Ah, “March Madness” – ostensibly that, of course, refers to the big college basketball championship series and its exciting “gotta win to advance” format. But when we think of March Madness, we think of the weather getting more springlike and our MAD desire to get out there and GRILL SOME STUFF! Right?
So, this post is about how we combine those two – here’s some March Madness-worthy bites you can make right on your grill using Griller’s Gold Premium 100% Hardwood pellets to give everything that tasty wood-grilled flavor!
If you’re like us, you’re camped out in front of the big screen watching sports, you need to have some good snacks, and some good beverages handy – good friends also make it more fun. We’ll revisit some of the snack items we’ve written about before AND give you three great recipes for classic “watching sports munchies.”
smoked Chicken Wings Three Ways
Seriously, is there a more perfect food than a chicken wing? There are three or four good bites of tasty meat, usually either fried, grilled, or baked, and tossed with some yummy sauces. So we’re going to take you through how to get great wing results on your pellet grill and some outstanding sauce ideas to go with them.
Expert Wing Tips
Buy: We like to buy our wings at Costco or Sam’s Club in the big bags of frozen raw wings. Be sure to purchase raw – you want end-to-end control of the product. If buying fresh wings at the grocery store or butcher shop, by all means, go for that – we like the flats and drumettes separated, and no tips, but whole wings can be cooked this way as well.
Prep and Season: Thaw your wings and drain them, then spread them on a rack over a sheet baking pan and let them dry at room temp for about 30 minutes – this step helps the skin get crispier. For 4 lbs of wings (about 30 pieces in total, split between drumettes and flats), mix:
1 ½ Tablespoons of baking powder (yes, this helps the wings crisp up as they cook)
1 ½ Tablespoons of a seasoning mix of your choice – we like Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, but Morton’s Season-All, or just about any other seasoning mix works. If you want to go old school, mix up 1 tsp each of salt, pepper, and sugar and ½ tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika.
Toss the wings in this seasoning mixture in a large bowl to evenly coat the wings. Spread them back out on your rack and let rest another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your pellet grill to 425F degrees. Yup, we’re comin’ in hot!
Cook: Put the wings on the pellet grill, spreading out evenly, so there’s a touch of air space between them – it’s the convection air that makes these crisp up. Cook for about 30-40 minutes at 425F degrees, turning every 10-15 minutes – you’re looking for 180 degrees at the bone of one of the thicker drummettes.
A note for non- pellet grill owners: This recipe works great on a charcoal or gas grill as well – just cook the wings over indirect heat (so shut off a burner, or bank your coals to one side). And if you want great wood-grilled flavor, prepare a “cigar” of Griller’s Gold pellets by taking a cup or so of the pellets and rolling them in a sheet of aluminum foil. Twist off the ends and poke several holes in the foil with a skewer. Place directly on the coals or your “flavor bars” over the lit burners on your gas grill. Use the same heat – 425F degrees.
wing Sauces X3!
We promised three sauces, and these are easy, so here you go:
Classic Buffalo
Ingredients
1 stick of butter
1 cup of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
1 T of Brown Sugar
1 T Minced Garlic
Melt 1 stick of butter and whisk up with 1 cup of Frank’s Red Hot sauce. Place back on low heat until it bubbles a bit, then whisk in 1T brown sugar and 1T minced garlic (Ok yeah, technically this is garlic Buffalo, but don’t bust us. It’s fantastic!). Toss with the wings hot off the grill and serve. Don’t forget the ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping!
Korean Sticky Heat
This one is so yummy – hot/sweet umami bomb!
Ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup ketchup
2 T Canola Oil
1 T Goshujang or Sambal Oleek
2 cloves of garlic mashed (or 1 tsp minced garlic)
1 1/2 tsps of ginger paster puree
1/2 tsp Asian Fish Sauce
1/2 tsp Asian sesame oil
In a saucepan over medium heat, mix ½ cup soy sauce (we like the low sodium variety), ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons canola oil, 1 tablespoon Gochujang or Sambal Oleek – both of these are Asian chili pastes that add heat and flavor, 2 cloves of garlic mashed (or 1 tsp minced garlic), 1 ½ teaspoons of ginger paste/puree, ½ teaspoon Asian fish sauce, ½ teaspoon Asian sesame oil.
Let simmer for a few minutes to blend flavors, then toss with the wings. Extra napkins and maybe some wet wipes for the sticky hands on this one!
