How Noah Greenberg Picked His Perfect Grill with Grill Comparison

How do you decide which grill is your best buy? That’s a question that many consumers ask. Today, Noah shares his story about picking out a grill that works best for him and for his grilling needs.

Noah Greenberg Loves His New Napoleon Grill Found with Grill Comparison


How I Selected my Gas Grill
By Noah Greenberg

When recently on a mission to find a new grill to buy, I had a striking revelation; getting a new barbeque is an amazingly exciting, yet daunting process. Although I was sad to see the old one part (too many memories, too many steaks), all I could think about was what the new one would look like, what features it would have (who wouldn’t want a grease managing system?), and of course, what would be the first thing I cooked on it.

Gas Barbeque Grill Comparison Tool

The truth is, there are hundreds of gas grills out there, and not all grills are created equal. Fortunately, I used this great new Grill Comparison released by FindTheBest to compare my options. FindTheBest compares just about everything, and their new Gas Grill Comparison really provides a great way to compare your options. With over 140 grills to compare, they’ve got all the top manufacturers, and then some.

There are plenty of different things to think about when researching new grills, and fortunately the tool covers them all. Sift through your options by Fuel Type, MSRP, Features, number of burners and more. You can even filter by the cheapest grills, then click a few features that you’re looking for and see what grills show up in the search results.

Finally, with a unique BTU’s per square inch feature, you can even ensure that you’re not getting a grill with a huge cooking area but no burner power.

Next time you’re in the market for a barbeque, make sure to check out this grill comparison tool to see what’s out there that fits exactly what you’re looking for.

Not Exactly Sure What Grill Is Right For You?

There’s even a fantastic Guide Me feature that lets you pick how much you value certain features, and FindTheBest will suggest six grills that fit your preferences. That’s how I picked my grill, and these six grills were suggested, and I ended up with the Napoleon Ultra Chef. Napoleon isn’t paying me, but I’ll just say that I may have found the best…

Country Chef Grilling Sauce Original Recipe - BBQ Sauce Review

Grilled Chicken with Country Chef Original Sauce

We enjoyed some delicious Country Chef original barbecue sauced chicken before we headed out to the beach (what fun - that). It was a quick and easy meal that is much faster than fast food, since we live out in the country and have to drive into town to get carry out.

Mike sent me his set of sauces to check out, and I grilled pork chops with his Country Chef Chipotle for our first grill out with the sauce collection. I'm a sucker for heat, and I didn't find the sauce to be very hot but was quite impressed with how it was so fresh and like home canned.

The original flavor has the same small batch look and feel, and it is a little milder in terms of heat than the first one I tried. I don't see this as a heat freak line, and since it's available at some grocery stores now like Ingles, then it would be pretty crazy to go scorching the mainstream population. I find few people who really go wild for flavors that make them break a sweat, but there are a few of us . . . On the flip side, I adore good and balanced flavor in general, and Country Chef nails that.

Chicken Off the Grill with Country Chef BBQ Sauce

Our quick grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts with Country Chef original sauce hit the spot before we left and ended up eating a lot of road food and sandwiches on vacation. The chicken really doesn't have a whole lot of flavor plain, but it's healthy. When you add a nice sauce like Country Chef's, then the grilled meal then pops.

What I love about Country Chef sauces is that they do taste like they were made out in the country by someone who cares and knows how to make canned foods. The grilling sauces are excellent, but I think I like them even more as condiments on the table. So, you can consider these great table dips as well. We just did a combo - grilled with the sauce and then added more at the table.

Country Chef Grilling Sauce

It's dark outside, so I can't get a nice shot of the original Country Chef Grilling Sauce. Here is what the jar looks like (for the chipolte), so you can eyeball it know what to look for when you go shopping for tasty barbecue sauce.

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Meatballs with Fischer & Wieser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Fischer & Wiser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce


I have been looking forward to trying out Fischer & Weiser's Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Barbecue Sauce. Toni sent me out a sample bottle right before I went to the beach. The packaging is really nice, and the sauce looks beautiful through the glass.

Raspberry Barbecue Sauce

It's easier to see what the Fischer & Weiser looks like when I have it poured in the bowl to sauce up some MOINK grilled meatballs. The color is just great, and you can see that the sauce looks home canned with the chunks of raspberry clearly visible.

The smell was great, so I had a quick taste before I started grilling. Wow. This sauce tastes like candy. Honestly, I could have kept eating right out of the jar. But, that would not be a very balanced dinner, so I put on the MOINKs.

MOINKs Ready to Go on the Grill to Slow Smoke

Larry at Barbecue Grail came up with MOINKs which are Moo (hamburger) and OINK (bacon) - hence the name. They are really simple to make. Just buy or make meatballs and wrap a half slice of bacon around. Secure with a toothpick (soak those in water for 20 minutes so they don't burn). Grill or smoke slowly until the meat is close done. Sauce. Finish grilling until the sauce caramelizes.

