Grill Dome Sponsorship

It is only ten days until our first BBQ competition of the season.  If you follow my Twitter account or my Facebook page, then you have seen a couple of new colorful kamado grills in my pictures.  

We are excited to have Grill Dome sponsor us this year and they have provided us with these two Grill Dome Infinity Series kamado grills.  You'll be seeing them often on this blog, at our competitions, and at certain cooking demos. 

We have only had them put together for a little over a week but John and I have already run through several cooks on these. We couldn't wait to try them out.  He's done things like grilled chicken and pizzas and has been impressed with their performance.  My first cook on the blue one was Green Chile and Brisket Enchiladas.  

I have to admit this this wasn't a recipe, it's a "cheating" recipe because I used a commercial enchilada sauce because I was short on time.  I used Rick Bayless' new (new to us at least) line which cost more than twice as much as the other canned options.  It really wasn't bad, I'd use it again when I don't want to make my own green enchilada sauce or red enchilada sauce.   

I used about a cup of leftover brisket that Alexis chopped up and seasoned with some of my fajita dry rub.

To warm up the corn tortillas, I put them in a foil pack with a damp paper towel and tossed them on the Grill Dome indirect at 400°F for about 5 minutes.

Then I just rolled them up with about 1/4 cup of cheese and 2 tablespoons of brisket.

I poured a few tablespoons of the enchilada sauce in a casserole stoneware dish and put the assembled enchiladas in seam side down. Then I topped that with more cheese and poured on the rest of the sauce.

The Grill Dome held temperatures rock steady, just like I'd expect from a quality kamado grill.

Twenty minutes later, our quicky dinner was ready.  Total cheater dinner but my tastebuds and stomach did not care.

Enchiladas, burritos, chimichangas, and tacos are fantastic ways to use leftover brisket.

Friday night I cooked these three large briskets on the Grill Dome for a big Mayweather-Pacquiau Fight Night Party on Saturday.

Prep was trimming, injected with Butcher's BBQ, and seasoned with garlic powder, my beef rub, and Obicue's brisket seasoning.  I let them sit in a cold Cambro until ready to cook.

I cooked these at our competition temps of 275-290°F to practice timing.  Fuel was Grill Dome coal (which burned exceptionally well, btw) and hickory chunks.  I put them on at 4am.

I mopped them twice with a competition seasoning mop that I was trying out.  Think I'll skip it next time.  I foiled them when they reached around 180°F but I was going by the color.  I pulled them off at an internal temperature of 200-204°F.  Total cooking time was about 7 1/2 hours.  I stored them in a warm Cambro and took them to the party whole, to slice on site.

I normally prefer whole packer briskets but these flats did quite alright.  They were moist and very tender, almost a touch too tender for competition.

We also served 4 smoked pork butts, 5 hotel pans of chicken, half steam pans of MOINK! balls, ABT's, beans, potato salad, coleslaw, and buffalo chicken dip.  We were thinking that we made way too much for the 30 people who confirmed they were coming but more than twice that showed up.  Sunday morning only about a pound of pork was left and nothing else. 

I have also fired up the Grill Dome a few times just for quick meals like some grilled chicken breast to use in meals this week.

So after a heavy weeks worth of use, I'm quite happy with the performance of these Grill Dome kamado grills.  The ceramics are nice and thick and they come with a lot of nice touches that I appreciate.

Look at all of that virgin ceramic, just waiting to get smoked up.

That heavy duty spring loaded hinge seems durable and makes the top effortless to open.  The first thing I noticed on the very first Grill Dome that I saw in person a few years ago was the adjustable screws on the hinge because I've had to re-allign the dome on one of my other kamados a few times.  Also notice the dome clips, I guess that keeps the bands from getting loose and having the dome fall off.  I've heard horror stories about that happening to kamado owners after a high temp cook and their dome falls out of the ring and breaks.

I like the graduated scale for the upper vent lid - that makes knowing your settings easy and consistent.

Same goes for the bottom slide vent - it is marked so you know specifically how wide it is open.

I like the stainless steel bands that come standard and the heavy duty bolts.

Flip top standard grate let's you replenish coal or wood chips.  That need doesn't arise often with a kamado grill because they are so fuel efficient, but at least the option is there.

I know it has only been a week but I am enjoying cooking on the Grill Dome and I am looking forward to using these heavily this year.  Can you have our Big Green Eggs and Vision grills?  Heck no!  They are all quality kamado grills and we'll still be using them too.  But my Domer friends were right, these Grill Domes are fantastic cookers.  I have John's initial impressions in a post coming up next week. 

Here's my home security system for my grills.  I just taught Ramsay the BBQ Pit Bull where brisket comes from.

He's still a puppy, only 7 months old.  He just looks intimidating, he's the biggest cuddle bug ever.

 

So wish us luck for the Bloomin' BBQ and Bluegrass contest in Sevierville, TN on May 15-16th.  If you're there, stop by our team booth and say hello (just understand we'll be pretty slammed between 9am to 1:30pm on Saturday). 

[Standard FTC Disclaimer]  Grill Dome has provided us with two Grill Dome Infinity Series kamado grills as part of our sponsorship.