IGT gets fired up!
We were lucky to have warm weather on this first day of the new year and this gave us the opportunity to inaugurate the Iron Grill Table. My whole family enjoys going to various Asian restaurants where you cook at the table, so we decided for this 1st use to go with something we were familiar with. There are various Japanese restaurants that serve Yakiniku style cooking--locally we have Gyu-Kaku and Tamaen. This style entails cooking over charcoal at the table. Classically they use special Japanese charcoal called Binchotan made from a Japanese oak tree--this is supposed to burn with less smoke than traditional charcoal. Since there is a substantial local Japanese community, there are several stores that have what I needed. I got some Binchotan charcoal to give it a go--it is quite expensive, so I will probably try to see if I get similar results with the lump charcoal or briquets next time. As for what to cook, I went to a Japanese supermarket and purchased some very thinly sliced meat that was well marbled--they label it as for shabu shabu or sukiyaki. I got some beef and pork. They also had two kinds of Japanese sausages that I wanted to try since my daughter will always eat "hot dogs" if you tell her that is what it is. As for marinades, I made a miso marinade similar to one described in a cookbook and I bought some spicy miso teriyaki sauce and ponzu sauce to use as well. The two packages of beef I got were treated to the two miso marinades and the pork got the ponzu treatment. While the meats were marinating, I put my Binchotan charcoal into my folding charcoal starter--not the Snow Peak one, but rather the cheaper one I see a lot of people using. Using newspaper to get it going, I thought this process was going to slow, so I fired up my Snow Peak butane torch and blasted it--that torch works great!!! The now glowing charcoal was transferred to the BBQ box and we were ready to start cooking. My wife--who until now had been skeptical that this expensive set-up was worth even half of what I paid for it--immediately fell in love with it and is now a huge fan. The process of cooking is identical to what we have done many times at restaurants, and the results where phenomenal. We already have what may be the best BBQ you can get--a Kalamazoo--but the traditional American-style BBQ cannot replicate the Asian cooking style that the IGT provides. Sitting around the table and having everybody contribute to the grilling process is what this IGT is all about. Having only used it at home, I can imagine how much we will enjoy taking it on the road as well. It is not in any way a replacement for my Kalamazoo since they are intended for different purposes. The IGT is well-suited for cooking small thinly sliced meats and sausages. It could be used for larger/thicker cuts of meat, but it would not likely work as well for this. Next time around we will probably do Korean BBQ. We will also be using our Baja burner to do shabu shabu and sukiyaki.
Happy New Year!
Thanks, Overland Gourmet (Zach) for great service!
Thanks, Snow Peak for a great product!
Cheers,
Greg