Sauced Up Barbecue Meatballs with Bacon

I was talking on the phone and ran late getting our meatballs on the grill, but they smoke pretty quickly. They can go right on the grates, but I find it easiest to use my grill wok. With the lid down on the grill at medium heat, the meatballs barbecue even and don't even need turned. On the grates, I usually have to turn them.

Here you can see that I added the Roasted Raspberry Barbecue Sauce to the MOINKs. I used a brush, but I sometimes use tongs and lift and dip each one and then put them back in. Either method works fine.

Grilled Meatballs with Raspberry BBQ Sauce

My son was starving, so he dove right in. I was close behind. We both thought the Fischer & Wieser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce was great on the MOINKs. The very sweet flavor with only a slight hint of heat went just right with the meats. They were some of the best MOINKs we've had.

This barbecue sauce would be good where you want a nice sweet kick. The MOINKs are excellent, and I'd say the sauce would go very well with chicken and pork too. Frankly, I think it would be good on hot homemade biscuits just out of the oven as well or even ice cream.

Durn Good Ann's Marinade Review - A Very Different Grilling Marinade

Durn Good Ann's Marinade by D.J. Hoch's of North Carolina

If you are looking for a different flavored grilling marinade, then Durn Good Ann's Marinade definately fits the bill.

This is one of the products that I got with a birthday gift certificate my son gave me for A Southern Season which is a really great gourmet food and cooking store in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. My son took me over when I was there to visit, and I had a blast getting products that I certainly can't find here in a small town.

It's hard to find good marinades and especially hard to find any that really are unique. We often use Kraft Zesty Italian dressing which works quite well, but I like to have different flavors so that our foods don't end up all tasting the same time after time.

The Durn Good Ann's Marinade says "A Cumin Spiced Taste Bud Treat" on the bottle. I think that's what caught my eye when I was at the store and browsing the marinade and barbecue sauce isle.

The Durn Good marinade was developed by the owner of the company and was initially mixed up for wild game. It's listed as a marinade for chicken, dove, pork, and quail. The directions call for marinating overnight, but if you're doing boneless, skinless chicken like I did, then you don't need that much marinating time. I just marinated the chicken around an hour.

Grilled Chicken on a Weber Kettle with Durn Good Marinade

When I opened the bottle of Ann's Durn Good Marinade, it definately smelled different from other marinades I'd used. I've never had marinade with cumin as a keynote, and I doubt I would have guessed the scent even though I use cumin in chili and other hearty dishes.

I grilled the boneless chicken breasts as usual sans barbecue saucing, since I wanted to taste the flavor of the marinade.

The chicken smelled really good grilling, and the marinade which also includes soy sauce really browned up nice as the chicken was grilling.

Grilled Chicken with NC Durn Good Marinade

I never say much about the products I'm using when I grill before serving and letting everyone try out the food. I don't want to slant the reactions.

When I took my first bite of the chicken, I thought, "Hum. Yes. This is different."

The guys all noted the same.

It took a few bites to really adjust and get a feel and taste for this marinade, since it's unlike anything else I've put on grilled chicken before.

We continued with our dinner and were just chatting like usual. The plate of chicken was disappearing pretty fast. By the end of the meal, I'd decided that Durn Good marinade was a keeper. I asked the guys what they thought after the meal. Thumbs up all 'round.

If you don't like to branch out much when you're grilling, then you may not want to go with Durn Good Ann's Marinade. It certainly is unique. It took my family a few bites to really appeciate the flavors and react.

It would be interesting to try this on wild game as was the original intent. I don't have any, but I would think the bold flavors would go well with wild meat. I don't see deer specifically listed, but I could see this marinade mixed with my venison mini meatloafs on the grill.

1001 Best Grilling Recipes by Rick Browne - BBQ Grilling Book Review

1,001 Best Grilling Recipes by Rick Browne

Rick Browne, from the PBS grilling TV series "Barbecue America," has put together the biggest collection of grilling recipes I've seen to date. His book is around an inch and half thick and packed full of page after page of recipes for the barbecue grill.

Jali asked if I'd like to try out Rick's new book (this is his 8th). I'm always looking for new grilling ideas and recipes, and I figured there would have to be many things I'd not tried with 1001 grilling recipes.

I was correct. I play around with my grills all the time, but I found loads of new ideas in this grill cookbook. Rockport Lobster and Shrimp Burgers - yum! Then, there's a whole chapter on game birds, goosse, and duck. That's an area where I've not really ventured, but I'm looking forward to trying some of those recipes but probably when the weather gets a little cooler.