Garlic Parm
This recipe is so simple but so good.
Ingredients
1 stick of butter
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp seasoning salt
3-4 T of grated parmesan cheese
Melt one stick of butter to bubbling, add 2 tsp minced garlic and simmer for a minute or two to “bloom” the garlic. Add 1 tsp seasoning salt, then remove from heat. Toss the wings in the butter and garlic mixture, add 3-4 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese, and toss well. Serve!
By the way, if you decide to make the wings in the oven or deep fryer, of course, these sauces will work well there, too!
smoked BBQ Baloney!
Yeah, we said that. You may know this recipe by a few other names like “Redneck Ribeye” and “Poor Man’s Prime Rib,” but what it is, is simply delicious! And ridiculously easy to do.
BUY: Go to your local grocery’s deli counter and ask for a 4 to 6-inch piece of their slicing bologna (or baloney if you prefer) whole – people call this a baloney “chub.” You don’t want it sliced! They might look at you funny but roll with it! We have found that the Eckrich brand works really well but just buy whatever you like.
PREP: Fire up your pellet grill with Griller’s Gold pellets of any kind and preheat to 250 degrees F. Take your “chub” and split it in half so that you have two “half-moon” shaped pieces, then using a sharp knife, cut a ¼” or so deep crosshatch pattern into the round surfaces of it. Slather it with yellow mustard (just good ol’ hot dog mustard is fine) to give your rub something to stick to, then cover it well with your favorite barbecue rub.
COOK: Onto the pellet grill it goes – we like to smoke it for 3-4 hours at 250. There really is no “done” point on this – it’s ready when you decide to pull it off and eat it!
SERVE: Cut the BBQ Baloney into bite-sized cubes, making sure that each cube has a bite of bark on the outside. It’s a bit of a geometry puzzle, but we’re sure you’ll figure it out!
Lay them out on a platter with some toothpicks. We also like to offer a few dipping sauces – BBQ sauce, some spicy, grainy mustard, maybe a hot sauce! And this is way good with the leftover Korean Sticky wing sauce above.
NEXT LEVEL: These are fantastic when made into sticky burnt ends – just mix ¾ of a cup of your favorite barbecue sauce with ¼ cup of honey. Toss together with the cubed-up baloney and then put in a foil pan (if using the grill) or baking dish (if indoors) and bake at 325~350F degrees for 20 minutes to caramelize the sauce.
Beef Jerky, smoked the easy way!
Beef Jerky is SO easy when you have a thermostatically controlled pellet grill – and you get that fantastic wood flavor from those Griller’s Gold 100% Hardwood pellets. Usually, when we make this recipe, we make it from scratch, but this is a faster recipe that uses some commercial products to get the job done. Now that said, this does require an overnight step and a relatively lengthy cook but, well worth the reward!
BUY: 2-3 lbs of beef flank steak
PREP: Remove the beef from the package and lay it out in a single layer on a platter, plate, or baking sheet. Next, put the pan into the freezer for about 20 minutes to make it easier to cut the meat up.
After the freezer rest, cut the steak into serving-sized strips with the grain of the meat. Marinate overnight in a good-quality Asian teriyaki-style sauce. Our favorite is Soy-Vey Very Teriyaki, but feel free to use your favorite.
COOK: Preheat your pellet grill to 180 degrees for 15 minutes. Place the strips of meat on the grill crossways to the grid bars (don’t want them to fall through!), close the lid, and go away for 2 ½ hours. At 2 ½ hours, go check them – you’re looking for well-dried strips of beef that still have a bit of tenderness on the bite. They will be a bit sticky. This cook usually takes us between 3 and 4 hours.
Remove from the grill, cool to room temp and serve. Don’t be surprised if your friends snarf them all up! Save any leftovers (IF there are any!) in a zip lock bag in the fridge for up to a week.
This is a super easy smoker recipe! Toss one bag of Goldfish crackers or a regular-sized box of cheese crackers with a ¼ cup of cooking oil mixed with 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. If you want heat, add ¼ t of cayenne pepper.
Spread in a foil pan and put in the smoker for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Temperatures are ok from 180 to 250 on these as well. Absolutely delicious!
Smoked Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips
These are even easier! Spread a bag of nacho cheese flavored tortilla chips out on a sheet pan and slide them into your pellet smoker at 180 degrees – let them go 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
You’ll never eat another “straight from the bag” nacho cheese tortilla chip again. It also works great with potato chips, especially cheese flavored.
