Grilling with a twist

bowen

I need a method to grill in doors. Being winter and living in a shitty apartment doesn't leave me many options. What's the best way to make some grilled items like burgers, chicken, and other things too indoors? Would I be looking for a skillet or a George Foreman grill?

Let me know your methods and tools to do this.

taeric

The only advantages of a grill is the high heat with very good ventilation. That is, so long as you have a very well ventilated room, you can just use the stove at a high heat setting. I'd recommend a cast iron skillet.

That said, I know some folks that have sworn by the foreman grille.

Also, as always, if you do take my advice of using high heat inside, please make sure you have appropriate fire protection (extinguishers, etc.), in case things go awry.

Kate of Lokys

My George Foreman grill does a great job on pork chops and chicken breasts, a mediocre job on steak, and is absolutely fucking useless for hamburgers. Its big feature is the combination of non-stick cooking surfaces with the slope to drain off fat, which is why it's just fine for cuts that are already low in fat... but damnit, with something like a burger or a nice marbled steak, you want to be able to sear the outside, locking in all that sweet, sweet fatty goodness.

So, get a George Foreman for light stuff, and get a good cast-iron pan for fatty stuff. You can cook burgers right in the pan; for steaks, sear them over high heat, then toss them in the oven.

bowen

Yeah I've already got an extinguisher I check yearly. Cast iron you say? Please tell me these are absolutely easier to clean than stainless steel that I fucking hate.

Kate of Lokys

Actually, cast iron is pretty much a bitch until you get it seasoned right.

Basically, when you buy a new cast iron pan, the surface is all rough and pebbly, and there's no non-stick component to it at all. You need to go through a gradual process of breaking it in by heating oil (or lard) in it. The oil works its way into the surface of the pan, making it nice and slick. Cleaning cast iron can be a bit of a pain too - some people say you should never, ever use soap, others say that mild soap is OK, pretty much everyone agrees that scouring or harsh scrubbing should be avoided.

There's a half-decent guide to seasoning cast iron here, and the Wiki page has some info as well.

GungHo

They are easier to clean as long as you season the pan before you use it to cook things.

EDIT: Damn, foiled again!

Ruckus

Kate of Lokys wrote: »

Actually, cast iron is pretty much a bitch until you get it seasoned right.

Basically, when you buy a new cast iron pan, the surface is all rough and pebbly, and there's no non-stick component to it at all. You need to go through a gradual process of breaking it in by heating oil (or lard) in it. The oil works its way into the surface of the pan, making it nice and slick. Cleaning cast iron can be a bit of a pain too - some people say you should never, ever use soap, others say that mild soap is OK, pretty much everyone agrees that scouring or harsh scrubbing should be avoided.

There's a half-decent guide to seasoning cast iron here, and the Wiki page has some info as well.

Ya, scrubbing with harsh grease-killer soaps wrecks the seasoning you've invested so much time with.

The best thing I can actually equate it with is a BBQ grill. You don't wash your grill every time you use it, you just fire it up and scrape it with a wire brush and rely on the heat to sterylize anything bad on it. Sort of the same idea with a Cast Iron pan, you wash it with a cloth in lightly soaped water, enough to get the solid stuff off but thats it. The next time you use it you heat it up and oil it again, eventually the pan will build up it's own kind of nonstick from the embedded oils and greases.

taeric

All of that is to say, do not fear using a cast iron. About the only real mistake you can make is running it through the dish washer. Also, do not let water sit on it for long. The rest is simply to use it and not worry about scrubbing the heck out of it.

KalTorak

Cast iron gear from Lodge almost all comes pre-seasoned, so you don't have to worry about baking it in shortening or whatever. You usually put a thin coat of oil on after you clean it though.

brandotheninjamaster

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8222030

My father uses something like this and it works very well.

Merkwurdigliebe Ph.D

When it comes to cast iron skillets, the above cleaning suggestions are good you can watch this for more info on taking care of cast iron cookware (namely make sure you get a good base coat on the cure) Demo's begin at about 5:05, scientific explanation appear before that (complete with styrofoam molecules)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfvj2hyHQXA&eurl=http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=good+eats+cast+iron&www_google_domain=www.google.com&emb=0&aq=-1iurl=http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/qfvj2hyHQXA/hqdefault.jpg

Washing away the cure on a skillet isn't that big a deal, you just have to cure it again. As long as you don't get rust you're ok, and even if you do you can get it off.

A Foreman is great for most simple grilling techniques, just keep in mind that it isn't the same thing. A grill has one extreme heat source (beneath it). A Foreman has two, top and bottom, that don't get nearly as hot. Cooking foods low and slow has a different effect on food, not worse necessarily, but different. Keep in mind the same design feature that cut fat by letting gravity pull juices out of your food as the Foreman cooks/presses it, is also making the food more bland.

I'd keep in mind that for most purposes, a broiler (your oven set to broil) is the same exact thing as a grill. A grill is one extreme heat source from below right? Well a broiler is one extreme heat source from above. Put your food on a rack over a baking pan and keep in mind the added heat of the convection in the oven and you can cook most anything in the broiler. (typically this is reserved for fish though)

Between a broiler and a cast iron skillet on a stove top you are pretty much set (except for that smoky delicious taste of food cooked over charcoal)

I almost forgot, a cast iron griddle that you can place on your stove top can work pretty damn well too. The cast iron spreads the heat out enough that you don't have to worry about hot spots and the wide griddle range gives you ample room to cook.

bowen

brandotheninjamaster wrote: »

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8222030

My father uses something like this and it works very well.