The sections in 1,001 Best Grilling Recipes include:

Appetizers
Beer
Burgers
Chicken
Fish and Shellfish
Game Birds, Goose, and Duck
Hot Dogs and Sausages
Lamb
Marinades
Pork
Rubs and Seasonings
Sauces
Side Dishes
Turkey
Wild Game
Desserts

The book is also indexed well which makes it much easier to use than some grilling cookbooks I've checked out.

Inside 1001 Best Grilling Recipes

Do note that this is not an "eye candy" cookbook. You do not get the coffee table effect with big, slick pages and full color photos.

This is an actual grilling cookbook packed with recipes - page after page of recipes. For those who know the basics of grilling, then this is an ideal way to get new ideas and recipes. For beginning grillers, then perhaps a more basic grilling book would be the best starting point and then this cookbook offers many ways to branch out and step it up once the basics are mastered.

Barbecue Base by Shirley J - Mix and Make Your Own BBQ Sauce or Great for RV or Camping

BBQ Sauce Mix by Shirley J

When Amanda contacted me about Shirley J's just-add-water (or whatever you like) BBQ Sauce Mix, I was curious. I could see the ideas for making custom barbecue sauce mixes or for traveling, camping, or RVing with barbecue sauce mix (without the weight and glass bottles). Amanda asked if I'd like to try it out and share my thoughts with Barbecue Master blog readers, and I thought this would be a really good product to check out.

The container of BBQ Sauce Mix came in, and it's a generous container of sauce mix. The container you see above is about 8 inches high and around 4 inches all around. With the standard mix of one part Shirley J BBQ Sauce Mix to three parts water, that's a lot of barbecue sauce in the cabinet and ready to make fresh whenever I want.

Grilled Chicken with Shirley J BBQ Sauce Mix

I often test out barbecue sauces with boneless, skinless chicken breasts or grilled chicken tenders. They are easy to grill, quick, and I can really taste the flavors of barbecue sauces, since the chicken is mild as far as flavor grilled this way.

It was super simple to put 1/4 cup of the Shirley J BBQ Sauce Mix in a mixing cup and then top it off with water to the one cup measure and stir well. The result was a nice basic barbecue sauce close to a mop sauce in terms of texture. In other words, the sauce was fairly thin (like traditional NC barbecue sauces) at one part powder to three parts water. But, you can use more powder for a thicker sauce or use other ingredients to make variations.

The flavor of the Shirley J BBQ Sauce Mix was nice. This is one that would be fine for all family and friends. It's mild but does have flavor.

On the second grill, I used Shirley J BBQ Mix but mixed it with butter and beer on burgers. I heated my custom mixture in a sauce pan and then let the burgers sit in the homemade mix marinade. Again, the sauce was good.

Ideas for Using Shirley J Just-Add-Water BBQ Sauce Mix

I checked out the Shirley J web site and also the sales brochure (which you see above). The company provides good ideas and recipes for using the mixes. That's always nice.

The thing I like best about the barbcue sauce mix is that it keeps on the shelf and travels really well. That's great for people who camp or RV and also if you don't go through a whole lot of barbecue sauce quick (like I do).

The second big plus I see is that this is a base barbecue sauce, and you can add your own signature to the sauce. Be creative with the liquids and with seasonings and such. You can have a new experience for every cook out or can keep track and keep adjusting until you hit on the perfect barbecue sauce for your own personal tastes.

Potato Grill Pack with Shirley J Onion Seasoning

Amanda also included some Onion Seasoning by Shirley J. I generally have fresh onions, but I didn't last week. I was making an aluminum foil pack of potatoes to go on the grill, and I wanted some flavor. I sprinkled on the Shirley J Onion Seasoning, and that worked out really well on our potato grill packs. Again, this is a nice shelf or travel option over fresh vegetables. And, it saved me a trip to the grocery store.

Shirley J has been around since 1978 (oh - the memories from that year), but they are just now offering the mixes to home cooks and grillers. They had been focusing on restaurants, so you may well have had some of these products when you've been eating out. Now, you can get the mixes at home and for travel.

Shirley J has loads of mixes including ones for breads and also sauces. One that caught my eye was the Universal Sauce. That one can be used to make white sauces or to make gravy with biscuits. I make homemade biscuits and gravy, but it's a lot of work especially for a big group. One of the ladies at church who is a great cook told me that making white gravy for a group works out better if you "get a mix" and keep it warming in a crock pot. I suspect she has discovered Shirley J. I'll have to ask next time I see her.

Special Preview - Guy Fieri's Cuban-Style Grilled Spare Ribs with Mojo Sauce

Just in time for the weekend, here's a special preview of the not-yet-released grill recipe from Guy Fieri provided by the National Pork Board.

