• Enter the TVWB 27th Anniversary Prize Drawing for a chance to win a Weber Traveler Portable Gas Grill! Click here to enter!

Jake's Performer Griddle, Did Up Some Bacon Wrapped Dogs


 
Jake Wilson

Jake Wilson

TVWBB Fan
here's the kit-

15007251179_cc3fa6884e_b.jpg


New Performer (Gold) I bought from Home Depot a few weeks ago now...

I found a welder, to make a new coal pan for

15193563782_a6cca4b261_b.jpg


this pan was for my BBQ Grillworks charcoal grill which I've had a while now...this is the 2nd pan I've had made for it...they rust over time and fall apart, and I just can't get rid of this grill

14507664183_8ae5e54fc2_b.jpg


it's huge!, compared to my 22" Weber, and besides, every once in awhile, I'll get a crowd over for some grub, and having extra grill realty on hand, is a beautiful thing

Back to this episode, so the guy that rebuilt this pan, I had him make a griddle for my new Performer

15170990146_07ea8d4d7a_b.jpg


this is 3/16" mild steel, 21.5" diameter half circle...here it is on the Weber warming up

15035794068_47ee3829c4_b.jpg


so I wanted to christen this flat top griddle by grilling up some bacon wrapped all beef hot dogs

15035693398_eb8025e576_b.jpg


After watching Greg (Ballistic BBQ) make these bacon wrapped hot dogs, and he spoke about using Mexican Crema, I knew I wanted try some for my self, so while on the way to my favorite supermarket, I thought I'd swing by a Mexican super Mercado that I knew would have the Crema, and wound up buying the hot dogs and bacon there too, since I had my motor scooter which would have meant leaving the Crema (which needs refrigeration) under the Vespas seat, right above a hot motor...although I wanted to shop at Publix where they have nmy favorite dogs (Boar's Head) and some decent apple snmoked bacon, I thought it better to just patronize the Mexican super Mercado for all of last night's dinner ingredients

15222383095_5ddb143fee_b.jpg


so here's the bacon wrapped dogs and some chopped onions grilling next to them, on my new to me Performer Griddle (TM=:-)

Plated!

15035689740_defab39547_b.jpg


the dog on the left...the blackened bits, are the remnants of the onion I could salvage<LOL>...yeah, they over cooked

it's not easy grilling at night time with nothing more than a headlamp (LED flashlight on my forehead), swatting mosquitos

okay, you're right, it's a poor workman that blames his tools...<LOL> but I prefer cooking/grilling in daylight...it just makes it easier to see what's going on, and this fire was uber hot, and something else that went on...since my drive way apron where I grill has some slope, the bacon fat ran off to the side and was creating flames, which made it hard to turn the dogs, w/o burning my hand, so the lid would go back on quickly, to help extinguish the blaze. It was a teachable moment, for sure. Next time I grill bacon wrapped hot dogs, I'm not going to buy the cheap fat laden bacon, and I'll spring for a better grade. that's my story and I'm sticking to it=:-)

Back to the meal though,

15035689740_defab39547_b.jpg


Both of us (Mrs. Jake and I) enjoyed the Crema, it's contribution to these gourmet dogs (that's what I'm calling them=:-)

We've never tried Crema before. It's sweet, with the consistency of buttermilk, and contrasted well with the grilled (charred) onions, mustard and ketchup

Thanks for looking!
 
Hard to tell from a photo, but it appears to me that you have wayyyy too much fire under your griddle. Takes practice to figure out where it needs to be, but in my experience, flat top cooking is best when held in a range above medium, but well below screaming hot.

Might also consider having your welder put a small trough on the long edge of your griddle so the grease doesn't drop on the fire. Better quality or not, bacon is going to create enough grease that it is going to roll off.

Dogs look delicious, even if it was an "adventurous" cook.
 
Well between all the comal posts and now the griddle posts I'm thinking my wife will be having one of those
'we can't afford all of these gadget talks' with me in the near future. Great looking dogs Jake...

