Edwards
paranoi...@sbcglobal.net
Dave Bugg
> I have been looking at a Nepoleon gas grill for doing some low
> temperature (200 - 250 degree) slow grilling of some pork shoulders
> and beef briskets. I have tried this on my Weber charcoal grill with
> great difficulty. I can't hold the low temperature because the
> charcoal won't stay lit.
>
> The gas grill should solve the temperature problem. And the makers of
> Nepoleon promote their product for this use, since they even sell a
> container to hold the smoking wood which is positioned over one of the
> burners to keep the smoke coming.
A box to hold chips is NOT an indication, by itself, that a gas grill can
effectively be used as a pit to cook 'Q. This is from a post I made last
June:
<quote>
Use only the back burner. You will have to use a combination of methods to
vent and control the temp: the burner control, propping the lid (1 - 2")
and opening the sliding tray at the bottom of the burner box. I've used
steel pie pans with holes in the bottom holding some lump, which is placed
inside of the sliding drip pan, partially covering the drip hole.
Supplemental (unavoidable) heat is supplied with the back burner.
Place a cookie sheet on the flavorizer bars to act as a buffer between the
flame of the burner and the grill where your meat is cooking. Use a remote
probe thermometer (something Polder-like), placing the probe through a cork
and laid on the grill, to monitor chamber temp. Do NOT depend on the
thermometer that is in the lid, as there will be a variance of 20 to 30
degrees from the actual temp at the grill.
This is a labor intensive process; you will be constantly adjusting lid
levels, sliding pan opening and burner temp.. And because you can't put too
much lump in this type of set-up, be prepared to add lump on a frequent
basis. In other words, you're stuck at or near the chamber for the
duration. Also, make sure -- DAMNED SURE --- that you have a
non-combustible surface under the grill; either dirt or a heat-proof shield.
You will get passable (meaning better than any restaurant claiming to do 'Q)
barbecue, but when you get a real rig for 'Q, the birds will sing, the sun
will shine, children will stop crying and life will be far easier and quite
a bit tastier. But this will get you started. Just keep in mind, this is
among the most labor intensive ways to do BBQ. Questions? Just holler.
<end quote>
--
Dave
Jack Curry
when you get a real rig for 'Q, the birds will sing, the sun will shine,
children will stop crying and life will be
> far easier and quite a bit tastier.
Beautiful. Bugg, you are a poet.
Jack
Dave Bugg
> Beautiful. Bugg, you are a poet.
> Jack
<blush> :-)
--
Dave
Dean Griffin
I took a look at the napoleon grills. I do not have any experience with
them. I noted, not much
shelf space, slow cooking temperature control would be a concern too.
However, the burner system
is a good quality and above average than most stainless steel burner
designs. I like these type of
individual front-to-back sectional flame control burners, they produce a
better heat distribution
over the H or U shape burners. The Barbeques Galore Capt'n Cook gas grill
models use the same burner
design.
Good URL on the Napoleon grill.
http://nac.on.ca/Webshare/napoleon_grills/full_line_gourmet_grill.htm
I have done slow cooking on my gas grill. Kenmore Model. 415.15865, Go to
sears.com
parts, to look up this grill layout and construction. The adjustable shelf
arrangement, a very
good feature; temperature control takes a little work, monitoring,
adjustments and use on
non-windy days, its limitation for slow cooking. I added a high quality
thermometer.
Here are some features to look for regarding a gas grills ability to slow
cook:
1. In-direct heating, distance from food placement to heat source.
The grill should have shelves above (or off-set from) the heat source,
where the meat will be
situated during cooking, to promote even cooking. For a Gas Grill
multiple shelves are
recommended so meat can be rotated during cooking.
2. Temperature control and accuracy. Especially on a day when the wind is
not calm.
Ability to maintain the ambient temperature between 200-270 degrees, with
no temperature
run-away.
3. Smoke creation and circulation. Smoker box does good, flare up must be
managed.
4. High quality thermometer. Correct placement to gauge temperature at meat
location.
http://www.gogrills.com/ // I got my eye on the "The Great Outdoors Smoky
Mountain Series 3600G"
// Walmart.com and Lowes sells this LP Gas
smoker. I like the LP Gas
// feature for heat source regulation and
appears to meet the above criteria.
I live in Texas where a lot of slow cooking is done. The off-set fire box
smoker is most popular.
http://www.nbsmoker.com/smokers.html // Other product references. I have
a friend who oven slow cooks
// his Brisket 3/4 done and finishes
it on his off-set
// firebox smoker. His smoke Salmon
is perfect.
// Ash clean up easy.
Hope this helps..
"Ralph Williams" <rwill...@cfl.rr.com> wrote in message
news:d9366d50.03020...@posting.google.com...
Phil Anderson
> Has anyone out there had experience with this Nepoleon grill (or
other
> gas grill) used ffor this purpose?
I think the one key to slow cooking in a gas grill is that the
burners be side by side and not front to back. I put the left
burner on my aging hulk as low as it will go, and leave the grate
off of that side. That way, I can occasionally throw a fistful of
soaked chips directly onto the flame. I leave the right burner
turned off, and put the meat on the grate on that side. I also
put a water pan between the coals and the meat on that side.
Temps are kept low enough that the water takes many, many hours to
boil off, so I don't think of this as steaming the meat, just
keeping the environment a bit moist.
Finally, it may just be an unintended upside of using an aging
piece of crap to do the job, but this grill certainly does not
trap all the smoke inside the grill. Smoke pours out all over the
place if I get carried away with how much wood I throw in at one
time. I can see how a too-well sealed environment could leave a
bitter smoke taste, however.
And before anyone flames me here, I do not claim that this is a
perfect solution, only that it produces highly edible results on a
consistent basis without requiring major amounts of effort and
attention, and without requiring any more outlay of cash. These
are not bad things.