another baking steel cook, no egg, no Lodge Sportsman

Canugghead

Made some fresh ground burgers on baking steel again, this time it's even easier than using Lodge Sportsman, let alone the egg.  Hope I don't get into trouble for this ... don't get me wrong, I own multiple eggs, but gas has its place too, the Blackstone crowd has already proved it. 

Edit: This is a single burner butane stove.  No, I didn't cook at 500+, had to turn it down to medium to avoid over-crusting.

 

DMW

Butane or propane? Single burner or double?

I just got a butane single burner and am always looking for new ideas.

Canugghead

Butane single burner.  Asian grocers have best pricing on butane canisters, in my neck of the woods it's $4.99 for pack of four, occasionally on sale for $3.99.

DMW

I picked up the burner for $7.99 and a case of 12 bottles of butane for something like $10 (can't remember exactly), I'm set for awhile. I have The Restaurant Store (brick and mortar version of http://www.webstaurantstore.com/) nearby and that seems to be a drain on my wallet...

Canugghead

Sweet! I was drooling over their Vacmaster lineup earlier, too bad they don't ship to GWN.

DMW

@Canugghead

I'm trying to ignore their chamber sealers...

My wife would kill me...

ChicagoEgghead20

@Canugghead - we have a ton of the oriental markets around here - my favorite is H Mart it's a big national chain, but you can buy the burners and canisters so cheap, they are practically throwaway. Gotta love those stores for produce and spices that are hard to find - Although I haven't brought myself to buy the meat from there yet.

Cookinbob

Cool concept.  I have a similar burner, never thought to put the steel on it!

Canugghead

DMW said:

@Canugghead

I'm trying to ignore their chamber sealers...

My wife would kill me...

My family thought I was crazy to get the vp215, now they're starting to believe in it!

caliking

You're killin' me with the burgers! That steel will make terrific pancakes too.

ChicagoEgghead20 said:

@Canugghead - we have a ton of the oriental markets around here - my favorite is H Mart it's a big national chain, but you can buy the burners and canisters so cheap, they are practically throwaway. Gotta love those stores for produce and spices that are hard to find - Although I haven't brought myself to buy the meat from there yet.

Do it. The meat from H-mart is good. Plus, you get cuts which are harder to find in the regular grocery chains.

Canugghead

@chicagoegghead20  - if you pick a large busy oriental grocer, meat freshness is never an issue.... quality of cut, may be.  I'm still alive 

Canugghead

@cookinbob @caliking - Sometimes I use this setup, with a three-side cardboard shield and under our 900 CFM kitchen exhaust, for sous vide sear, but it's still kind of messy!

SmokeyPitt

Those look really good.  I have to agree that "griddling" on the egg is fun, but for quick cooks the egg doesn't provide much advantage.  

fletcherfam

Looks awesome!

 

Ever try smash burgers? Serious eats has article on them, only way we do them now.

Canugghead

SmokeyPitt said:

Those look really good.  I have to agree that "griddling" on the egg is fun, but for quick cooks the egg doesn't provide much advantage.  

Thanks. We wok almost every meal and would go broke on charcoal if we use the egg, not practical in the GWN winter months anyway.  

Canugghead

fletcherfam said:

Looks awesome!

 

Ever try smash burgers? Serious eats has article on them, only way we do them now.

Thanks.  Actually these started out as fresh ground loose meatballs with simple seasoning of fish sauce and S&P, then pressed down with wide spatula after they hit the sizzling steel.  I recall reading about serious eats' smashed burgers, time to revisit.

SoCalTim

Canugghead... so excited. I just got my Baking Steel Friday ... gonna attempt pizza with it next weekend.  

Canugghead

@socaltim - congrats on your new toy!  actually mine is not the real thing, it's a scrap piece of 1/4 inch 44W steel (canuck equivalent of A36) for peanuts from a metal shop!

btw, I read about a cooking technique recently, where the author experimented with super preheated baking steel on the lowest rack, then placed the roasting pan directly on it to cook turkey in the oven... the extra heat from the bottom ensures the back and legs cook faster than the breast.  It's on my to try list.

blind99

ChicagoEgghead20 said:

@Canugghead - we have a ton of the oriental markets around here - my favorite is H Mart it's a big national chain, but you can buy the burners and canisters so cheap, they are practically throwaway. Gotta love those stores for produce and spices that are hard to find - Although I haven't brought myself to buy the meat from there yet.

@chicagoegghead20 I highly recommend the cuts of meat for Korean cooking.  they have thin-cut wagyu, and thin-cut short ribs that are awesome. The rest of the meat at H-mart doesn't look too exciting. supposedly they are the biggest single buyer of fish in chicago - probably reflected in those monster lobster tanks and $4.99/lb lobster!

SoCalTim

Canugghead Hey brother ... yeah I thought about 'making' a steel ... but at only $80 dollars, already made (it's 16" in diameter, round and fits my lbge perfectly) and fine tuned - I went that way. I'll be keeping a look out for your cooks on it, it looks pretty awesome.

Spring Chicken

I'm glad you brought up the baking steel on a burner.  I've been wondering how that would work with fatty meat.  Seems to me there would be an issue with grease dripping over the sides.  Is this a problem? 

I can easily see how it would work sitting atop a BGE grid.  Any grease could just spill over onto the fire. 

I currently have the old style GriddleQ that fits a large Egg and works quite well.  It has a built in grease trap along the front to collect excessive grease and debris. That's handy.  I also like the very smooth finish of the stainless steel.  A baking steel probably has that same smooth finish making griddle-type cooking a breeze.  I just worry about the grease spilling over the sides when using it on a burner.  Any comments would be appreciated.

Spring "Griddled Is Good" Chicken

Spring Texas USA

Canugghead

Leroy, Agree, excess grease will drip over the steel.  I had paper towel handy to wipe/catch the mess.  As you can see from the side view, my burger cook had very little grease, I only needed to wipe after scraping the steel clean occasionally for a fresh batch.  You can also place a large tray under the burner to catch spills.  When using this indoor, the sizzling splatter is a bigger problem for me than grease spill. When using baking steel in the egg, when possible I prefer placing the steel directly on the lump reducing ring in the XL for fast cook/sear.  Hope this helps!

edit: this was way easier than using charcoal, we were eating the burgers in about 15 min after turning on the burner!

ChicagoEgghead20

blind99 said:

ChicagoEgghead20 said:

@Canugghead - we have a ton of the oriental markets around here - my favorite is H Mart it's a big national chain, but you can buy the burners and canisters so cheap, they are practically throwaway. Gotta love those stores for produce and spices that are hard to find - Although I haven't brought myself to buy the meat from there yet.

@chicagoegghead20 I highly recommend the cuts of meat for Korean cooking.  they have thin-cut wagyu, and thin-cut short ribs that are awesome. The rest of the meat at H-mart doesn't look too exciting. supposedly they are the biggest single buyer of fish in chicago - probably reflected in those monster lobster tanks and $4.99/lb lobster!

Have you ever bought their Lobster? I've heard horror stories (not particularly from there) about rats and other pests coming over in Asian meats. I'm sure if you cook it well it kills anything anways.  I was at ASSI Plaza in Niles a few weeks ago to buy a case of Guava's, and as I was looking at the fish it just didn't look right.