Smoked Queso Dip
This kind of dip has been quite the rage of late in the BBQ social media forums and it’s quick and easy to prepare, too.
There are a thousand different recipes for this online.
Here’s the one we’ve found to be the best combo of easy and tasty:
Taco Meat or Chorizo smoked Queso Dip
Using a prepared taco seasoning and ground beef, prepare 1 lb. of taco meat to the instructions on the package. You can also substitute crumbled chorizo sausage, browned and drained. For this recipe, use a ½ pound of the taco meat or browned chorizo.
1 can Rotel tomato/chile pepper mixture
1 cup diced raw onion
1/2 cup diced pickled jalapenos (can be omitted if desired)
20 ounces of Velveeta cheese cut in 1” cubes (note – regular cheese like cheddar will not melt evenly enough for this, you need the pasteurized process cheese to work right)
⅔ cup of sour cream
Mix together the prepared taco meat, the Rotel, onion, and jalapenos or chiles and spread out in a foil pan, then scatter the cubed cheese over the top. Smoke for 45 minutes at 250 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes, then stir in the sour cream and smoke 15 minutes more. Serve hot with tortilla chips and enjoy!
Is there anything that says honest barbecue more than “Burnt Ends”? Super smokey, toothsome, unctuous little nuggets of barbecue heaven. So popular and hard to come by that most “Q” joints sell out of them within minutes of opening each day.
What are “burnt ends”?
Traditionally, they are the over-done edges and corners of briskets and Boston butts that are trimmed off, then put in a pan with sauce and other yummies and smoked longer to concentrate the flavors. That said, they’ve become a thing in their own right and folks make them on their own.
This post will show you how to create burnt ends with pork belly and give you some notes on how to make them with beef. Buckle up, we’re going for a ride into Burnt End land!
Making Burnt Ends at Home
Making burnt ends at home is really quite easy – like anything that’s proper BBQ, it requires some low and slow time, some heat, some spice, some sauce and well, some love too!
The technique is amazingly simple. Take a cut of meat that loves low and slow – think pork belly, pork shoulder, brisket, chuck – (this is not a place for lean cuts like filet, sirloin, tenderloin, etc.), cut it into bite sized nuggets, toss it with a generous amount of a tasty rub, smoke them for a while, then put them into a pan with some sauce and other ingredients, and smoke some more. It’s a great thing to do if you’re doing a long cook and you have a bit of space on your smoker or grill – these cook beautifully on the second grate of most grills and smokers that have them.
Now, every good recipe for anything BBQ starts with Griller’s Gold natural hardwood pellets. This recipe is designed for grilling on a wood pellet grill but we have put in some hints for making them on gas grills and charcoal grills. If you’re doing them on a classic drum/bullet/barrel smoker, you don’t need anything special other than the recipe below.
Pork Belly Burnt Ends
This is the “master” recipe in terms of technique and ingredients. This also works for pork shoulder, and of course beef, which we note after the pork belly recipe.
Ingredients:
2-3 lbs pork belly, skin removed – this is about 1/4 of a typical pork belly
Barbecue Rub
1 cup of your favorite BBQ Sauce
½ cup honey
½ cup beer or cola
½ stick butter
About pork belly: Costco, Sam’s Club, Whole Foods and other locations often sell large pieces of pork belly – if you’re not familiar with pork belly, here’s one word that will help you: “bacon.”
What is Pork Belly exactly?
Pork belly is where traditional American bacon comes from – it is the outer layer of the belly of a pig. A whole pork belly can be quite a large thing so what they normally sell there is a piece that’s about 12 inches wide and 16” long that weighs up to 5 or 6 lb., which is typically a half pork belly.
This recipe is for half of that, but of course, can be easily doubled. You can also often find pork belly cut in large strips about an inch wide and those are fine to buy too. In fact that’s what we used in the photos for this post.
Most places sell belly without the skin – and if all your source has is skin-on belly, ask the butcher to remove the skin for you. If using the whole piece of belly, start by cutting the belly into 1 ½” wide strips across the short dimension. You can tell you’re doing it right if each slice looks like a thick piece of bacon. If you bought the strips, this step is done for you. Then cut each strip into 1 ½” pieces – you should wind up with pieces that are about 1 ½” on two sides and 1” or so thick. These are a bit larger than typical bite-sized, but they cook down a lot.