As you may know, I enjoy grilling pork from boneless pork chops to loins with bacon weaves, and I'm looking forward to trying out Fieri's spare ribs as well as his new barbecue sauces just out in 2011.

Cuban-Style Grilled Spare Ribs with Mojo Sauce

Recipe courtesy of Guy Fieri on behalf of the National Pork Board


Cuban-Style Grilled Spare Ribs with Mojo Sauce

* 8 pounds pork spare ribs, trimmed of excess surface fat, silverskin removed, cut into 5 or 6 slabs

* 2 tablespoons granulated garlic

* 1 tablespoon kosher salt

* 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Mojo Sauce

* 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

* 1/3 cup fresh orange juice

* 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

* 3 garlic cloves, minced

* 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

* 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

* 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives

* 1 tablespoon honey

* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to Make and Grill Fieri's Cuban-Style Spare Ribs


Preheat an outdoor grill for indirect medium heat. For a gas grill, remove cooking grates. Preheat grill on high. Turn one burner off. Place disposable aluminum foil pan over off burner and add 2 cups water. Replace grates. Adjust heat to medium (350°F). For a charcoal grill, place disposable aluminum foil pan on one side of charcoal grate; add 2 cups water. Build fire on opposite side, and let burn until coals are coated with white ash. Spread coals in grill opposite pan and let burn 15-20 minutes. Position cooking grate in grill.

Mix granulated garlic, salt, and pepper a together in a small bowl to make a basic seasoning mix (the bright, bold flavor will come later from the mojo sauce). Season ribs all over, rubbing seasoning into the ribs well. Arrange ribs over foil pan (a rib rack works great) and cover the grill. Grill, turning occasionally, until the ribs are nicely browned and the meat is beginning to pull away from the bones, about 1 1/2 hours. (For a charcoal grill, add 12 briquettes to coals after 45 minutes.) This gets the ribs nice and smoky for a great base flavor.

Carefully transfer ribs to a platter. Wrap each slab in a double thickness of aluminum foil. Crimp foil edges to seal packet. Return the ribs to indirect medium heat. (For charcoal grill, add 12 more briquettes to coals.) Cover and grill ribs until very tender (caused by steam in foil), about 1 hours.

Meanwhile, make mojo sauce. Process ingredients in blender into smooth sauce, and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate to blend flavors, at least 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning once more just before serving. Makes about 1 1/3 cups.

Return ribs to platter. Carefully unwrap ribs--the ribs will be very steamy and hot, so take care--and discard foil. (Ribs can be prepared up to 1 hour ahead at this point. Or cool, cover, and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.)

Prepare a hot fire in grill. (For a charcoal grill, build a fresh fire, let burn until coals are covered with ash.) Return unwrapped ribs to grill and cover. Grill, flipping occasionally, until sizzling, 6 to 8 minutes.

Transfer ribs to a carving board and let stand for 5 minutes. Cut into individual ribs and place on a clean platter. Serve ribs with mojo sauce, allowing each guest to spoon sauce over ribs to taste.

Prep: 30 minutes
Total time: 3 hours
Serves: 6

Nutritional Information per Serving:

Calories: 670 Fat: 34g Saturated Fat: 9g
Cholesterol: 275mg Sodium: 1210mg Carbohydrates: 7g
Protein: 78g Fiber: 0g

Summer Fun BBQ Giveaway - Gear and GC - Enter by 7/10/2011

The 4th of July has come and gone, but the good times still roll with my Barbecue Master Summer Fun BBQ giveaway. I'm really excited about this contest and all the great prizes.

Prize Bundle List - WOW! - Great Stuff You Can Win

* Guy’s new cookbook- Guy Fieri Food: Cookin’ It, Livin’ It, Lovin’ It

* Four (4) big, bold BBQ sauces featured in Guy's BBQ Sampler Set

* The ultimate grilling tool set

* Digital thermometer

* $25 American Express gift card to purchase pork or what you want at a local retailer

Food: Cookin' It, Livin' It, Lovin' It by Guy Fieri

You'll find lots of inspiration in Guy Fieri's new cookbook. This is a big hardback cookbook packed full of yummy recipes and great photos.

Inside Guy Fieri's New Cookbook

Doesn't this Red Rocker Margarite Chicken look delicious? It's just one of many recipes in the cookbook ranging from poultry and seafood to pizza/pasta and dishes especially for kids.

Guy Fieri's New Line of Barbecue Sauces

In addition to the Fieri cookbook, you'll also get the sampler of his barbecue sauces. Readers may recall that I reviewed his North Carolina #6 which is a really nice sauce reflective of my area of the country.

