OT: New Live Fire Rig (Argentine Parrilla)

bicktrav

Not a BGE post but figure there's got to be a good deal of live fire enthusiasm here. I just got this custom setup from Northfork Ironworks, and it's pretty much blowing my mind: V grates, dual crank wheels, plancha, center brasero, etc. The egg sits beside it. Between the two, I'm like (a low rent) Francis Mallmann, burying whole squash in embers and suspending birds like trapeze artists above the flames. I won't turn this into a rambling feature-by-feature review, but I will say this: I had no idea what I was missing until I started cooking on V grates, and vegetables on the plancha are a thing of beauty. If any of you are considering a Parrilla or any other live fire rig, I highly recommend it.

GrateEggspectations

Beautiful. I like the pop of blue on those wheels! I know very little about these grills except that they look bada$$. Would love to see you detail a cook on it. 

lkapigian

Heck Ya!

lousubcap

That is a sweet rig right there.  Lots of opportunity to play with live fire and that is a great thing.  Enjoy.

Langner91

Sweet rig!  I would be missing at least one eyebrow and most of my arm hair after playing with that toy.

Griffin

Very cool!!

caliking

You win.

bicktrav

GrateEggspectations said:

Beautiful. I like the pop of blue on those wheels! I know very little about these grills except that they look bada$$. Would love to see you detail a cook on it. 

Agree with you on the blue wheels! I'll see if I can get some pics of a cook up next week!

Ozzie_Isaac

Awesome!  And please please turn it into a rambling feature by feature review with pictures!

MotownVol

Love it!

lkapigian

@SciAggie

WeberWho

Oh h*ll yeah!

littlerascal56

I LIKE IT!  Looks very well built. Looking forward to some cook pictures.

BigGreenKev

Niiiiiiiice!

BigreenGreg

Seriously bad ass. Unfortunately I fall in with the missing eyebrow group also.

bicktrav

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Awesome!  And please please turn it into a rambling feature by feature review with pictures!

Alright, you twisted my arm...

The blazing fire basket in the center is called a brasero. Argentine grills use them to offset the fire from food. The brasero has a slotted design, which creates two worthy advantages: 1) Thorough oxygenation, leading to clean-burning fires, and 2) openings at the bottom of the basket for mature coals to drop into the pit. The latter point is crucial because cooking over roaring flames leads to ashy, creosote tones. Pre-burning your wood in the brasero creates perfect cooking coals. The brasero deposits them in the pit, then you rake them beneath the grates when you're ready to cook. Braseros can be installed on the side, in the rear, or at the center of the grill. I wanted mine in the center because it offers easy access to both cooking surfaces and functions as a cooking surface itself when capped with a plancha. On that note...  

When you light up the brasero, you can set your plancha—the carbon steel slab sitting on the right cooking grid in the pic—on top of it. Since the plancha is solid, you can cook directly over the flames without worrying about creosote tones. The result is a wood fire griddle that makes magic out of just about anything. Last night, I sliced fennel, celery root, and red onions on the mandolin, and threw them on the plancha. They packed perfect caramelization and knee-buckling wood fire tones that approached bacony. You can also use the plancha on the V grates, raising or lowering it to adjust the heat. 

I've heard for a while that V grates are unmatched where cooking surfaces are concerned, but I didn't really get the hype until I used them. They are as they sound: V shaped stainless steel bars that hang atop the fire. The V design catches drippings, which prevents flareups, and the grates are set at a decline, causing oils to drain into a catch tray (you use the drippings for sauces, bastes, etc). The grates create peerless sears and puff evaporative smoke from the drippings into your food. They also produce the best looking grill marks I've ever seen (from a flavor perspective, that's meaningless, but still—the thing paints zebra stripes). The grates rest on a pully system controlled the blue crank wheels. The wheels raise/lower the food to accommodate everything from searing to low/slow roasting.

Some closing details: The grill is 60 inches with massive rubber tires. The tires are sturdy enough to roll on grass, gravel, or any type of terrain. Basically, this thing can go just about anywhere. The bottom of the pit is lined with firebricks, which create radiant heat and protect the steel from warping. On the subject of steel, the whole thing is fully welded 3/16 gauge. Finally, those blue wheels are antique factory relics from (I think) the 1920s, which Northfork repurposes for their grills. Does having a vintage crank wheel make your food taste better?... Hell yes. 

Ozzie_Isaac

@bicktrav thank you for the right up!  So cool, lots of functional details I missed from just looking at the photo.  Very well thought out and executed design.  Antique parts always improve flavor.  I think they add soul to the food.

lousubcap

@bicktrav - I just checked out their website.  The shipping must have been off the chart for that rig.  But what a great rig to mess about with fire.  Thanks also for the above write up.