I'll check out the cast iron skillets.

Does this actually work like a grill? If so, that's awesome.

amateurhour

bowen wrote: »

brandotheninjamaster wrote: »

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8222030

My father uses something like this and it works very well.

I'll check out the cast iron skillets.

Does this actually work like a grill? If so, that's awesome.

It works pretty well, but grilling with something that big indoors is bound to cause a smoke problem if you don't know what you're doing.

I'd reccomend getting a grill pan. It's a cast iron skillet with grooves to basically simulate a grill top. Easy to clean, effective, and you can put it right under the oven vents.

mts

you can try a grill pan. sear both sides and then throw it in the oven/broiler for a bit to finish cooking. works well

edit: beated, but mine isn't cast iron

Usagi

Cast iron grill/griddle pan is the best, and you can even find them enameled - all of the benefits of cast iron, none of the hassles of seasoning or cleaning. I have one and love it to bits, though it can make the house smoky sometimes.

The best part is, the one I have is reversible so hamburgers and steak on one side, eggs and pancakes on the other.

Tw4win

mts wrote: »

you can try a grill pan. sear both sides and then throw it in the oven/broiler for a bit to finish cooking. works well

edit: beated, but mine isn't cast iron

Get a cast iron one and you are golden. I use mine almost every night.

Also, I suggest going to Williams Sonoma or some other kitchen store and buying a press or weight for meat. It helps with the grilling process.

Elin

Before you go to the cooking stores go to the salvation army. You can get good cast iron pans for dirt cheap because youngins' don't know how awesome they are and they just toss em out.

Pheezer

CAST IRON SKILLET

I know this has probably been stated but allow me to emphasize:

CAST IRON SKILLET.


It's the best sear. Outside of a really good BBQ, it's the best grill. I've used mine on open campfires, in the oven, on the stove top, they're incredibly versatile, dirt cheap and cook AMAZING FUCKING FOOD


CAST IRON GODDAMNED SKILLET

ps. never ever ever ever ever ever use dish soap on one. Heat it up, pour Kosher salt allllllll over it, and wad up a paper towel. Grip the towel with a pair of tongs and scrub the salt into the skillet. Takes off EVERYTHING and you just have to wipe it clean with a plain, dry paper towel into the garbage bin.

shutz

I'll have to try that kosher salt suggestion.

I have a cast iron grill pan, and it makes the best steaks I've ever made, except for when I use an outdoor grill.

It came pre-seasoned, so I didn't have to worry about that part...

One thing, though: I like to use steak spice (more specifically, Montreal steak spice...) and I tend to use a lot, especially on thicker steaks, and I find that some of the spice, along with blood and other residue from the steaks tends to cake up unless I do one or two cycles of heavy cleaning, as follows:

1- heat up the pan on maximum heat
2- pour in a glass or two of water (I heard somewhere that cold water might be too much of a shock and cause the pan to crack, so I usually use either warm or hot water from the tap) and wait for it to boil. This tends to help get some of the caked-up stuff to come off.
3- Use a wire brush to help the rest of the solid stuff to come off
4- Empty the water and black stuff in the sink (using the trap to catch the bigger black chunks so they don't clog up your drain)
5- Rince as much of the black gunk off as you can.
6- Put it back on the stove and heat it back up to dry it off. Any pieces of, well, at this point it's like coal, or almost, any pieces like that that are still stuck should dry and curl up, making them easier to scrape off with a stainless steel kitchen implement (I often use a knife, but even a fork sometimes works.) Get rid of that crap.
7- If there's still a lot of caked-up stuff, just pour on more water while the pan is still really hot, and repeat the previous steps (I've never had to do it more than twice, and I now rarely have to do it more than once these days... I think I got the hang of it.)
8- Once the pan has cooled off enough, oil it and then store it.

This works for me, but I'm not entirely sure if it's the best way. I've been told to never ever use any soap, so I've avoided this. But I have to admit that, lately, steaks and hamburgers tend to get an oily black coating when I cook them on this pan. It gives the meat a borderline charcoal flavor, but it makes it look, well, wrong.

Also, I used to splash some Worcestershire sauce on steaks and hamburgers, before sprinkling some steak spice (yeah, I'm addicted to seasonings) but I've stopped using the sauce because it would drip onto the pan, boil up (steaming the meat in the process, messing up the normal grilling) and just caramelize in the grooves in the pan. It's one of the reasons I sometimes had to do 2 "cleaning cycles".

Anyway, if anybody would like to comment on my methods, I'd like to hear what some of you think.

mts

you shoudl just deglaze tht spice/blood/juice and use it as gravy

Pheezer

Honestly, I get that same build up because I mainly use mine for meat. Heat it up a bit and then use the kosher salt trick. Works much better on a pan that's been heated up.

shutz

I tried making gravy in that cast-iron grill pan. Never again (well, not with a thickening gravy, anyway). It just makes the pan even more disgusting, and because of the grilling "lines" (what do you call those, anyway?) you get even more surface area for the gravy to stick to...

On a regular, flat-bottom cast-iron pan, I could make you gravies you'd want to tell your grandchildren about, but not on a grill pan. Just to clarify, my current pan looks like this:



Not really practical for making any kind of thickening gravy (the kind I prefer...) Obviously, I could just deglaze with some water, red wine, or even beef stock, and as long as I don't add any thickening agents, I should be OK, but dammit, I like thick pepper gravy, and it just doesn't work with this pan.

bowen

Thanks guys. My girlfriend is looking for hot dogs with the lines, so I'm taking it the skillet with the BBQ lines will work for that process eh?