Get Your Grill on with a Nice Barbecue Tool Set

When you're out at the grill saucing up some pork chops or chicken, you need tools. The gift bundle also includes this heavy duty BBQ tool collection.

Add a Digital Thermometer to that Prize Pack

To make sure that all your grilled foods come out perfect, you also get a ditial grill thermometer.

Hungry Yet?

Now, I'll bet you're hungry. You're in luck again, because this prize pack also includes a $25 gift card, so you can pick up some pork to fire up on the grill.

Holy cow (or perhaps I should say pig), that are some great prizes. And one lucky reader will get the whole package.

How to Enter the Barbecue Master Summer Fun Barbecue Giveaway

I'm a hobby barbecue blogger and like to keep these contests simple and low tech.

To enter, all you need to do is go to comments and give other readers a tip for grilling pork or if you don't have any tips, then just tell me why you'd like to win this giveaway prize pack. I do moderate the comments, so you don't get stuck reading spam or seeing naughty links. So, you won't see your comment immediatly. I have to get on and approve each one, but I do that often.

Yes. Simple as that. Just leave a comment, and you are entered. Be sure to leave some way to get in touch though, because I'll need to get a mailing address from the winner. That's the only data I gather or give out - just the winner and just so the prize can be mailed.

I know some readers like extra entry options, so if you Tweet, Facebook, or blog about the contest, you get extra slips in the hat. Just leave a comment letting me know that you added an extra entry. And, yes, you can do all three if you like.

The contest will run through July 10, 2011 EST 11:59 pm. The winner will be pulled on the 11th to start the week off really nice for a lucky Barbecue Master winner.

Winners will need to be from the U.S. due to shipping. I do appreciate my wonderful international readers and wish it were easier to ship out.

Note: The National Pork Board will be providing the gifts; however, I serve as the sponsor for the contest. I'm not connected with the Pork Council or any of the prize companies. I did get the same prize as being offered to a reader (those photos you see that I put up).

THANKS to everyone who entered and for the great pork grilling tips. My son drew the name, and Tom won this gift package. Congratulations Tom.

I don't keep contact lists, but there is an automatic email update over to the right side. Keep an eye out. I host giveaways now and then and enjoy having the chance to see someone win a nice gift like this package provided by the National Pork Board.

How to Grill Boneless Pork Chops

Pork Chops Marinating in Allegro Marinade

Boneless pork chops are one of our favorite meats to grill out, because they are quick and easy. They can be expensive, but I just keep an eye out for sales and stock up.

Since boneless pork chops don't have a bone and almost no fat, they can dry out. You need to grill them quick and watch close, and it also helps to marinate the boneless pork chops. Marinade tenderizes, adds flavor, helps prevent sticking, and keeps the meat moist.

You can make your own marinade or use bottled Kraft Zesty Italian dressing or a specific marinade product. I've been disappointed in many of the products marketed as grilling marinades, because some of them overpower the meat and don't have great flavors either. My favorite marinades are by Allegro and particularly the spicy, teriyaki, and soy/lime. Above you see the raspberry chipolte, but that one was sweeter and fruitier than I like.

Boneless Pork Chops on the PK grill (Porable Kitchen Outdoor Cooker)

Last night I grilled our pork chops over charcoal on the PK grill, but they can be done over gas or electric. Actually, it's easier to go with gas or electric when grilling something that needs to be done quick. You can more easily regulate the heat and can get prettier grill lines. On the other hand, you get the fabulous smoked flavor if you use charcoal.

With my charcoal, I offset. This means that I put the charcoal on one end but not on the other end. This means that I have a good hot area and then a cooler area. Offset makes grilling so much easier. You can do the same basic thing with gas if you have more than one burner area. Just have part of the grill turned on. The cool side will still get hot but not hot like over direct grill flames.

Boneless Pork Chops Grilling

After the pork chops brown on one side and you see some white cooked color coming up the side over high heat, then flip the pork chops and sear off the other side. Then slide them off the really hot heat where they will quickly finish off.

The FDA has now officially stated that pork at 145 degrees F is safe, so you can grill to what would be considered a medium rare or a bit longer for all white but still moist pork chops. I like pork cooked medium rare or just at well done, but the boys prefer well done (but still juicy).

A thermometer can help as you learn to grill boneless pork chops, but I just give it the eyeball test. Once the side begin to turn white and I flip the chops, then they are within a couple of minutes of being done. This is on pork chops around 1/2 inch thin. You'd need a grill a bit longer with thick cut boneless pork chops. Still, the time is not long. I'd say I had these pork chops on and off in about 15 minutes with some extra time offset while I was juggling some tin foil grilled potatoes.

Moist and Delicious Boneless Pork Chops Right Off the Grill

Here are our grilled boneless pork chops. You can see that they still have plenty of juice even grilled at well done.

We also like to add barbecue sauce to boneless pork chops. Barbecue sauce can be brushed on right as the pork chops go on the grill, since they are thin and don't take long to grill. Sauces give you many flavor options, and you can eat boneless pork chops often and still feel like you're having different meals when you use different barbecue sauces and/or marinades.

Green Grill Fire Starter - Never Buy Lighter Fluid Again

Green Grill - Eco Friendly Fire Starters That Really Work

The most impressive thing about my grill out tonight was Green Grill which is a environmental friendly fire starting product produced by RJR Global LLC.

Tori emailed to ask if I'd like a free sample, since Green Grill (fire starter) is currently available only in Texas (which is a long drive from here). I don't use lighter fluid, since it gives grilled food an off taste and also isn't all that safe (kaboom - I did that once). Generally, I use a charcoal chimney starter, but it's kind of bulky to carry when tailgating or camping. I've tried a number of fire starters previously, but most end up falling pretty short. I'm always hopeful and will try out new products, but I don't get my hopes up.

In this case, Green Grill Fire Starters impressed the heck out of me. The directions say to use one of two, and I decided to start with one and see how that worked. Like a charm. This new fire starting product is so easy to use, and I had a perfect fire going in no time.

Green Grill Fire Starter with Charcoal Pyramid

I got one of the Green Grill starters out. It's about 4 inches long and around 3/4 inches wide. It looks and feels kind of like a hospital bandage wrap coated in parafin (wax).

The directions said to pyramid the charcoal. If you were in Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, you know what that means. You need to kind of build a little tent or house with the charcoal. Here I'm using coconut charcoal which is super easy to stack, but other types of charcoal would be easy as well. You just want to leave an open space in the middle - kind of like a little mini fireplace.

Lighting the Green Grill Fire Starter

I only built part of my fire pyramid to start with, because I wanted to see what Green Grill was doing in there. I was hoping it did not burn too hot or fast, because my plan was to complete the pyramid after I lit the fire starter.

This approach worked out fine, although I could have built the whole pyramid and done the lighting from the outside. Green Grill starter does burn slow and smooth. It was no problem to continue to build after I set it on fire.

One Light - And That Did the Trick

I watched Green Grill for a couple of minutes to be sure that it was burning and getting the charcoal started. No issues at all. I just stood there. Then, I went inside and made up a potato and onion pack to grill. That took around 15 minutes, and the charcoal was burning well when I went back out.

At this point, I spread the charcoal around (with a stick) and then added a few more coconut charcoals. The smaller pyramid would be fine for many food items, but I knew the potato pack would need to be over the fire (with the lid closed) around 45 minutes.

Check Out my Charcoal Started with Green Grill

When the tin foil potato pack was close done, I opened the grill lid and had nice hot charcoal - just perfect to quickly grill pork chops.

I was really impressed with Green Grill fire starters. They are made of natural products and don't have any odor at all. They are super easy to use. It only took one BIC flick to light the Green Grill, and it burned nice and slow so that the charcoal actually did start up and stay going and with only one piece of Green Grill.

Look for Green Grill fire starters at HEB Central Markets in south Texas and at HEB's Mi Tienda in Houston. You can read up about the fire starters at the My Green Grill and if you sell grilling products, then the company does hope to expand and get the product more widely available.

Knock! Knock! Let me in the Man Cave for some of those Buffalo Bleu Cheese Brats.

Man Cave Buffalo Bleu Cheese Brats

Tonight I fired up the grill and put some Man Cave Buffalo Bleu Cheese brats on to grill. These are gourmet brats. Well, you could probably guess that. It's not like you go down to the grocery store and buy buffalo meat brats with bleu cheese. Well, it's not like that around here at least.

The guys here really love our standard beer brats, so it's kind of hard to get them excited about changing things up. They like what they like, but they will humor me.

My favorite of the Man Cave brats had been the dried tomoato. Those are really good, but the guys here were still leaning toward our regular recipe. They liked the veggie herb brats fine, but they still aren't much for branching out.

Then, there's the Buffalo Bleu Cheese brats . . .

The brats are made with a spicy buffalo sauce and have some bleu cheese but not over the top. These are spicy brats and perhaps more what many people would think of a really good spicy Italian sausage.

They were outstanding. In fact, I put one in the freezer for my son who is up at his college apartment this week. He loves zippy food, and I'm sure he'd think these brats are terrific.

I would make a couple of notes on the Man Cave buffalo bleu cheese brats:

1. They are not for the faint of heart or those who do not like heat. They won't burn you totally up, but they do have spice. Just a really nice kick for those who like hot foods.

2. With these gourmet brats, you want to grill them lower and slower. They have cheese in there, so you don't want to hit them with super high heat. Let them grill along slower - more like a burger.

Grilled Man Cave Buffalo Bleu Cheese Brats

Man Cave is a party oriented type sales concept. You host a Man Cave event. I've not been; I'm not a man. But, they certainly have some excellent products, and you can order online if you're not a man or if you're not into the party thing.

O Grill - Portable Gas Grill review

O Grill 3000 - Red

Perhaps you've seen the O Grills (no - the O is not for Oprah) or maybe just photos of these neat compact gas grills. I know they caught my eye over at Amazon. They're bright colored cute grills, but you buy grills for how they grill (or I hope you do).

Cyndi With Compact Q Grill - Gas Model

It's hard to get a feel for the size from basic model photos, so here you can see me carrying the O Grill 3000. This is the larger size which is great for families or tailgating. The smaller one is the O Grill 1000 which would be perfect for RVers.

For reference, I'm 5 foot 4 inches, so I'm not particulary tall, and I have no problems carrying this grill which checks in at 25 pounds. Yes. It is heavy for the actual size, but that's due to the quality materials used.

You can look at, touch and lift the O Grill and tell that the construction is solid.

The main body is sheet metal, but don't let that fool you. I worked sheet metal in high school and college. There are various grades. A good quality sheet metal with quality paint is perfect for a smaller grill (keeps the weight down). The photos you see are after eight months with this grill, and you can see that the grill still looks perfect. They did a super job with the body on this grill.

What does add the weight here would be the grate which is cast iron. The benefit of cast iron, in addition to being longlasting, is that the cast iron holds heat really well. When you fire up this grill, then the grates get good and hot with uniform temperatures. If you're looking for grill marks, you can certainly get them with this grill.

Super Easy Set Up - O Grill

Iroda (the company that makes O Grills) says it takes 10 seconds to set up the O Grill. Frankly, you're kind of slow if it even takes you that long.

All you do to set up the O Grill is flip down the legs. The grease pan then positions on its own. Then you screw in a gas bottle. You can use the large size, but I go with the small travel size gas cannisters.

Son Setting Up O Grill

My son who won the North Carolina Scout of the Year through the VFW is doing the grill set up here. It took him maybe 5 seconds. I only had time to snap off one photo.

Ready to Grill on the O Grill

Once the O grill is ready to go, you just slide the orange latch, and it opens up to a very generous size. You could easily grill 6 or 8 steaks at once and a lot of burgers or hot dogs.

Fire Up and Grill

Once you open you the grill (always do that with gas), turn the large and easy to turn knob to light. Then, press the red ignition button. The burner fires up immediately. No problems with the ignition which often is a problem on portable gas grills.

Grilling on the O Grill

You can, of course, grill all the traditional grill foods on the O grill. I'm grilling cheese here, because it's a pretty tough test for a portable grill. The grates must get good and hot, but you have to be able to adjust the temperature and pull it down to get the cheese marked but not melting through the grates.

The O Grill 3000 even passes the cheese test, so I'm impressed. With just a short warm up, the grate was good and hot. I dropped the temperature down, and the heat did drop as I wanted and expected (or hoped).

Halloumi Cheese Grilled on the O Grill

Here's our cheese grilled on the O Grill. And, yes, it does taste as great as it looks. It's my son's all time favorite grilled food.

The O Grill 3000 is an excellent portable gas grill. It comes in fashion colors and really stands out in terms of appearance. The quality construction is quite impressive. The real test - the grilling - O grill nails it.

There are some accessories for the O grill like a stand so that you can grill waist high. I don't have the stand, but I'd think that would be nice to have as well.

Country Chef Grilling Sauce Chipotle - Barbecue Sauce Review

Country Chef Grilling Sauce Chipotle

Mike Espey, the Country Chef, got in touch about his line of grilling sauces. I'd read that he made some really great sauces, so I was interested in seeing if the buzz was on target. The sauce is available at most Ingles grocery stores, but we don't have those around here. So, Mike sent me some sauce to try out.

If you're going to market as a country chef with all natural ingredients, then I would expect a really special product. I was not disappointed with this first bottle we tried out last night.

Mike does have professional labels and all the usual required info on the label, but he does use what I think of as home canning jars. The lids are not the thin top with the screw on piece, but these sauces do look and feel like home canned products. Even the sauce moved around in the jar like food my Grandma put up, and she was an excellent home canner.

When I opened the jar, I again got the home canned feel. This sauce smelled wonderful. I got a spoon and had a sample cold taste. Normally I grill and test hot, because that's how I use grilling sauces (and how I think most readers use it). But, this jar was calling my name, so I couldn't wait. The flavor was rich and full. I did catch the fresh ingredient taste. Again, I could imagine that my Grandma had made this grilling or barbecue sauce.

