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Tuesday, 02 September 2014 13:31 |
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I have been aware of GrillGrates for some time now but until recently had never tried them. I mean how different can a grill grate be, right? So I decided to order a set for my Weber Genesis gas grill and try them out.
According to the manufacturer, GrillGrates are made from structural grade aluminum which is hard anodized (a natural hardening process) to create an extremely durable, ultra hard surface that is a much better conductor of heat than steel or cast iron. GrillGrates are more efficient and will never rust. The panels form a plate with raised rails and holes through the plate between the rails. The rails amplify the heat source, converting it into infrared heat at the tip of the rails. The plates concentrate the heat below the panels and evens out temperatures across the grill, eliminating hot spots.
GrillGrates are interlocking panels 5 3/4" wide and available in a variety of lengths. They can either be laid on top of existing grill grates or replace them. I decided to order replacement grates. The existing grates on a Weber Genesis grill are 19 3/4" long. The closest standard length is 20". For $5 more, panels can be ordered custom cut. I ordered 5 panels cut to 19 3/4" length. Five panels are an exact fit width wise. I removed the existing grates and replaced them with the GrillGrates.
 
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 September 2014 14:02 |
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Monday, 11 November 2013 14:32 |
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The Pitmaker team
Last week I had the honor of joining the Pitmaker BBQ Addiction competition team at the 2013 World Food Championships in Las Vegas. Pitmaker makes barbecue pits and trailers that not only cook awesomely but look like works of art.George Shore and Victor Howard design and build their pits in their Humble, Texas shop. I have been cooking on one of their BBQ Vault pits for 4 years now and have done very well. Not only do they build the best BBQ pits in the world, they also know how to cook on them, winning numerous championships and first place awards every year. This year George and Victor pulled one of their trailers up to Lynchburg, TN for me to use in the Jack Daniel's Invitational World BBQ Championship allowing me to fly out from California. The drive would have been a little too much for me this year. They invited me to join them at the upcoming World Food Championships as a member of the Pitmaker team and I jumped at the chance.
The World Food Championships bring together over 400 competitors competing in seven food categories for a $300,000 purse. The event is invitation only. Each participant won a qualifying contest that got them an invitation to the WFC. The categories are barbecue, chili, burger, dessert, sandwich, bacon, and recipe. It is a tournament style competition. The top 10 winners in each category compete again to determine the catgegory winner. The seven category winners compete against each other to determine the world food winner. The event was filmed by A&E; and will be a 6 part series on that channel next spring. In addition, Good Morning America was filming for a segment to be shown on their program.
The barbecue competition kicked off on Friday with the preliminary round. Categories were ribs, pork shoulder and beef brisket. The Pitmaker finished 23rd in ribs, 14th in pork, and 5th in beef brisket giving them 9th place overall and qualifying for the finals. The finals category was Anything But, meaning anything but the three meat categories from the previous day. While some of the teams chose more exotic meat entries like rack of lamb, bison tri-tip, or pork belly, the Pitmaker team chose to stick with a traditional barbecue staple, chicken. After all, this was a barbecue contest. There were 10 judges in the finals and each team was required to submit two platters, provided by the WFC, with five judge portions and one presentation piece. Since most things are big in Texas the Pitmaker team decided to go big. They cooked 12 chicken halves, one for each presentation plate and 10 for the judges. Each judge got half a chicken. As George Shore explained it, in KCBS contests most teams cook 6 thighs, legs or wings for their chicken entry. In Texas most contests require half a chicken to be turned in. It's much more difficult to cook half a chicken and get the dark meat and breast cooked perfectly without drying out the breast. The Pitmaker team decided to show them how it's done.
Preparing the Finals turn-in
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Last Updated on Monday, 03 March 2014 15:23 |
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Friday, 15 April 2011 12:08 |
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The following sites advertised on The Smoke Ring but never paid. We advise against ordering from or doing business with the following companies. If they scammed us they may scam you!
Oil Lift - www.oillift.net - We gave this company ample opportunity to pay and spoke with them on the phone several times but they refuse to pay for the service we provided.
The Fatwood Company - This business was not an advertiser but was a ring member site. We have received numerous complaints from people who have ordered from The Fatwood Company, www.fatwoodonline.com The site has been removed from The Smoke Ring and we recommend that you do not order from this business.
DB Entertainment. They have a number of different websites under the following URLs, www.bbq1.com, www. sodabarsystem.com, www.dbec.us, www.neoncentral.com.
Cafe Press BBQ Shack - www.cafepress.com/bbqshack - Not affiliated with The BBQ Shack, www.TheBBQShack.com |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 21 June 2012 13:33 |
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Friday, 15 April 2011 12:11 |
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If you have a BBQ related website and you would like to become a member of The Smoke Ring neighborhood please sign-up. If you have a BBQ related business and don't yet have a website, or if you would like a more personalized service, contact
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for information on website design and hosting services.
If you discover problems with any Smoke Ring sites, site is down or missing ring navigation links, please notify the Smoke Ring Ringmaster |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 25 June 2011 10:29 |
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