Product Release: Kingsford BBQ Sauce

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  I received no compensation for this post other than the free product samples and I have no current affiliation with Kingsford.

Kingsford, the renowned charcoal producer, has introduced their own line of BBQ sauces and they sent me a sample batch to try out.  

The flavors for this new, all natural line of BBQ sauces include:

• Honey Jalapeno Mesquite
• Brown Sugar Applewood
• Original Smoked Hickory

Product Review: Kingsford Professional Coal and Roasted Garlic Rubbed Ribeye

Kingsford has rebranded their Competition Briquetes* as Kingsford Professional Briquets.  They sent me a bag free to try out so I grilled up this roasted garlic rubbed ribeye.  

Roasted garlic rubbed ribeye with sea salt potatoes

It is the same all-natural briquettes, but they felt the Competition label was limiting when these briquettes are "perfect for any grilling occasion where you want a higher heat, less as or a long, consistent burn".  The new label more accurately describes the purpose for them. 

 

I reached out to 6 time World Champion Pitmaster, Chris Lilly, of Big Bob Gibson's Barbecue about the Professional line and here are his thoughts:

Before I cooked with the Professional coal, I set up an experiment to test the claims.  Although this isn't a lab or anything, I tried to be as careful as possible to be consistent to make true comparisons.  I used the same grill, set up, and did it on a mild day with as few temperature/wind variations as possible.  

I compared the Kingsford Professional against their Original (aka "blue bag") and Royal Oak's all natural briquette - Chef's Select.  

I used a Char-Broil CB500X for the test and built a small pyramid of 14 briquettes on one side.  I lit each sample on 4 corners with a MAPpro gas torch and then closed the lid.

For 2 hours, I recorded the temperature at the grate level on the opposite side every 5 minutes using a reference grade ThermaQ for precision accuracy.  I did this shot just for a picture - the lid stayed closed the entire 2 hours for each sample.

One issue was that the Chef Select weighed much more, almost twice that of a Kingsford briquete.  I tried using an equivalent weight as shown but it would never really get started.  So I ended up just using the same number of briquettes - 14 stacked in a pyramid.

Once the 2 hours was up, I weighed the ash that fell into a collection tray that I put below the charcoal grate.  The scale was zeroed out as to not weight the pan itself, only the ash.

Sorry about the poor rendering.  The red line is Kingsford Pro, the grey is Chef Select, and the blue is Kingsford Original.

Granted this is a small scale test and I don't have the desire to repeat this several more times.  But my informal test results pretty much proved their claims.

Faster Starting

True.  Chef's Select was a close second but Kingsford Professional got hotter, faster.

Higher Heat

True.  Kingsford Professional had both a significantly higher average heat output and maximum temperature during this trial.  

Less Ash

True.  The ash leftover from Kingsford Professional weighed in decidedly less than the other two.

Long, Consistent Burn

Undecided.  Visually you can see that the Professional burns "hotter for longer".  However at the same time, the other two are hotter than the Professional at the 2 hour mark so you could make the argument they burned "longer".  If you go by average deviation, Original has the least deviation in temp but that is a direct effect of the other two being faster starting.  So it's kind of hard to call this one.  

What about lump coal?  I didn't throw that in at first because it brings in so many more variables but I did a trial on that too just for grins and giggles.  I used a brand that I have liked using for a few months.

Since I couldn't count 14 briquettes of lump, I used the same amount by weight - 309 grams.

Stacked it as pyramid-ish as possible and lit just like the others.

 

Sorry about the poor rendering.  The red line is Kingsford Pro, the grey is Chef Select, and the blue is Kingsford Original. Green is the lump.

You can see the lump blew the others away in start up times and max temp but also had wild temperature variations.  This would be different in a controlled air flow environment like a kamado but in a normal grill with less regulated air flow, the lump rages and then burns itself out.  That makes sense because I when I first started and used a cheap offset smoker, I got more stable temps with briquettes and didn't understand why people raved about lump coal. Then I got into kamado grilling and saw the difference.  

