Do You Still Have Some Olympic Spirit Left?

Now that the Olympics are behind us, all that competing… have you thought about entering a competitive grilling/barbecue competition? Not just the local fundraising chili cook-off, but the real deal. Where you get to swagger off with bragging rights and maybe a nice big prize. You think you’re pretty good standing at the grill, don’t you? Well, the season is upon us and it’s time to get ready!

You know the (very) old joke about “how do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer is “practice, practice, practice”. It’s the same for competition cooking. To get you started off right, we’re going to send you to the website of pitmaster Malcolm Reed. Malcom Reed. He’ll let you know the basics that he says will make your life a little easier. It’s a quick read and you don’t want to skip it.

If you ever watch any of the shows on Food Network, you might wonder how so many people claim to be grill masters and crow about all of the awards they’ve won. It doesn’t seem possible that they all won that many. Without ever having even met each other! When you start to look around for a competition for yourself, your head will practically fly off your body when you see the gazillions of competitions that are out there. From coast to coast.

Take a look at BBQ Festivals for 2018. It’s organized by date and not by location, so you might want to zoom through it to find a time when you’re available. Hopefully you’ll find an event that you can get to at a time that’s good for you. At least enjoy the pictures on the site! National Barbecue News has its events by state and date. Orange Beach, Alabama, hosts the World Food Championships from November 7-11. There’s a prize purse of $300,000 and they seem to have categories for everything.

When you’ve clicked on all these links you might find yourself a little overwhelmed and might decide to start out on a smaller scale. Think local! There’s nothing wrong with that chili cook-off and hey, a win’s a win! Or you and some of your co-workers or neighbors can start your own competition. No one ever complained about eating great burgers or even judging them.

If you’d like a little more friendly help, take a look at these Grill Tips from the American Royal, the world’s biggest barbecue competition. It might even give you some ideas about what to name your team when you’re ready to jump in.

Whatever you cook, and wherever you cook it, don’t forget about the advantage that our top-notch, top-quality grill scraper will afford you. Our scrapers will keep your grill clean and well-maintained. You can get a mini one, or a heavy duty one, or a heavy duty one with a squeegee. Any of them will get the job done right, save you time and money, and take some pressure off your back, legs and feet.

If this is your first time visiting us, we’d like you to know that our products are made right here in the USA. This is something we’re over the moon proud of. We know that it helps to keep Americans working, and there’s no question that we help them keep on grilling. Either in a restaurant, or in a food truck, or right at home. Or at those competitions you’ll be entering. Good luck!

Please follow our Upcoming Products page for more of what we’re up to, and of course come to our website to view all of the products and everything we offer at Redi-Gril.com. If a product doesn’t say Red-Gril it’s not the original!

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What Do You Know About Grilling?

We’ll give you this: you know how to buy the food, fire up your grill, and make something so delicious that your family and friends will be singing your praises. But what you might not know is how grilling began. Care to guess?

To be as precise as we can, grilling began about 500,000 years ago at the time of the domestication of fire, which makes complete sense if you think about it. While our early ancestors might have been raw food junkies out of necessity, fire definitely gave them more options. There is an opinion that the idea of cooking meat came from forest fires that burned animals which made them taste better and easier to chew. Could be. In any case, since men were the main hunters, women would be in charge of cooking. So they’re more than welcome to claim credit as the first grill masters we know of.

As you probably know, although the words are sometimes interchangeable, grilling and barbecue aren’t the same thing. As Tori Avey writes, “the word barbecue likely originated with the Caribbean Taino Indians, who would smoke or dry meat over a frame made of green sticks. Edward Ward recorded one of the earliest English tales of barbecue in his travel account, “The Barbacue Feast: or, the three pigs of Peckham, broil’d under an apple-tree.” The pamphlet was published in London in 1706. In his story, several English colonists had been enjoying a rum-filled evening in Peckham, Jamaica when their bellies began to rumble. They decided to create a rack from sticks with a fire burning beneath. Once the fire had burned the sticks down to coal, long wooden spits were placed across the rack and topped with three whole pigs. Using the resources available to them, the men crafted a foxtail “brush” to baste the meat with a mixture of pepper and Madeira wine. The pigs were cooked for several hours before being removed, portioned, and distributed to onlookers. Cooking food over a fire was nothing new, but the social aspect of barbecue was a new and noteworthy experience for Ward. He described how the events were scheduled to start well before the food was served. Guests gathered around to watch every detail of the cooking process, from the construction of the pit to the removal of the meat from the fire. Cooking became a communal experience.”

Another source gives credit for the barbecue to the Arawak people of the Caribbean. The Arawaks also gave the English language the word cannibal, but we’ll just skip over that one.

If we jump ahead a few centuries, we learn that barbecue pits were built with stones or bricks above ground. In 1897, Ellsworth Zwoyer patented the charcoal briquette. In the 1920s, Henry Ford, in collaboration with Thomas Edison and EB Kingsford, began commercial manufacturing by making the briquettes sawdust and wood scraps from Ford's auto plants.

Brick and fieldstone barbecues became common in parks and backyards, but they weren’t easy to build. Somewhere along the way somebody cut a steel drum in half lengthwise, hinged the two parts together like a clamshell, and attached four legs. The quest to build the perfect backyard barbecue was on. After World War II when people began to move into the suburbs, outdoor grilling became quite the craze and remains so today.

While we applaud the inventions of all of the above, we feel a little sad that none of those people had the advantage of the being able to use a top-notch, top-quality grill scraper like the ones that we make! Our scrapers will keep your grill clean and well-maintained. You can get a mini one, or a heavy duty one, or a heavy duty one with a squeegee. Any of them will get the job done right, save you time and money, and take some pressure off your back, legs and feet. If only the Arawaks had known.

If this is your first time visiting us, we’d like you to know that our products are made right here in the USA. This is something we’re extremely proud of. We know that it helps to keep Americans working, and there’s no question that we help them keep on grilling. Either in a restaurant, or in a food truck, or right at home.

Please follow our Upcoming Products page for more of what we’re up to, and of course come to our website to view all of the products and everything we offer at Redi-Gril.com. If a product doesn’t say Red-Gril it’s not the original!

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Trot that Turkey to the Grill

You don’t have to be out in the wilderness to grill a turkey for Thanksgiving. Of course, if you’re planning a camping trip it would be just the thing. And you might as well keep reading. But if you’re new to this, let us give you a few reasons why you should try it.

• 1. You’ve been making the same Thanksgiving dinner for what seems and feels like 100 years and you’d really like to try something different.
• 2. You’re pretty tired of jumping up and down every 20 minutes to baste that turkey in the oven.
• 3. You have lists all over the kitchen telling you when to put what into the oven and there’s never enough room for everything.
• 4. Those pies are still sitting out on the counter, cold or at room temperature, exactly because you ran out of room in the oven.
• 5. A guest brought a casserole that has to go into the oven right this minute.
• 6. You’d like someone else to be in charge of the turkey. For a change.
• 7. The flavor your family and friends always seem to crave is grilled.

You can grill a turkey on whatever kind of grill you like to use. Charcoal, or gas, and you can even smoke one. (No jokes, please.) The Butterball Hotline is pretty famous around this time of year. No matter what brand they’ve purchased, they call Butterball when they get into trouble. For thirty-seven years those nice people on the other end of the line have been answering some funny questions. See some of them here at Butterball Questions.

Here are two Butterball recipes that will get you started on grilling your own turkey this year.

For outdoor charcoal grilling:

• Prepare charcoal-covered grill by removing cooking grate and opening all vents.
• Position drip pan in center of charcoal grate and place 25 to 30 briquettes along each side (lengthwise) of drip pan. Burn briquettes until covered with gray ash, about 30 minutes. Place cooking grate in grill over coals.
• Prepare fresh or thawed turkey by removing giblets and neck, draining juices and patting dry with clean paper towels.
• Turn wings back to hold neck skin in place and tuck legs. Brush or spray entire turkey with cooking or vegetable oil.
• Place turkey, breast up, on cooking grate over drip pan. Cover grill, leaving vents open.
• Add 6 to 8 briquettes to each side every 45 to 60 minutes.
• Using a meat thermometer, cook turkey to internal temperature of 180° F in thigh and 165° F in breast.
• 10 to 16 lb. turkeys will take 2 to 3 hours to grill. When done, remove and let stand for 15 minutes before carving.

For outdoor gas grilling:

• Before turning on grill, lift grate and place drip pan directly on flavorizer bars, ceramic briquettes or lava rocks. Replace grate.
• Prepare grill for indirect heat cooking according to owner’s guide. Preheat burners on high for 10 to 15 minutes with lid closed.
• Prepare fresh or thawed turkey by removing giblets and neck, draining juices and patting dry with clean paper towels.
• Turn wings back to hold neck skin in place and tuck legs. Brush or spray entire turkey with cooking or vegetable oil.
• Turn temperature down to approximately 350° F.
• Place turkey, breast up, on cooking grate over drip pan. Close lid and cook with minimal peeking.
• Depending on burner arrangement, it may be necessary to turn turkey over, halfway through grilling for even cooking.
• Using a meat thermometer, cook turkey to internal temperature of 180° F in thigh and 165° F in breast.
• 10 to 16 lb. turkeys will take 2 to 3 hours to grill. When done, remove and let stand for 15 minutes before carving.

Since you’re probably a grill master, you know that you can add whatever seasonings say “Thanksgiving” to you. And once that turkey is cooking outside, you can fill your oven with all of the other goodies you’re famous for.

And when it’s time to clean up that grill? Just so happens, we make the best grill scraper available. Our scrapers keep your grill clean and well-maintained. You can get a mini one, or a heavy duty one, or a heavy duty one with a squeegee. Any of them will get the job done right, save you time and money, and take some pressure off your back, legs and feet. And then you can be proud of yourself for starting a new holiday tradition.

If this is your first time visiting us, we’d like you to know that our products are made right here in the USA. This is something we’re extremely proud of. We know that it helps to keep Americans working, and there’s no question that we help them keep on grilling. Either in a restaurant, or in a food truck, or right at home.

Please follow our Upcoming Products page for more of what we’re up to, and of course come to our website to view all of the products and everything we offer at Redi-Gril.com. If a product doesn’t say Red-Gril it’s not the original!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Your friends at Redi-Gril.

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Get that Pumpkin on the Grill!

Have you noticed that suddenly pumpkins are everywhere? It’s as if our entire country has decided to decorate itself in orange fruit. Yes! A pumpkin is a fruit. Who knew? And to be even more specific, it’s actually a berry. Go tell your kids and see if they believe you. If you want to surprise them one more time, see if they know what the biggest pumpkin ever grown weighed. As of last year, the record was held by Mathias Willemijns of Belgium who grew a pumpkin weighing in at 2,624.6 pounds. That’s a whole lotta pumpkin.

Everyone knows about pumpkin pie and pumpkin puree and it’s suddenly showing up as a flavoring in coffee and almost anything else you can imagine. And of course, Halloween pumpkins with carved faces. Also known as Having Fun with Fruit. Just kidding.

Before we tell you how to grill a pumpkin, please note that jack-o-lantern pumpkins are not the same as the ones you’ll be cooking. There’s a definite difference, and you’ll want to purchase the ones that are sometimes known as “pie” pumpkins. You’ll find these inside the store, and not outside stacked up almost begging to come home with you.

You can grill the pumpkin in slices or in halves. The outside, as we all know, is very thick, so you’ll need a serious knife to get the job done. Once you’ve sliced the pumpkin in half, clean out the inside until it’s smooth and attractive. You can save the seeds for other uses, but you don’t want to grill them now.

If you’re grilling the pumpkin in halves, grill with the flesh side down. Use some olive oil and some sea salt for seasoning. Those are just the basics. Add whatever else strikes your fancy. For instance, you can add rosemary, or pie seasoning or even a barbecue rub. Then give it roughly 45 minutes to be soft enough to eat. If you plan on using the pumpkin for a pie or another dish, you might want to grill it for close to an hour to get really soft and you’ll want to use a little less salt. If you’re going to grill the pumpkin in slices be sure to rub both sides with the olive oil and they should be ready in 40 minutes or sooner, depending on the temperature of your grill. Fork tender is what you’re aiming for. And if you toss some butter on them...yummy. And no need to remove the skin before you grill or eat. The skin will soften as it cooks.

