FirstGrill 2017: The Event
Five full racks of ribs, flavored ten different ways!!!
The grilling season has officially started at the RainyDayKitchen!
We got FirstGrill 2017 going this year with five full racks of pork ribs, flavored ten different ways, cooked using the sous vide method for 12 hours, and finished the racks over an 800º infra-red grill for 2 minutes on each side. And yes…they turned out pretty well 🙂 Oh yeah, the sous vided chicken was also plenty awesome!!!
All-Clad Stainless Grilling Pans
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A last-minute addition to our Sponsors list was an exclusive from Williams-Sonoma. Their All-Clad Stainless-Steel Outdoor Cookware Set is a three-pan set of grilling essentials that offer the same lasting durability as its indoor cousins. Each piece is crafted of brushed stainless steel with large perforations to circulate heat and add smoky flavor to meat, vegetables and seafood. Curved sides help contain foods, so smaller items are not lost to the grill. Oversize handles enable safe, easy handling, even when wearing mitts. This set is versatile enough to cook everything from whole chickens and fish to summer vegetables and seafood.
- Set includes roaster, fry pan, and grill.
- Brushed stainless steel – resists corrosion and warping.
- Large perforations – add smoky flavor
- Oversize handles – safe and easy handling.
- Heat safe to 700°F.
Sauces and Spices used in FirstGrill 2017
Here are all the sauces and salts used in this year’s FirstGrill. Heinz and Famous Dave’s are sauces we have used in the past and liked. The Williams Sonoma rubs and Spice Labs salts are new for 2017.
While everyone obsesses over (and rightly so) the right salts and spices for flavoring the meats, we would like to point out that those same salts and spices are also perfect for grilled vegetables. The easiest way we have found to get a nice coating on the veggies prior to grilling is to first toss them with olive oil, sprinkle on the salts and spices, then toss them again.
Basic recipe for this year’s FirstGrill:
- Flavor the pork ribs 10 different ways ( 7 sauces, 3 dry rubs),
- Each 1/2 rack was individually bagged and labeled
- Sous vide the ribs at 150ºF for 12 hours
- Put the ribs over the grill for 2 minutes on each side
We made sure the juices and marinates were placed with each of the 1/2 rack so we could compare them without getting too confused. However, some of us only managed to get through 5 ribs before having to call it a day. Others fared better 🙂 Still, it was not enough to make it worth trying to tally the results. Guess we’ll just have to do this over again on July 4th!!!
This was the second year where we used our sous vide immersion cookers (Anova, Sansaire) to completely cook all the meats before the guests arrived. Once folks started to show up, we were able to get everything “grilled” in less than 30 minutes!!! Doing it that way made it possible for us to serve all of the different flavors at the same time, something never possible in years past.
While the ribs took center stage, the vegetarians/vegans also had plenty to choose from. New for 2017 were:
- Vegan cheese from Treeline
- Roasted beets sliders with caramelized onions and cashew chipotle hummus (recipes here)
- Two different kinds of potato salad (recipe for the RainyDayKitchen one here)
- Grilled zucchini and onions
- Cajun Buckwheat burgers (recipe here)
And everything was eaten by everybody, some because of their non-animal food choice, others because everything was so visually appealing, and everybody else because somebody exclaimed “Oh my gawd this is so good! Try it, it’s delicious!”
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