Regards,

John
 
V_Rocco said:
Good looking dogs. How long did you have to cook them to finish up the bacon?
Click to expand...



~~~I'm guessing Vern but from memory, about 15 minutes....I used tooth picks to secure the bacon to the dogs, just to make sure the bacon stayed in place, that made it a challenge to evenly cook the bacon. Next time I do this, and there will be a next time=:-) as I felt they came out good-n-tasty, I'll make sure when I insert more than one tooth pick per dog, I'm going to try to get the tooth picks to poke through the same way...on the dogs I did this with, they cooked easier, or were easier to cook evenly, and I might even try to cut off excess wood on the tooth picks, after the bacon is secured, to help cook the bacon better...just a thought
 
JimK said:
Nice dogs and griddle.
Click to expand...


~~~Thanks Jim!, the dogs came out well, the taste was fabulous, n I think this is the first time I ever griddled hot dogs wrapped in bacon, now the griddle, I got that idea (to make it fit the 22.5" Weber), from Greg (Ballistic BBQ), after I watch this video of his


where he griddled a hamburger...

FWIW, I emailed Greg, asking him what the dimensions he used to make his 'flat top' griddle. Greg replied it's a 21.5" half circle made from 3/16" mild steel, so I wrote that down on paper, and drew a half circle, showed it to my welder, and that's what he came up with...so basically I rode on Greg's coattails=:-)
 
Jeff F said:
Hard to tell from a photo, but it appears to me that you have wayyyy too much fire under your griddle. Takes practice to figure out where it needs to be, but in my experience, flat top cooking is best when held in a range above medium, but well below screaming hot.
Click to expand...





~~~Bingo!, you're right Jeff, I don't know what I was thinking when I filled an entire Weber chimney full of coal, abnd lit it off, to do this cook, the fire was way too hot, I should have shot for a medium temperature fire, for sure...







Jeff F said:
Might also consider having your welder put a small trough on the long edge of your griddle so the grease doesn't drop on the fire.
Click to expand...




~~~like on this one?

10867037253_aec4770d79_b.jpg



this is my Euro-Q griddle made by Little Griddle, I bought it last summer from woot.com when they had a group buy, selling them for less than half price, 1/2 off of that of list price, what ever that was...Little Griddle has a blog on the net where you can buy their griddles, or a link on their blog, that will take you to their store

IIRC, Little Griddle makes a circular griddle for round kettles, like the Weber

The grease trough is a nice feature on the Euro-Q I have but admittedly, I've not use it much, mainly because of the way my driveway apron slopes, in relationship with this grill facing the opposite direction, the amount of grease that emanates from the meat I've cooked, has been small enough (amount) that I've been able to soak up the grease using paper towel. I actually have this down to a science with my BBQ Grillworks charcoal grill=:-)

What I do, when I'm using this griddle, I make sure I have my garage garbage can right at the grill's side, and I also make sure I have a roll of paper towel, so when I need to rid the griddle top of grease (since it does not flow into the trough, due to my driveway's slope going the other direction), I wad a few sheets, held with my tongs, and I dab the grease up that way, then carefully tossing the grease soaked paper towels, into my trash can. It all works out rather well

This first outing for me on the new half circle grill...was done mostly in the dark, it was all new to me, and I obviously did not have my act together...not in the least...the shame of it all<LOL>






Jeff F said:
Better quality or not, bacon is going to create enough grease that it is going to roll off.
Click to expand...






~~~this particular bacon was some of the fattiest I've ever dealt with, and I did the cook in the dark, now I did have a head lamp on, one of those elastic banded dealeos with the LED lights you wear on your forehead, & you can adjust the angle with, it's nice enough, but what I really need is to do these cooks in better lighting, like daylight, instead of night time when it's as inky black as your not so favorite terrorist's heart...

Most every outdoor chef dreams of an outdoor kitchen (if he/she doesn't have one...) with good night lighting...at least I dream up building one. It's still in the planning phase=:-)







Jeff F said:
Dogs look delicious, even if it was an "adventurous" cook.
Click to expand...