You’d be right if you expected some of the pumpkin to stick to the grilling surface. What to do? Just so happens, we make the best grill scraper available. Our scrapers keep your grill clean and well-maintained. You can get a mini one, or a heavy duty one, or a heavy duty one with a squeegee. Any of them will get the job done right, save you time and money, and take some pressure off your back, legs and feet. And with that physical pressure off, you’ll probably complain a little less and be a whole lot more fun to be around. Just saying.

If this is your first time visiting us, we’d like you to know that our products are made right here in the USA. This is something we’re extremely proud of. We know that it helps to keep Americans working, and there’s no question that we help them keep on grilling. Either in a restaurant, or in a food truck, or right at home.

Please follow our Upcoming Products page for more of what we’re up to, and of course come to our website to view all of the products and everything we offer at Redi-Gril.com. If a product doesn’t say Red-Gril it’s not the original!

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Grill the Last of Summer

The kids are back in school, vacation time is behind us, and while it’s getting dark earlier, we still want to hang on to a piece of summer. We can’t think of a better way to do it than to grill the last of the summer fruit before it’s gone.

Before you get started, you’ll want to put a little bit of olive oil on the fruit. It will help it from sticking to the grill and adds another layer of flavor to it. Once you’ve got it on the grill, don’t forget about it! It won’t take it long to cook, and if you wander off you won’t be happy when you get back to it and see it ruined. Keep an eye on it. Or assign someone else to. (Have you ever noticed that people usually like to help?)

Nectarines, peaches, apricots and plums are more than delicious when grilled. You can leave the skin on once they’re finished grilling, or peel it off. Your choice. And while they’re so good on ice cream for dessert, how about serving them either on, or as a side with grilled pork, steak or chicken? (If you have any left over, then you can use them for dessert. Or just pop them in your mouth and save some calories!)

A grilled apple will probably be even better than you could imagine. Baked apples have been around forever, but grilled? The same way that the flavor is enhanced in something like an apple tart, they’re just as good without the crust. And nothing is stopping you from adding it to your protein, or topping it with whipped cream or ice cream for dessert.

What about grilling a banana and adding a s’more to it for a different kind of banana split. Note: leave the bananas in the peel and slit them lengthwise while grilling. If you don’t have any young sprouts running around making s’mores, just add some hot fudge. Or go back to your youth and make those s’mores yourself. You can skip your Boy Scout or Girl Scout uniform. It probably won’t fit anymore, anyway.

For a riot of flavor, put different kinds of fruit on skewers and let ‘em rip. You can include cantaloupe, cut into chunks, and even figs. But make sure the figs are a little bit firm so that they don’t fall apart. And don’t forget the strawberries! As good as they are raw, grilling adds something wonderful to them.

Now make that run on your local market or street fair or even your own backyard and gather up that fruit. Then get busy! And when the grilling is over and it’s time to clean up, please remember that we make the best grill scraper available. Our scrapers keep your grill clean and well-maintained. You can get a mini one, or a heavy duty one, or a heavy duty one with a squeegee. Any of them will get the job done right, save you time and money, and take some pressure off your back, legs and feet.

If this is your first time visiting us, we’d like to point out that our scrapers are made right here in the USA. This is something we’re extremely proud of. We help keep Americans working, and there’s no question that we help them keep on grilling.

Please follow our Upcoming Products page for more of what we’re up to, and of course come to our website to view all of the products and everything we offer at Redi-Gril.com. If a product doesn’t say Red-Gril it’s not the original!

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Burgers You Never Thought Of!

There’s something about summer and burgers. They just seem to go together. Meat lovers, chicken lovers, vegans...everyone seems to crave a burger when the seasons change and the grills fire up. You’ve already made it through the July 4^th onslaught, but we have a ways to go before summer is over.

You probably know by now that just about anything goes on a burger. People put guacamole on them, and eggs and pastrami and hot peppers and garlic and bacon, of course, and all sorts of cheeses and greens and pickles. We’ve seen them made with ahi tuna and harissa tomato sauce and cream cheese. Not all together, but you’re getting the picture. Whatever makes your mouth water and your stomach happy belongs on that burger!

There’s a sort of insanity that hits in the burger world. This picture is of the BIGGEST burger in the world - so they say – at The Clinton Station Diner in Clinton, New Jersey.