As far as burning, I think the Kingsford Professional burns cleanly, even shortly after warm up. It doesn't have any off flavors and imparts a nice smokiness on foods.  

Kingsford Professional should be in stores near you sometime this Spring.  

Roasted Garlic Rubbed Ribeye

Whenever I roll out the kettle grill, I feel like I'm getting back to the basics of grilling. Here's a good basic steak recipe I did earlier this week.  

I roasted a bunch of heads of garlic.  Just slice off the top.  Drizzle with good olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs, butter, whatever.  Roast them indirect on a grill for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

You don't get garlic better than this!  Just squeeze all of the garlic out of the top into a container so you can keep them in the fridge.  Use this to make compound butters, mashed potatoes, pasta sauces, or anything in which you would use garlic.  Rub a clove or two all over your pizza dough.  They're like magic.

I used the Kingsford Professional in my Char-Broil Kettleman grill.

I did a little more than a half chimney of the Pro.  Speaking of fast start up times, using the fast lighting Kingsford Pro in this Char-Broil Half Time chimney, my coals were ready in 8 minutes!  This is one of those "why didn't they think of that before now?" kind of things.

My back to basics recipe - 4 ingredients.  Choice bone in ribeye, kosher salt, black pepper, and roasted garlic. 

Smash a clove and rub it all over the steak.  That's a clove per side.  Roasted garlic is very soft and will smear sort of like a paste.

Rubbed and seasoned with salt and pepper, I put them down for five minutes per side over a hot grill.  

I give it a quarter turn half way through each side to get cross hatch marks.  The steak wasn't medium rare yet so I shuffled it to an indirect spot on the grill and let it finish roasting up to an internal temperature of 127°f. 

Alexis and I split this with some sea salt and herb potatoes.  

I hope you are having a great Spring and ready to bring out your grills (if you put them up).  I see some of our Colorado friends are getting hammered by snow still - I hope y'all are able to fire them up soon too!

[FTC Disclosure] I received the bag of Kingsford Professional for free but receive no other compensation from them.  I have a content agreement with Char-Broil and get my gear from them for free; however, received no compensation for this post.  I just happened to be using their stuff.  I paid full price for my ThermaQ.  

*Kingsford uses the alternate spelling of "briquetes" while I prefer to use the mainstream "briquettes".  

Fajita Steak Salad

The other night Alexis and I were craving a taco or fajita salad and we had everything we needed in the fridge to throw one together.

Or so I thought.  I reached in to grab the leftover taco meat from the night before and.... it was gone.  No problem, I'll use that leftover skirt steak.....which was also gone.  Empty containers in the sink were evidence that our older son had stopped by for lunch earlier in the day.  No worries, but the stomach wants what the stomach wants.  We ran to the store and picked up another skirt steak just so we could have this salad.

Tip:  If your store is out of Certified Angus Beef skirt steak, you can substitute their sirloin flap steak. Certified Angus Beef is one of our sponsors and I got to try the sirloin flap in a "grind your own burger" competition at their headquarters.  It's similar in texture and taste.

Fajita Steak Salad

source:  www.nibblemethis.com

serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 skirt steak
• 2-3 tablespoons NMT Fajita Seasoning or other fajita seasoning
• 1 red bell pepper sliced into rings
• 6 tortilla salad bowls, heated according to directions
• 2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1/2 cup chimichurri sauce (optional)
• 1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
• 3 diced roma tomatoes
• 2 peeled and diced avocados
• 1 cup Fire Roasted Chile Ranch Dressing or other ranch dressing
• 1 cup enchilada sauce or taco sauce
• black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Prepare your grill for direct heat and preheat to high heat (500°F +).
2. Trim any excess fat from your skirt steak and season heavily on both sides with the fajita seasoning.  You will likely have a little seasoning left over.  Keep that for seasoning the salad at the end.
3. Grill the steak and pepper rings on both sides until the rings are charred and the steak reaches an internal temperature of 130°F for medium rare, about 4-6 minutes per side.
4. Remove the steak and pepper rings and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
5. Slice the steak thinly against the grain.  See pictures for detail.
6. Divide the lettuce between the tortilla salad bowls and drizzle lightly with the chimichurri sauce.  Top with cheese, diced tomatoes, diced avocados, and the pepper rings.  Drizzle with the ranch dressing and enchilada sauce.  Season with fresh cracked black pepper and a pinch or two of the leftover fajita seasoning.
7. Top with the sliced skirt steak and serve.

I tried using the new Kingsford Lump Briquets with mesquite wood this time.  Briquets on the left are regular Kingsford and the right are the lump with mesquite.  Got some good mesquite smoke in the air but 8-12 minutes of exposure isn't going to add a lot of flavor to the food in most cases.  

I did about 50 coals and that jumped the temperature to a little over 500°F.

If your skirt steak is in one piece it will be too long so just cut it into a few pieces.  The middle will be fatter than the ends.

I put the thicker pieces on first and wait a minute to put the thinner sections on the grill.

Notice the paver stone under the Char-Broil CB500X grill.  I always do with when grilling on my deck to keep the deck from reaching combustible temperatures.

I've cooked this twice this week in case you were wondering why the meat keeps changing sizes in the pictures. 

I like to cook my skirt steak to medium rare at most, to keep it tender, so I pulled these when they registered 130°F on my Char-Broil Instant Read Thermometer.

Notice how the grain of the meat is running in the same direction as the knife blade.  You need to cut perpendicular to the grain but first I cut it into manageable sections about a finger long as shown....

...then turn the meat sideways like this and slice against the grain...

...like this.  Notice the grain of the meat is going in the same direction as the yellow lines.

When I made it earlier this week, I just served it drizzled with chimichurri sauce and it disappeared.  Literally, before I could use the leftovers, it disappeared.

Where did I get that cool little grill?  It is a Char-Broil CB500X that I got as part of my sponsorship package for being on the Char-Broil All Star team.  I'll review it in my next post, don't let its size fool you.

Poultry Dry Rub and Decatur Jaycees Riverfest 2013

I arrived in the beautiful town of Decatur, AL on Saturday morning just a few hours after the first cool front of the Fall passed through and was it ever glorious!  The crisp dry morning air was a refreshing relief from humid summer days and the skies were so brilliantly blue that it almost hurt my eyes.  It was such a beautiful day that someone should have scheduled a BBQ festival...

...and that is just what Ken Hess of Big Bob Gibson's Barbecue did.  I was there to judge BBQ at the annual Decatur Jaycees Riverfest.

But first, speaking of Big Bob Gibson's, here's a quick poultry dry rub that is a part of my upcoming turkey post.   It was created by world champion pitmaster, Chris Lilly, on behalf of Kingsford and the recipe was included in our media packets at the 2012 Kingsford Invitational.  

Poultry Dry Rub

Source:  reprinted with permission from Kingsford 

Makes:  1/2 cup

Prep Time:  what prep time?  If it was any faster you'd go back in time.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp turbinado sugar
• 2 Tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion flakes
• 1 tsp thyme leaves, dried
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp marjoram leaves, dried
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/4 tsp rosemary leaves, crushed
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients in a small bowl and blend well.
2. Season chicken or poultry liberally, prior to grilling over Kingsford charcoal.  Store the remaining dry rub in an GLAD food storage container at room temperature.   

Okay,  back to the contest.

The Schomburger

How does a burger topped with bourbon sizzled ham and cheese sound?  This burger has 100% the USDA of nostalgia for me.

I grew up on the North Eastern beaches of Florida.   When the waves were breaking, we would chase our favorite breaks up and down the coast from Fernandina down to Flagler, where ever the waves were firing the best.  When the waves were dead, we'd hang out at social spots on the beach with our group of friends.  