~~~~Thanks, and yes they were (delish). I was saying earlier, I believe this is the first time I grilled dogs wrapped in bacon. And it won't be the last=:-)
 
Rich Dahl said:
Great setup and the dogs look great!
Click to expand...




~~~Thanks Rich!, I look forward to many more cooks on this flat top griddle, in fact, we went to the grocery yesterday...Mrs. Jake went inside to shop, while I sat with the dog out in the truck=:-) I gave her strict instructions to pick up hamburger, which she did...I plan on grilling the burger for lunch tomorrow (Tuesday). We have deli American cheese in the fridge, and all the fixings too as the plan is to make the 5 guys burgers, again. I had fun with that, the last and the first time I emulated their hamburgers...let me see if I can find the post where I made this burger...okay, here it is-

http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?54390-Jake-s-New-Gasser-Broil-King-Baron-4-Burner

except, I griddled them up, on my other griddle

griddle, flat tops, whatever you want to call them, they're fun to use outdoors and provides a different dimension, to your outdoor cooking. While I'm babbling here<LOL>, I'd have to say, my favorite cook with the Euro-Q (griddle), is when I make Chinese fried rice with it. the taste of the rice can't be beat, what with the smoke from the charcoal mixing in with it

this is a finished pic of my griddle fried rice (w/chicken)

10866883736_e3f5fc48ce_b.jpg


the chicken was first seared on the griddle, then removed (to make the rice) and finished on/over charcoal...realty of the grill the griddle didn't occupy

here's the rice cooking, way before it's finished-

10866883726_5a657d6dc2_b.jpg


I add a splah of soy sauce to it, and a raw scrambled egg, to make the fried rice, Chinese style, fried rice
 
John Solak said:
Awesome looking dogs and love your griddle!!
Click to expand...



~~~Thanks John! the dogs tasted better than they looked<LOL>...you might want to think about having a flat piece of steel turned into a griddle for your Weber...the welder I used charged me $20 to make that griddle, which included the cost of the steel...they're fun to cook with. One of these days I'm going to do up some eggs on this flat top. I have some of those rings where you plop the egg into, so the yolk (maybe it's yoke?...the white part of the egg, when it's done=:-) doesn't run off every which way
 
John Sp said:
Well between all the comal posts and now the griddle posts I'm thinking my wife will be having one of those
'we can't afford all of these gadget talks' with me in the near future.
Click to expand...




~~~I know what you mean John...ifn' I go and spend any more money on anything, I'll have to hook up with one of those 12 step programs myself<LOL>

FWIW, I've been jonesin for a comal myself, but I'd rather have one of those store bought comals than to have a welder make me one...for something that is going to be used in my home kitchen that is, and that's where I plan to use a Comal, whenever I get one...

FWIW, the welder I had make my Weber half round griddle, he only charged me $20 total. That's a lot cheaper than a Comal, now in regards to a Comal, I think they're better off being made out of cast iron, aren't they?...maybe I'm wrong about that

here's the one I want-

http://www.mexgrocer.com/9111.html

$33 isn't all that much, but then there's shipping to add on. I figure the longer comal like this one, I could cook two tortillas at a time with it...I kind of screwed up...they were offering a 30 % off sale there recently...I should have jumped on it then. that would have been 10 bucks off, probably the shipping cost...

I'm going to look at a Mexican grocery I've been to, see if they sell em...I have a birthday coming up=:-)






John Sp said:
Great looking dogs Jake...

Regards,

John
Click to expand...




~~~Thanks, they were enjoyed by me and Mrs. Jake (He-He). There was two of those dogs leftover, I thought I was going to eat one late night...Mrs. Jake beat me to it=:-(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top