Kabobs on the Mini..fail!

SmokyBear · May 2014

OK, guys..what did I do wrong here?

Bought some nice garlic and cracked pepper marinated beef kabobs from a decent market..(that said, not sure what beef they used..)

Cooked 4 min per side on Mini BGE with Woo, raised direct @ 400. Turned 90 degrees ("ish" - hard to turn them precisely) 3X, for a total of 16 min.

Thermo (don't have a thermopen - ordering soon!) showed 150+, which "should" have been slightly under Med.

Ate them and was like shoe leather - with zero smoke flavor.

I could have microwaved them and they would have had more character/taste.

Ideas?

Hate to say it, but I might be doing the next ones on the..ummm..red headed stepchild (KJC, even tho it's black and not red..but you guys know..)

I love my Mini and it cooks some awesome grub, but it's also...ummm..inconsistent at times..

Thx..

SGH · May 2014

@SmokeyBear‌ said: What did I do wrong?
I spotted you problem immediately my friend. You used a mini. This will always yield poor results. One must use at least a large to achieve superior results. I'm just kidding my friend. Without seeing the kabobs in question it would be hard to say for sure what caused your dilemma but I suspect it was the pre-made kabobs being of poor quality. This is a risk that you take when you buy pre-made products. There is no telling what cut and grade of meat was used. Also the kabobs may have been allowed to warm for to long of a time by the folks making and packaging them. Again it would be hard to narrow down the exact cause of failure but my guess would be it is quality related and nothing to do with the chef.

Skiddymarker · May 2014

Are you sure about the finish temp? Seems to me 16 minutes raised direct on my MBGE would be very overdone for most kabobs - and most certainly for the closer to the flame mini with store bought prepackaged kabobs.

Gadfly · May 2014

your problem most likely has to do with the cut of the meat. I use (at the minimum) sirlion and preferably rib eye prime.

Mickey · May 2014

It is costing you $$$ not to get the Therapen my friend. That meat had to be overcooked. I use my Mini all the time and it is quick, the number one reason I have a Mini Woo for it. But for kabobs I don't use it.

SmokyBear · May 2014

Yeah..want to order a Thermapen ASAP..but Amazon doesn't seem to carry them anymore so no joy on that as I need to order direct now (bummer..I hate paying shipping and have Amazon Prime for that reason..)

SO much easier to just click "buy now" and have it two days without setting up all the stuff for a new account, paying shipping, etc.

Amazon USED to carry them (I'm pretty sure) so not sure what happened..

fishlessman · May 2014

hot grill, close to the burning lump, 130 internal probably would have given you slightly under medium. 150 and your approaching well done with a couple minutes rest. if your dome said 400 you were probably 50 degrees or more hotter on the grid is the mini

SmokeyPitt · May 2014

I agree that they were most likely overcooked. 150 is definitely approaching well done. Not to be pushy with the thermapen, but there is also a good chance the actual IT was higher than what you were reading. That is the problem with cheap "instant read" thermos. They actually take 15-20 seconds (sometimes longer) to climb up to the actual temp. It's had to get an accurate reading with slow response times.

KenfromMI · May 2014

I've always grilled by sight and touch. I only check internals on big cuts like butts and briskets. I'd say overcooked as well. That seems like way too long for kebobs even if the meat was cut large and packed tightly together though.

Griffin · May 2014

I'd say bad cut of meat and overcooked. If you pulled it at 150, it would continue to go up even after you pulled it.

Charlesmaneri · May 2014

I say OVERCOOKED you pulled @ 150 to me that say shoe leather

Ragtop99 · May 2014

I agree they were overcooked.

Cooking at 400* direct leaves little time for smoke flavor absorption.

SmokyBear · May 2014

Thanks much, guys..good comments and advice all around.

What temp SHOULD I have cooked these puppies at? And for how long?

I agree on the "bad cut of meat" comment..I did buy these at a high end / foofy market but doesn't mean they used good beef. I've had a LOT better - but I assembled my own from parts also (bought and marinated the meat, veggies vs buying "ready to grill kabobs").

dweebs0r · June 2014

Pull at 125 and rest under foil.

Dyal_SC · June 2014

It might help you to just leave the dome open like this to avoid over cooking. The thermapen is worth every penny too.

Kabobs on the Mini..fail!

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