One of those spots in the late 1980's was at A Street in St Augustine.   You could drive onto the beach, park next to your friends and discretely party on the beach.  There is a shack called The Beachcomber where A Street meets the sand.  You walk straight onto their deck from the beach.  

Their deluxe burger was called the Schomburger and it was named after my buddy's cousin, so that's what I always got there.  It was one of the biggest burgers that I had up until that time and buried in hot ham and cheese.  It rocked in the best way.  Looking back I realize it was probably just a food service frozen burger cooked on a flat top like any fast food joint.  But on those sun bleached days of my hazy youth, it was fine dining!

I haven't been to The Beachcomber in over 25 years.  I was happy to see that it is still open and still serving up the Schomburger.  I live over 500 miles away now so I tried my own updated version tonight.  

The Schomburger

Grilled Shrimp Bourbon-yaki

Isn't it hard to believe that the Fourth of July is almost here?  I have been so busy that this summer break has flown by so far.

Fourth of July is the biggest grilling day of the year and there will be cookouts across the US this week.   You know that guy who has a decrepit grill laced with spider webs and possibly a bird's nest?  Yeah, even he is busting out the grill for Independence Day. 

Here is a quick and easy appetizer for your cookout.

This is inspired by the appetizer that Dave Scott (Inspired by E-recipe Cards) made at our blogger get together this year.   He elected to use pre-cooked shrimp.   I thought they would come off the grill over cooked but his were excellent.    I added the bourbon for flavor, the green onion for some color, and the red pepper flake for heat. 

Grilled Blue Whales - Relax It's A Cocktail

When I was in my young wild and rambunctious phase, we might have had a party or two.  One of our go-to party drinks was a beverage we called Blue Whales.  

It was a simple concoction, 2 gallons of lemonade, 1 bottle of Everclear, 1 bottle of Curaco, and a bunch of sliced oranges.  It was powerful, economical, and everyone liked it because, despite the alcohol, it was candy cotton sweet.  Perfect for drinking on the beach or poolside.

This weekend we had some houseguests in town for the annual blogger party (post forthcoming) so I made an updated version of Blue Whales.

Click link below for full post and recipe.

Fiery Grilled Chicken Wraps

Do you ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of a photo shoot for a cookbook?

I got to find out myself this past weekend when I was fortunate enough to participate in the shoot for Chris Lilly's newest cookbook.

Chris is a restauranteur and multiple time BBQ World Champion. Chris also wrote one of my favorite cook books, BigBob Gibson's BBQ Book.  Even if you don't BBQ and/or grill much, you probably still know him from his numerous television appearances on BBQ shows (Best In Smoke, Kingsford Invitational, BBQ Pitmasters, etc). 

I can't go into detail about recipes or show any plated shots.  Per a confidentiality agreement, if I divulge any sensitive information prior to the book's release, Mr. Lilly will confiscate our Big Green Eggs and include a declaration in his new book that I boil my ribs, use a crock pot for my pulled pork, and am a closet vegetarian.  

That being said, here are the bullet points

• Chris assembled an amazing production team.  I thought my photography and food styling was getting “good” but after seeing them work, I realize I have only gotten “better” and have a ways to go. It was humbling and inspiring!
• NOTHING is by accident or chance, every detail is planned, developed and photographed, down to how a piece of slaw drapes across a taco.
• When accidents DO happen (despite previous statement), there is always a plan B, C, and D.
• It takes a lot of work, smoke, and mirrors to make things look easy, natural and not posed.   
• We were always working on 2-3 recipes in varying stages at the same time.  
• Despite scheduling, the pace is hectic.  It was rush, rush, rush, wait, rush, wait, wait, rush. 
• I lost track of how much Kingsford charcoal we used, but it was a lot and all we used. 
• Chris has a great support system of family and friends that were johnny on the spot for anything needed.

Chris grilling a tuna dish.

The brown butter sauce smelled "to die for" on this trout dish.

This grill is Chris' Komodo cooker, a gorgeous and well designed kamado like my Eggs.

Ken making his paella on the grill.

