We have a love/hate relationship with meat thermometers around my house. I hate that none of the ones I own can agree on a temperature and my wife loves to ruin them by submerging them in the sink while she’s doing the dishes (told you I’d write about it!). It’s time to quit complaining and...
How to Build a BBQ Smoker, An Ugly Drum
It’s a manly urge that none of us can control. The urge to create, to build, to justify buying tools…it runs deep within our manly souls. Pair that urge with our deeply rooted desire to play with fire and you’ve got enough motivation to build a cooking vessel such as a smoker. As you can...
Put Down the Brush and Use Soap to Help Prevent Flare Ups
Do you find yourself trying to convince people that “a little char never hurt anybody”? Or maybe you stick to grilling meats with removable skins, so that you can peal off the burnt and fossilized skin and reveal the perfectly grilled meat? If this sounds like you, you probably have a problem with grill flare...
Chicken Wing Experiment, Does Marinating Make a Difference?
I’m always looking for a reason to eat chicken wings. For some reason, football season makes me crave chicken wings even more than usual. We’ve already covered grilled chicken wings before, but I had someone ask why I didn’t put the sauce on before I grilled the wings. “Wouldn’t”, this person asked, “the wings come...
Wine Recommendations for Labor Day Grilling
I’ll admit, when shopping for a cook-out, my instinctual path takes me from the meat section down the cold beer aisle. I love wine, but the Florida heat doesn’t make me really want to drink it while standing over a hot grill. For these reasons, I often neglect some of my guests and my wife...
Outdoor Kitchen cost-reducing suggestions
This Old House adds This New Outdoor Kitchen. Well, they give some advice on how to add that outdoor kitchen without breaking the bank. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20278247,00.html I agree with most of this advice. I could live without a sink in my outdoor kitchen (not so sure about using a “hose sink”). But the idea of building...
Consumer Reports Intermittent Test Failures
I am a fan of Consumer Reports. Not because I take their word on every purchase, but because they are a great starting point for research before buying a big ticket item. I guess this is the nerd in me, but I pay more attention to the details in their tests than I do the...
How to Grill Split Chicken Breasts
Split chicken breasts are one of the hardest meats to grill properly. Grilling with direct heat is the best technique for thinner, boneless cuts of meat because the heat cooks the meat all the way through quickly. The bones in split chicken breasts absorb some of that heat, so it’s a little harder to cook...


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