Ozzie_Isaac

There Instagram account is pretty cool.  They had this on there too.

bicktrav

Ozzie_Isaac said:

There Instagram account is pretty cool.  They had this on there too.

Never seen that. Very cool! This Instagram pic piqued my interest when I first stumbled on Northfork (I’m a big Mallmann fan). 

bicktrav

lousubcap said:

@bicktrav - I just checked out their website.  The shipping must have been off the chart for that rig.  But what a great rig to mess about with fire.  Thanks also for the above write up.

Freight was not cheap. That said, it was less than you might think. Brendan (Northfork owner/welder) doesn’t ship with the firebricks installed to keep costs down. 

lousubcap

@bicktrav We expect to someday see a thread of your adventures in Patagonia with Francis Mallman.  Gotta be the next step...  But no rush

bicktrav

lousubcap said:

@bicktrav We expect to someday see a thread of your adventures in Patagonia with Francis Mallman.  Gotta be the next step...  But no rush

Got my fedora and poncho packed!

alaskanassasin

lousubcap said:

@bicktrav We expect to someday see a thread of your adventures in Patagonia with Francis Mallman.  Gotta be the next step...  But no rush

how thick is the steel under the bricks?

bicktrav

alaskanassasin said:

lousubcap said:

@bicktrav We expect to someday see a thread of your adventures in Patagonia with Francis Mallman.  Gotta be the next step...  But no rush

how thick is the steel under the bricks?

3/16 

alaskanassasin

bicktrav said:

alaskanassasin said:

lousubcap said:

@bicktrav We expect to someday see a thread of your adventures in Patagonia with Francis Mallman.  Gotta be the next step...  But no rush

how thick is the steel under the bricks?

3/16 

 Cool. Looks like a fun toy.

bicktrav

alaskanassasin said:

bicktrav said:

alaskanassasin said:

lousubcap said:

@bicktrav We expect to someday see a thread of your adventures in Patagonia with Francis Mallman.  Gotta be the next step...  But no rush

how thick is the steel under the bricks?

3/16 

 Cool. Looks like a fun toy.

Definitely! I’ve had a Santa Maria for years, so live fire isn’t new to me, but the Argentine flare is novel and much more refined. I’m loving every cook!

MasterC

That's awesome, Mrs.C is not going to like this, not going to  like it at all....but

lousubcap

bicktrav said:

alaskanassasin said:

bicktrav said:

alaskanassasin said:

lousubcap said:

@bicktrav We expect to someday see a thread of your adventures in Patagonia with Francis Mallman.  Gotta be the next step...  But no rush

how thick is the steel under the bricks?

3/16 

 Cool. Looks like a fun toy.

Definitely! I’ve had a Santa Maria for years, so live fire isn’t new to me, but the Argentine flare is novel and much more refined. I’m loving every cook!

Just sent you a PM as I have given serious consideration to a SM.  

jdMyers

Thanks for sharing.  Live fire fan.  That's amazing.  How many logs need to preburn before having enuff coals to begin the cook?

bicktrav

jdMyers said:

Thanks for sharing.  Live fire fan.  That's amazing.  How many logs need to preburn before having enuff coals to begin the cook?

Depends on what you're cooking, but usually about 5 or so. More is obviously better than less. My favorite method involves lighting up the brasero and topping it with the plancha while it makes coals. I use the plancha for veggies, grilled breads, griddled cheeses, etc. By the time the coals are ready, I've got my sides finished, then I rake the coals beneath the the V grates and get to work on proteins and any other items that I want to cook directly over the coals. At the end of the night, I've got a pile of embers that I use to bury things like acorn squash, onions, garlic, eggplant, etc, which slow cook in ash while I eat dinner. I keep them on hand for the next day's meals. For example, yesterday's dinner was an acorn squash pasta with sage, butter, and garlic. Obviously, I didn't use the Parrilla for that, but the squash had cooked in the dying embers of a fire from the night before (hope that timeline isn't confusing). Basically, I try not to waste fire; if it's burning, I'm cooking. It's more economical, and it keeps me prepped for future meals.

Another note—if you're looking to conserve fuel, you can always build your fire directly beneath one of the cooking surfaces and cook with more flame. You run the risk of smoldering and smoking the food out, but if you're careful about fire management and know how to get the most out of your wood, you can get a meal done with just a few splits. Of course, you can always use charcoal or a combination of charcoal and wood, too.