Put the Pork Belly on the Grill!
Next, get your smoker rolling smoke – if using a pellet grill, fire up using Griller’s Gold pellets – for pork we like hickory, cherry, Fruitwood Blend, or Competition Blend. All will give great results!
Preheat to 180 degrees and if your pellet grill has an “extra smoke” or “Super Smoke” feature, select that. If using a gas grill, preheat to the lowest possible temperature, and for bullet/barrel/etc.smokers, plus kettle grills, set up for low and slow – 225 or lower.
While the smoker heats up, toss the pork belly nuggets in a generous amount of rub. For this recipe, we like the following rub:
2 tablespoons of each: sugar, kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper, paprika, granulated garlic and granulated onion
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons dry mustard powder
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
You can also use your favorite rub for pork, or something like Meathead’s Memphis Dust plus salt. Mix well and then toss your pork belly cubes with enough rub to evenly coat them well.
Scatter the nuggets across the grill’s cooking grate, making sure they aren’t touching each other and close the grill hood. A handy way to manage this is to put them on a cooling rack then just set the rack on the smoker. Again, this is great to do if you have room while doing another cook. Just know that if you put them on an upper grate, they will drip delicious pork fat onto whatever is smoking below. Which begs the question: “How is that a bad thing?”
Expert Hint for Wood Pellet Grill Users
Time for an expert hint for wood pellet grill users: Pellet grills tend not to be as smoky as barrel or bullet smokers. While burnt ends love a very smoky flavor and with the fattier meat, they can take it without getting “ashy” tasting.
To kick things up a bit, consider using a smoke tube to supplement the smoke a bit – we’ve written about these before.Check out that blog here.
Load your smoke tube with the same Griller’s Gold natural hardwood pellets you’re using to fuel your grill (or, experiment – maybe try just hickory or cherry if you’re using one of the blends) and light it using a propane or butane torch, then set it on the grill grate on the opposite end of your smoker from the smokestack. It will kick out more smoke which will dance over your little smoky treats and kiss them with more flavor.
After the first hour, kick the heat up to 225. After 4 hours total in the smoker, take the nuggets off and put them in a foil pan. Whisk up a cup of your favorite barbecue sauce, a half cup of beer ( non-alcoholic option: cola works great too) and a half cup of honey. Two tablespoons of apple jelly is a nice bonus. Pour this sauce over the nuggets and toss them all to coat. Dot with about half stick of butter cut into small pieces. Put the pan (uncovered) back into the smoker for another 2 hours. Stir after 1 hour. After 2 hours those nuggets should be amazing – the sauce will have cooked down to a syrupy goodness and the nuggets will be nice and caramelized. They are ready to serve at this point – use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pan (there will be a lot of liquid fat in the pan) to serve. A pre-heated cast iron skillet makes a great presentation of these and will keep them warm as well. Be sure to include toothpicks to pick them up and lots of napkins.
(Note, if doing this as a side item while you’re doing another cook, don’t sweat the temperatures – roll with the temps you’re using for whatever you’re doing, just know that this does need to be in the low and slow range which is typically 180 degrees up to 275 degrees.)
Variation for Boston Butt/Pork Shoulder:
All of the above applies, but 1) cut to 1 ¼” cubes as it will shrink less; and 2) stretch first smoke period to 5 hours as they will need a touch longer.
Beef Burnt Ends
As promised, the technique is largely the same here as above, but here’s some variation points:
Cut of beef: Short rib meat is the ultimate here, but brisket and chuck work great too. Don’t buy crosscut short ribs but instead buy large, meaty short ribs. Cut the meat off the bones as close to the bone as you can.
Prep: Cut into bite sized cubes – because beef will not shrink as much as pork belly, cut a bit smaller – 1 ¼” or so.
Rub: The same rub above works great, or because beef loves it so much, just equal parts salt, pepper and granulated garlic tastes/works great too.
Sauce: Again same as above but a great variation is to use a steak sauce like A1 or Heinz 57 instead of BBQ sauce. Mix with honey and beer.
Time: Same as above, but taste after 4 hours – if they are tough, consider giving them 1 more hour to smoke.
Griller’s Gold Pellets: The Smokehouse Blend is great for this beef recipe, but if you are doing them as a “side item” to a larger smoke, just roll with whatever you’re running, it will be fine.
