Category Archives: General

New 2017 Grilling Cookbooks

Last week I posted about the latest, greatest Weber cookbook for 2017 titled Weber’s Greatest Hits plus other great Weber cookbooks going back several years.

This week, let’s wrap-up with more new 2017 grilling cookbooks that you might consider adding to your cooking library.

New 2017 Grilling Cookbooks

Salt Block Grilling: 70 Recipes for Outdoor Cooking with Himalayan Salt Blocks

Salt Block Grilling: 70 Recipes for Outdoor Cooking with Himalayan Salt Blocks

Amazon.com says, “Over 70 all new recipes for grilling traditional and nontraditional dishes on a Himalayan salt block from salt expert and best-selling author of Salt Block Cooking, Mark Bitterman.

“Everyone who loves the excitement and pleasure of discovering new cooking techniques will enjoy this guide to grilling and entertaining with salt blocks. The introduction is your salt block owner’s manual, with everything you need to know to purchase, use, and maintain salt blocks with confidence. The six chapters that follow are divided into over 70 recipes organized by key ingredients: Meat, Seafood, Poultry, Vegetables and Fruit, Dairy, and Doughs. You’ll find recipes for Salt Seared Smoked Pork Belly, Lamb Satay with Mint Chutney and Spicy Peanut Crumble, Salt Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad, Hot Salted Edamame with Sesame, Shiso, and Szechuan Pepper, and Salty, Smoky Walnut-Chocolate Chunk Cookies.” Continue reading New 2017 Grilling Cookbooks

Best Weber Grilling Cookbooks

Weber is known for its popular series of grilling cookbooks, each with easy-to-follow recipes and beautiful photography. I own all of these books and find them to be an indispensable part of my cookbook library.

The Must-Have Weber Grilling Cookbook

If you buy only one Weber grilling cookbook, it ought to be this one:

Weber's Greatest Hits: 125 Classic Recipes for Every Grill

Weber’s Greatest Hits: 125 Classic Recipes for Every Grill

Amazon.com says, “In the ultimate gift for every griller, from beginner to veteran, Weber rated, debated, and curated its entire recipe collection, with help from its most enthusiastic fans. Here in one gorgeous package are the ultimate go-to recipes for every occasion.

“The book includes all-new photography, fun stories from Weber’s rich and often hilarious history, and special features such as the Top Ten Grilling Dos and Don’ts.

“Whether building a better burger or smoking competition-worthy ribs, Weber fans will delight in these classic standards and contemporary inspirations.” Continue reading Best Weber Grilling Cookbooks

Locating Your Weber Gas Grill Model/Serial Number

Locating the model and serial number of your Weber gas grill can be tricky, especially on older grills that have been out in the weather for years. You may need your model and serial number when registering a gas grill with Weber Customer Service or when trying to order replacement parts from Weber.

On current and recent grills, the model and serial number are printed on a sticker inside the storage cabinet. Sometimes it’s horizontal, like in this Weber Summit S-670:

Sticker in Weber Summit S-670 gas grill

And the model and serial number are here:

Close-up of Summit S-670 model and serial number

Continue reading Locating Your Weber Gas Grill Model/Serial Number

2017 Weber Genesis II: First Impressions

Today I had a chance to get up close and personal with some of the new 2017 Weber Genesis II gas grills at a local Ace Hardware store in San Jose, CA. All were base models, not the high-end LX model. One was a 2-burner model, two were 3-burner, and one was 4-burner.

Genesis II SE-410 4-burner in Crimson
Genesis II SE-410 4-burner in Crimson

Overall Impressions of Genesis II

To my eye, the lids appear just a short and squat in-person as they do in photos. A member of The Virtual Weber Bulletin Board reports that the grate to lid height is 1″ shorter than 2016 models. Perhaps it’s a optical illusion, but it sure seems shorter than that.

Continue reading 2017 Weber Genesis II: First Impressions

New 2017 Weber Genesis Gas Grill Photos

New 2017 Weber Genesis Gas Grill Photos

Genesis II With Open & Closed Cabinets Featured at Ace Hardware Convention in Chicago

Photos of new 2017 Weber Genesis gas grills started showing up online in the past few weeks. One of my sources saw these grills today at the Ace Hardware convention in Chicago and says they are real beauties!

Weber Genesis II LX stainless steel 6-burner with storage cabinet, side burner, handle lights and integrated tool hooks
Weber Genesis II LX stainless steel 6-burner with storage cabinet, side burner, handle lights and integrated tool hooks

Continue reading New 2017 Weber Genesis Gas Grill Photos

Weber Spirit E-310: Best Gas Grill Under $500

Weber Spirit E-310 Gas Grill
Weber Spirit E-310 Gas Grill

In their May/June 2016 issue, Cook’s Illustrated magazine reviewed gas grills priced under $500 and named the Weber Spirit E-310 as the only highly recommended grill of the six grills tested.