Chris checking on some rednecked panini (not the real name).

For two days, I helped out any way I could.   We used five grills so I was getting the next one fired up and set up in advance for Chris.  I helped Ken Hess prep anything he needed from veggies to shrimp.  I cooked garnishes and mixed marinades/rubs as needed.  Hold a scrim up, find needed tools, and basically anything they needed an extra hand for, I did. 

During downtime, I carefully watched Ben Fink, Jeff Cavanaugh, and Pam Lolley work their voodoo on food styling and photography.  I took mental notes of what they did, especially the little things because everything was done with purpose.  I learned a lot but here are my takeaways:

• Food styling - use more props but do so in layers, vertically and horizontally.  Focus on how props complement or contrast.  Use the props to tell the story.  Discover new settings around the house, quit using the same location. 
• Photography - start using a card shot and then apply those white balance settings to the actual shot.  Learn to shoot tethered to a laptop with Lightroom.  Keep practicing. Get a camera set up like Ben's the next time I have an extra $20 grand or so laying around. 

I owe a ton of gratitude to Chris for allowing me to be a small part of their team for a few days.   What I can tell you about the recipes is that they were all impressive and several were "the best I've had in years".  This cookbook is going to be as good as his first book.  You will want a copy when it comes out next year, I promise you that.

Okay, back to the grill.   Alexis and I came up with this marinade standing in the produce department.

The base of the marinade is roasted habanero chiles for heat and juice from cara cara oranges to complement the citrus notes of habanero and corriander.  Cara cara oranges are very sweet.  You can substitute blood oranges if you can't find cara cara oranges.  The homemade, fire roasted salsa verde and ranch make a smoky difference but I guess you could use the jarred stuff if you HAD to. 

Fiery Grilled Chicken Wraps

by www.nibblemethis.com

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Ingredients (6 wraps)

You'll need

• 2 lbs chicken cutlets
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tomato, thin sliced
• 6 leaves green leaf lettuce
• 3/4 cup Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup fire roasted salsa verde
• 1/2 cup fire roasted chile ranch dressing [RECIPE]
• 6 mission style sun dried tortilla wraps

For the marinade

• 1/2 cup juice from cara cara oranges (about 2 oranges)
• 1/2 ea white onion, peeled and diced
• 2 ea habanero chile, charred, seeded, and diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 tsp dried coriander
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 2/3 cup canola oil

Instructions

1. Whisk together marinade ingredients. Place chicken cutlets in a Glad zip top bag, cover with marinade, seal and refrigerate for 4 hours.
2. Preheat a charcoal grill to high. Remove cutlets from marinade. Season with salt and pepper to taste and grill until the internal temperature reaches 160f, about 2-4 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of your cutlets). Remove and slice into thin strips.
3. On each wrap, place 1 lettuce leaf, thin sliced tomato, one fourth of the chicken, and cheese. Top with a heaping tablespoon of the salsa verde and a tablespoon of the chile ranch dressing. Roll up burrito style (roll bottom third up, covering the filling, then tuck in the sides, and then continue rolling up into a cylinder).
4. Slice each wrap in half and serve with extra ranch and salsa verde as desired.

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2 chiles was moderate heat, I'd go with 3 for a bit more kick.

TIP:  Habaneros are small and a pain to char stove top because you can set them on a gas burner like you can a larger bell or poblano chile.  A grilling basket over the burner makes it easy.

The salsa verde I do is roughly 1.5 pounds peeled tomatillo, 2 jalapenos, 1/2 white onion, 2 green onion, 1 habanero and 3 cloves garlic.  Char it all for about 5 minutes, turning until all sides black.  De-seed and peel the chiles.  Chop it all up in a blender, season with salt, cumin, and pepper and then simmer until thickened.
 

Much better than jarred sauce.

The cutlets are thin, so you need to cook them hot and fast.

Perfect for a summer dinner.

TL;DR -  Hung out at cookbook photo shoot.  Chicken wrap, yo!