We had chicken last night, so I wanted something different and thought pork chops would be good. They are good for checking out sauces, because they are mild as far as the meat flavor.

Pork Chops with Country Chef Grilling Sauce Chipotle

One of the guys went to get the pork chops while I got the grill going. These ended up being really thin chops - like 1/4 inch thick. Ouch. It's really hard to do thin pork chops, and I recommend that you go 1/2 inch or thicker.

I've been grilling forever (like 38 years or so), so I can do most anything on the grill including thin chops. I sauced these chops and put them on. They were ready in under 5 minutes due to the thin cut. This meant the sauce did not set up or caramelize like you see in most of my home grilling photos. That's only due to the quick time on the meat. This is a tomato based barbecue sauce so does have the sugar to thicken and turn a prettier color. Dried out pork chops on the grill aren't good, so I had to put these on fast and pull them fast, so the sauce really ends up just heated.

We definately got the full flavor of Country Chef's Grilling Sauce. Thankfully, this is a delicous sauce, because it took center stage with thin pork chops. As with the cold taste, Country Chef's was bursting with homemade flavor. You could taste tomato, green pepper and onion like a home canner would include, but the vegetables were balanced with nothing overpowering - just a smooth flavor. The spices including the chipotle were spot on. There was the soft hot pepper kick but not enough to rule this one out for general friend and family gatherings.

I wish my Grandma were still living. This is the kind of barbecue sauce that would get her seal of approval. It is a great garden style barbecue sauce. If you hid the bottle, you could pull this off as your own, but I'd sure give credit to Mike, because it's nice to tell folks when you find a product at the grocery store that really does stand out.

Easy Peasy Foods Chicken Insurance Marinade and BBQ Sauce - review

Grilled Chicken with Chicken Insurance Marinade and Barbecue Insurance Sauce

Easy Peasy is out of the gate with a new chicken marinade and barbecue sauce, and Aaron emailed to see if I'd like to try out sample bottles. We grill a lot of chicken around here, and I'm always looking for ways to jazz grilled chicken up, so I said I'd give it a try.

I went to pick up some chicken breasts on sale at the IGA, but they said someone got the last pack about a half hour before I got there. I grabbed some boneless, skinless chicken tenders instead. As hot as it is outside, that was probably a better idea. Grilled tenders are our fast food out here in the country, since they take 10 minutes or less to grill.

Easy Peasy Chicken Insurance Marinade

With boneless, skinless chicken, marinade is a good idea, but there are not a lot of good marinades on the market. Chef David Moncur who developed these Chicken Insurance products had noticed the same thing. He was using Italian dressing like I often do but wanted something better, so he came up with his marinade recipe.

Chicken Marinating in Chicken Insurance by Easy Peasy Foods

I put my chicken in a bowl and poured on some Chicken Insurance marinade. It poured out rich and thick and smelled really great. I had a little taste, and the flavor was excellent as well.

Since I planned to use the companion barbecue sauce, I did grill a couple of chicken strips with just marinade to see how it would do and how it would taste. The marinade stayed on well (prevented any sticking) and held in the juices, and I didn't have any grill flare problems which can happen with some marinades. The flavor grilled was also rich without overpowering the chicken. The chicken in marinade only as our appetizer got three thumbs up from the crew here.

Barbecue Insurance from Easy Peasy Foods

The Easy Peasy barbecue sauce was also thick and the smell was sweet. This is a natural barbecue sauce made from fresh ingredients. That does make a difference.

If doing whole chicken pieces, I'd sauce with this the last 10 minutes or so, since it has a tomato base. If you put tomato based barbecue sauces on too soon, they will burn. Since I was doing the small chicken tenders, I sauced them and put them straight on. Since they only grill around 10 minutes total, that works out perfect.

Grilled Chicken Tenders Sauced with Barbecue Insurance

I grilled the chicken around 5 minutes until the sauce was set and then flipped it and did the same on the other side. That's why I call this fast food. I was in and out super fast.

The Chicken Insurance marinade and Barbecue Insurance provided a nice layered flavor on the chicken. The overall taste was rich and sweet but there was a light kick of heat. One son can't handle much heat, and he was fine with this barbecue sauce. So the heat note was there but is not zippy enough to rule this barbecue sauce out for a big gathering with a range of people who may or may not be able to handle heat.

Both the marinade and the sauce by Easy Peasy were very good. The products were easy to use, and the flavors were very nice.

Easy Peasy products are available in limited areas now (Michigan, Texas, Florida and parts of the Midwest) but are slated for expansion. If you don't live in those areas, then you can get Chicken Insurance and Barbecue Insurance at Easy Peasy Foods online.