Extra smoke: Beef loves extra smoke so don’t be afraid to fire up that smoke tube if you’re running a wood pellet grill.
Last item for both – these are great made ahead. We often make them a day or more ahead. Just keep in the foil pan you made them in and then reheat them in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes when ready to serve.
Give these a try – there’s no voodoo in this recipe and nothing to be afraid of – you have to try really hard to mess up burnt ends! And trust us – when you come to your friends with a hot pan of these little nuggets of joy, you’ll be everyone’s hero! Smoke on! (Here are a few more smoker tips, in case you want to read more)
It’s that romantic dinner time of year again. At Griller’s Gold, we love the idea of special meals cooked in the intimacy of your own cozy home—on your own grill. Grilled pizzas and homemade hot-smoked salmon are two menu items that make the most of the irresistible smoky flavors of wood pellet cooking. And don’t miss the wine recommendations for smoked foods.
Grilled pizzas
Make a pizza perfect for two. Or do individual pizzas, one
for each of your unique tastes. It’s pretty simple, leaving you and your mate
time to focus on each other. Make things really easy with a purchased pizza
dough; whole wheat dough makes for a filling and hearty crust.
Customize your pizza with toppings that that suit your fancy. Maybe you’ll opt for luxury toppings for this holiday. Combine vegetables, fruit, herbs, fancy cheeses, prosciutto, smoked chicken or big juicy shrimp—the possibilities are limitless. You’ll typically want to cook veggies and meats in a grill basket before assembling and grilling the pizza itself. Here’s one delicious grilled pizza recipe that combines color and flavor.
Hot-smoked salmon
Go upscale and indulgent with smoked salmon on the grill. It’s a main dish that requires some advance planning, including time for wet brining (which is used for hot-smoked salmon as opposed to a dry salt rub on cold-smoked salmon); letting the salmon dry off in the fridge to develop a pellicle, the sticky outer layer that holds smoke flavor (think bacon); and cooking at low temps for several hours. But the taste is well worth the time and effort and preparing a dish this delicious really shows your love.
The perfect pairing:
wine with smoked food
When picking a wine for savory smoked foods, remember the menu principles from this popular Griller’s Gold post on complementary and contrasting flavors.
Complementary pairings match like with like, in this case, a smoky oak-aged wine that will go great with the menu items we described above.
Chardonnay is often aged in oak, and those big, weighty flavors are prized for special occasions and priced accordingly. (That’s because oak aging adds to the winemaker’s cost—from buying the actual oak barrels to holding the wine in the cellars and off the market for several years after harvest.) If you want to impress your local wineseller, ask for a Chardonnay with ‘heavy toast.’ Wineries use flames to ‘toast’ their barrel wood (striving for light, medium, or heavy toast). Heavier toasting contributes caramelly and smoky notes to the flavor of the wine that’s aged in these vessels. Think of heavy toast on a wine barrel like a dark roast for coffee: richer, weightier, and a bit smoky.
For a contrasting flavor in your romantic dinner wine, opt for something refreshing and fruity. The ever-popular Sauvignon Blanc grape is bound to win your heart. And whatever your menu plan this Valentine’s Day, cook what you love for the people you love.
If the idea of natural wood flavor and smoky goodness gets your taste buds all excited, but you don’t have the latest and greatest pellet grill gear in your backyard yet, there’s no need to despair. Here’s the good news: you can buy accessories to use wood pellets on the gas or charcoal grill you already own.
These affordable products are generally called ‘smoker boxes’ or ‘smoker tubes.’
They’re made of metal so they can take the heat. They’re also easy to use! Just fill with a few BBQ pellets, place onto your grill grates, and be amazed at the added flavor your bbq acquires. Because smoker tubes and boxes are simpler devices, they’re not nearly as versatile as a fully engineered, dedicated BBQ pellet machine. But for the same reason, you’ll pay a whole lot less for smoker boxes and tubes.
The SmokinCube is one great example of the bountiful selection you can find online. These accessories can kick off a long and beautiful relationship with pellet grilling. We hope you enjoy the journey. (We’re pretty sure you will.)
Now that you know how to get great smoky flavors, what are you going to do with them?
The pellet flavor you crave comes from wood. Find out here about maple, one of the wood species that goes into Griller’s Gold 100% natural wood pellets.