They call it ‘The 8th Wonder Burger’, and it’s also known as the Mt. Olympus Burger. It’s 11.5 inches high and 28 inches across. If you want to enter a contest, you and nine others will have just 60 minutes to eat the whole thing. If you win, and no one ever has, you’ll get $5,000!

Should you find yourself in England, you might like to wrap your mouth around this one.  In Exeter at Red Ruby, you can take your best shot at The Monster Red Ruby Burger Challenge. You’ll be facing seven six-ounce burger patties, seven slices of cheese, 14 slices of bacon and two giant portions of double-fried fries and you’ll have just 20 minutes to down it all. The prize? A free meal, and a t-shirt. (You could consider this a warm-up to the $5,000 in New Jersey!)

Ready for one more? How about the Triple Coronary Bypass Burger Challenge at the Vortex Bar & Grill in Atlanta, Georgia. 

You’ll never guess what this one has. Three burger patties, 14 slices of American cheese, 10 bacon rashers and three fried eggs. Here’s the surprise: two grilled cheese sandwiches sitting there on top. The prize is that the burger is free, but you get bragging rights.

We hope this has inspired you to get a little creative. But you know what? If you like a plain burger that’s just fine. When all is said and done, it’s that real grill flavor that people are looking for.

And when the grilling is over and it’s time to clean up, please remember that we make the best grill scraper available today. It will keep your grill clean and well-maintained. You can get a mini one, or a heavy duty one, or a heavy duty one with a squeegee. Any of them will get the job done right, save you time and money, and take some pressure off your back, legs and feet. Think of it as a Christmas present in the summertime. That keeps on giving.

If this is your first time visiting us, we’d like to point out that our scrapers are made right here in the USA. This is something we’re very proud of. We help keep Americans working, and there’s no question that we help them keep on grilling.

We are always thinking and innovating so please follow our Upcoming Products page for more, and of course come to our website to view all of the products and everything we offer at Redi-Gril.com. If it doesn’t say Red-Gril it’s not the original!

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Easy Fixes for Your Aching Back from Redi-Gril, LLC

Even if you’re grilling for one, or if you are a cook that uses a commercial restaurant flat top grill, standing on your feet all day is no picnic. It’s lousy for your feet, your joints and your ligaments. There’s new research that suggests it may also increase risk for chronic disease.

One of the best things to help alleviate the back pain is to work smarter and more efficiently. Our grill scrapers speed the cleaning process, clean up time is cut in half! With our newly patented Heavy Duty Grill Scraper with Squeegee, the time savings is even better.

Of course, this work is still hard on your back. Look through this list of easy exercises and see how many of them you can fit into your working day. You’ll be doing yourself a big favor. *These are tips and not intended to be given as medical advice. For any serious injury or condition, please consult a medical professional.

1. You can do this one while you’re actually cooking. Starting on your heels, put your weight onto the heels of your feet and then lift your toes into the air. This will help stretch all the muscles in your feet. After you've completed about 10-20 reps, do the same with your heel. Place your weight onto the balls of your feet, then lift your body up. This will benefit your circulation.
2. Shrug the stress away in your shoulders and back. Raise your shoulders up towards your ears, and then let them go. Each time you raise your shoulders, move your shoulder blades around for extra relief. You can also roll your head back onto your neck. Hear it cracking?
3. Keep your hips loose by swaying from side to side. You can pretend there’s a song in your head and you’re swaying to it. Keep a steady motion and just pull the muscles in your hips slightly to give a small stretch. Do about twenty reps and then move your hips in a circular motion, first, counter-clockwise and then do the same clockwise.
4. If you can walk away from the grill for a few minutes, try doing some squats. If you’ve never done them before, go easy. A squat will tone all of your muscles, so work on getting the reps up.

Take good care of your feet. Wear the best shoes you can find. You might want to look into something with a “rocker bottom”. Then, at the end of the day, massage your feet. Lacing your fingers between your toes to spread the toes can help to promote blood flow and balance your foot muscles.

And remember that you want to keep moving. Standing all day is no better for your health than sitting all day. Mix it up when you can.

Please check back with us to read about healthy grilling and lots of things to make your life better!

We are always thinking and innovating so please follow our Upcoming Products page for more, and of course come to our website to view these products and everything we offer at Redi-Gril.com. If it doesn’t say Red-Gril it’s not the original! And all made in the USA!

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