Even though the Spirit E-310 had one of the lowest BTU ratings of any grill tested, it produced better results than grills with much higher BTU numbers. The reasons cited in the article include the tight-fitting lid, minimal exhaust vents, a heat-retaining cookbox made of thick cast aluminum, and even heat diffusion due to Weber’s exclusive Flavorizer bars.

Testers also liked the grease tray for easy cleanup and sturdy, compact design.

Once again, Weber leads the pack! As I like to say: “Buy the best and only cry once!”

Weber Genesis: 30 Years & Still Going Strong

Weber Genesis 2, circa 1991
Weber Genesis 2, circa 1991

I would be remiss if I allowed the year to pass without noting that 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of the venerable Weber Genesis gas grill.

Earlier this year, Weber published a lengthy blog post documenting the process of how the Genesis came to be. It’s a fascinating read that explains how executives responded to competitive pressures and customer demands to design a gas grill that far exceeded anything on the market when it came out in 1985—including its $400 price tag.

“I think it was more or less survival. You could feel the ground shift underneath you, so we knew that we had to be in the gas business, but we had to be in it in a Weber way where consumers would have a great experience.

“We said, ‘We’re gonna make a really great gas barbecue that’s worthy of the Weber name and whatever it sells for – that’s what it sells for.’”

Mike Kempster
Weber Global Chief Marketing Officer

You can read the entire blog post at Weber.com.

Weber Genesis ad from 1989
Weber Genesis ad from 1989

The High Price Of Pre-Marinated Meat: A Cautionary Tale

You don’t find full-service butcher shops around much anymore, but there’s one about 40 miles from my house that sells fresh and smoked meats, sausages, bacon and fish at retail to the public, and butchers animals for ranchers and wild game for hunters. They have a deli counter where you can get a tasty tri-tip sandwich. Best of all, they sell pellet grills in front of the shop, so you know they’re legit.

One of the things this butcher shop is known for is their ready-to-grill marinated meats. A while back, I dropped in and without thinking about it too much bought a bag of marinated skirt steak.

Lesson #1: I Paid (A Lot) For Convenience

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This package of marinated skirt steak weighs 4.32 pounds and sells for $10.50 per pound. I get it. I’m paying a premium price for convenience.  Take it home and put it straight on the grill. But just for fun, let’s break it down a bit more.

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Here’s how much liquid was left in the bag after I removed the skirt steak. It’s almost 20 fluid ounces—2-1/2 cups. Now, to be fair, some of that liquid is meat juices. Let’s be generous and subtract 20% for meat juices. That leaves 16 fluid ounces of actual marinade.

What does a fluid ounce of this marinade weigh? I don’t know because I didn’t weigh it at the time, but I weighed a similar marinade and it weighs about 1.5 ounces per fluid ounce. So 16 fluid ounces of marinade weighs about 24 ounces or 1-1/2 pounds. At $10.50 per pound, I paid $15.75 for the marinade in the measuring cup.

How does that compare to supermarket marinade? A 16 fluid ounce bottle of marinade at an expensive grocery store might cost $5.99. That’s the equivalent of about $4.00 per pound.

I paid almost four times the price for marinade in the pre-marinated meat than if I had used an expensive supermarket marinade.

Lesson #2: I Got Unevenly Marinated Meat

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The skirt steak came out of the package as one long piece of meat. I cut it into the pieces shown here and patted them dry with paper towels.

Notice those bright red patches? Those are areas where the meat was folded over on itself and the marinade could not reach the meat. The result was uneven marination.

When you let someone else do the marinating for you, you have no control over how they do it. When you do it yourself, you can take steps to ensure that the meat is evenly marinated.

Lesson #3: Marinades Don’t Penetrate Deeply

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Look at the cut end of this piece of skirt steak. It can’t be more than 1/2 inch thick at most. Who knows how many hours the meat was marinating before I bought it. And skirt steak is not exactly a tight-grained piece of meat. Yet the marinade barely penetrated the surface.

This illustrates and confirms the findings of experts like Cook’s Illustrated magazine that marinades do not deeply penetrate most meats—they only affect the surface and just below the surface.

Lesson #4: It Tasted Great

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It cost a lot. It wasn’t evenly marinated. It wasn’t deeply marinated. So how did it turn out? It tasted great.

I grilled the pieces over medium-high heat to medium doneness. The meat was moist and juicy, a bit fatty like a good skirt steak should be, with some crispy edges that were to die for. As for the Asian marinade, it was really delicious and added some good heat.

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To be clear, I had absolutely no issues with the quality of this meat or marinade. But will I buy it again? No, because I’m a cheapskate.

Here’s the bottom line: It pays—literally—to consider the real price of convenience before buying pre-marinated meat. Marinating meat is easy to do at home, and you’ll save a ton of money.

If you’re looking for a good book on marinades, consider this new one from “Dr. BBQ” Ray Lampe.

Weber Grill Haiku

How I hate that smell
How I hate that smell

Recently I was grilling burgers when I lifted the lid and was suddenly reminded of this haiku I wrote in 2014. Please enjoy.

Arm Hair

I lift the grill lid
Singeing hairs on my forearm
How I hate that smell