I have no experience in blogging things but have a strong interests in the content as well as a few simple things to share. Enclosed is a picture of my outdoor kitchen that I build ten years ago. My intent when I built it was to expand the space of our house during the summer months here in the great northwest. The project took me one year and one month to complete. I always had a grasp of what I wanted to accomplish putting this together and no drawings or concepts of the outcome. My wife Beckie had no sense of vision for what I was trying to do but was quite patient with me. I remember Beckie looking out on this unfinished patio in the middle of the dreary winter Seattle months prior to the stone being applied to the butt ugly concrete block structure with a tear in her eyes. I saw her tear and at that point knew that she finally got the vision!
My interest in cooking really started about ten years ago when I finished this project. I not only love learning to grill anything at any time of year, but also have really been honing my skills inside the house as well.
My current project is born out of learning to smoke meats. I have done cheeses in the middle of the winter in flower pots and various pork and beef roasts. Last month I attempted the holy grail of meats by attempting to smoke two racks of spareribs. Going with the advice of Meathead Goldwyn I set my grill up for two zone grilling. The results were great but it was really had a difficult time of stabilizing the temperature inside the NG grill. So it was full hands on all day long and this Aerospace engineer I was not willing to just settle for having to be a human thermostat all day long. So my current project is to “Hotrod” my NG grill by insulating the lid with a 1.500” thick ceramic blanket. My intent with this is to hold lower temperatures more stable. I think with the insulation I should be able to bring my temperatures up on one burner from 200 degrees to 225 degrees. Currently because I cannot obtain 225 degrees on one burner I need to switch on a second of four burners risking the meat closest to the second burner. I think this will work for my purposes and have a really good smoker unit without the need for another appliance.
The second picture that I have sent through is my grill lid with the beginnings of its transformation. The lid is for a Sterling Forge NG grill and is double walled. I am using roof flashing to cover the ceramic blanket. I am using stainless steel sheet metal screws that are bored into the inner wall to anchor the insulation. I will be painting the interior with high temperature grill paint then coating it will some vegetable or olive oil to create a surface similar to a cast iron pot reducing weather/heat deterioration.
Thanks,
Mike
My interest in cooking really started about ten years ago when I finished this project. I not only love learning to grill anything at any time of year, but also have really been honing my skills inside the house as well.
My current project is born out of learning to smoke meats. I have done cheeses in the middle of the winter in flower pots and various pork and beef roasts. Last month I attempted the holy grail of meats by attempting to smoke two racks of spareribs. Going with the advice of Meathead Goldwyn I set my grill up for two zone grilling. The results were great but it was really had a difficult time of stabilizing the temperature inside the NG grill. So it was full hands on all day long and this Aerospace engineer I was not willing to just settle for having to be a human thermostat all day long. So my current project is to “Hotrod” my NG grill by insulating the lid with a 1.500” thick ceramic blanket. My intent with this is to hold lower temperatures more stable. I think with the insulation I should be able to bring my temperatures up on one burner from 200 degrees to 225 degrees. Currently because I cannot obtain 225 degrees on one burner I need to switch on a second of four burners risking the meat closest to the second burner. I think this will work for my purposes and have a really good smoker unit without the need for another appliance.
The second picture that I have sent through is my grill lid with the beginnings of its transformation. The lid is for a Sterling Forge NG grill and is double walled. I am using roof flashing to cover the ceramic blanket. I am using stainless steel sheet metal screws that are bored into the inner wall to anchor the insulation. I will be painting the interior with high temperature grill paint then coating it will some vegetable or olive oil to create a surface similar to a cast iron pot reducing weather/heat deterioration.
Thanks,
Mike
