Thai-Style Grilled Chicken (Gai Yang)

Posted on 2018-05-27

Gai Yang

This weekend is Eggiversary here–one year since the Green Egg arrived! To celebrate, we are cooking delicious foods. Last night was Thai-Style Grilled Chicken.

We used Milk Street’s Chiang Mai Chicken recipe for the marinade together with Serious Eats Thai-Style Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce. There were a couple minor modifications to the dipping sauce. We substituted serrano peppers as there were no red Thai bird chilies available, and we reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup. Do not over marinate this one, 1 1/2 hours was great, more than 2 hours would be overpowering.

The last time we cooked this, it was directly over the coals. The skin side was cooked for about 15 minutes, then the bird was flipped and cooked until done. This time, we decided to cook it the more (traditional?) way with indirect heat. It was skin side up, indirect at a temperature of between 425º and 450º. Initially the legs were closer to the hot spot, but I turned it around towards the end since the breasts needed a bit more cooking.

The verdict? Delicious.

Notes for next time: Use the same indirect cooking method, but keep the temperature closer to 400º, especially if it’s a larger bird. This should give it some more time to cook through without over-browning the skin.

Photo by Angela Lin

Big Green Egg

Posted on 2018-05-27

JP Reardon

We’ve had a Big Green Egg for a year now. Several people have asked whether I like it or not (yes, I like it) and have expressed interest in having their own, but are hesitant, probably due to the price tag. Here, I attempt to summarize why I like it, and why you might too.

In short, if you’re thinking about buying one, and you grill/smoke more than a few times a year, just buy it.

At our place, the gas grill has been sidelined for fast, direct grilling. It has only been used two or three times in the past 12 months–mostly for extra grill space for a group. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, the flavor is much better over charcoal. There’s little debate about that, but gas grills usually win on account of convenience. They are ready to go in 15 minutes. However, the Green Egg really shines here too. It is ready to grill in about the same amount of time. Plus, since it is efficient with charcoal, I usually don’t have to add any more coals for a quick cook. I can also get the Egg up to higher temperatures than my gas grill if needed.

The Egg not only works well for grilling, but also indirect cooking and smoking. While it isn’t an ideal smoker–offset barrel smokers are probably better–I and others have produced excellent results. If you, like me, don’t have room for a separate smoker, the Egg is just fine. By the way, I’ve had better results with hardwood chunks rather than chips, I don’t soak them, and I don’t put the meat in until the billowy smoke has subsided.

There are other kamado cookers out there. I’ve heard second-hand that the Kamado Joe (the red one) produces the same results and is built with a bit more attention to detail. It is also little less expensive as it comes with most of the accessories that are extras with the Green Egg. There are lower cost options available at the Lowe’s and Home Depots. I would imagine that the quality of food coming out of them is similar to that of the more expensive Green Egg or Kamado Joe but might not last as long, at least that’s been my experience with low cost gas grills.

So, as you may have gathered by now, I’m happy with the Egg. My only regret is that I didn’t buy it earlier.

Thanksgiving Dinner (non-traditional)

Posted on 2017-11-26

JP Reardon

This year’s Thanksgiving was pretty low key. I only made meat, and one pie. Our friends brought the rest–a bunch of tasty salads courtesy of the local CSA with inspiration from Plenty.

I cooked a small, boneless rib roast on the egg. I followed the guidelines from Playing with Smoke and Fire. The roast was a bit under 4 pounds. I cooked it at 250° for about 2.5 hours. When the meat was at 220° I took it off and fired the egg up to 500° and put the roast back in for a couple minutes to get more color. After a rest of about 30 minutes, I carved thinnish slices and served with a horseradish sauce.

The roast received high ratings all around. I debated on whether or not to use hardwood and opted to go without. There was an slight hint of smoke from the charcoal. Next time, I might try a bit of wood to get some more smoke flavor.

The pie was Magpie’s Bourbon Butterscotch–a favorite around here. The crust was quite homely, so no pictures. The flavor, however, was right on. I let it cook at least 8 minutes longer than the 45 called for in the recipe, but the middle of the crust was still undercooked. Next time, I think I’ll let it go even longer.

Labor Day BBQ

Posted on 2017-09-04

JP Reardon

Earlier this year we bought a Green Egg. We used it frequently all summer but hadn’t done a really long cook. The holiday weekend seemed like a good opportunity to get a crowd to eat a big pork shoulder. Here’s the menu, and some notes (mostly to myself):

Sides Etc.

Kenji’s Classic Potato Salad
This is the go-to potato salad recipe around here. It is flavorful and tangy.

Red Cabbage Slaw
A quick, easy and non-creamy slaw. Some friends brought this over years ago, and I continue to make it.

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies
Another quick and easy recipe that yields a delicious product.

The Meats

Gochujang Ribs

Update 2020-07-05: I’ve made these a few more times now. I now use this Smoked Gochujang Ribs Recipe.

This is the second time I’ve made these, they are delicious. Some comments about this recipe say it is too salty, so I go really light on the rub. I also skip the smoked paprika in the sauce. There’s probably no need for extra smoke flavor since I add some hardwood (cherry in this case) while cooking. I also cook for longer than specified in the recipe: 4.5 – 6 hours.

Pork Shoulder/Butt

The internet has a lot of advice on cooking pork butts. I read a lot, but relied on these instructions Jared sent over:

Night before:
Inject with apple juice
Apply Rub (used Jeff’s Naked Rib Rub)
Wrap in plastic wrap and put in fridge

Day of:
Apply yellow mustard then add more rub

Smoke at 250 about 1.5 hrs per pound (edit, closer to 2 hrs to be on the safe side)

Smoke until internal temp 195-205

A vinegar sauce (a.k.a dip) was served on the side.

This butt was about 10 pounds and took a little over 18 hours to cook. I used apple wood chunks for smoke flavor. The pork was absolutely delicious–a real crowd pleaser.

I started the pork the night before, in the pouring rain. I doubt that affected the food, but it was a wet evening for the cook. After about 17 or so hours, the meat was at around 180 or 185º, and I had some hungry people around. I finished it in the oven at 290º. Mostly because increasing the temperature in the egg was creating a lot of smoke.

Notes for next time:

Get a drip pan that fits better
Start the cook way earlier. The pork can rest for a couple hours if it’s done early. Also, don’t forget that it will take some time to get to temp, and you’re not going to feel comfortable going to sleep unless the egg has been holding the temperature for 45 minutes or an hour.
Don’t be stingy on the rub, this could have used just a bit more.

Unfortunately, not many pictures this time. Here are the few I took: