In uncertain times, there’s one thing that remains constant: 1 BTU = 1055 joules of pure cooking power. OK, so that may not mean much to most of us, and there may be no toilet paper when there’s a world crisis underway, but you can still rely on the BTUs of your grill or smoker to cook some fantastic food for you and your family. After all, you can still have fun. Now is the perfect time to get outside and enjoy a backyard barbecue.
If you head out to the grill and realize that it’s been a while since you last fired up, take a quick look at our BBQ Season Checklist for some basic maintenance reminders. Maybe now’s the time to scrape out the old gunk and get your machine purring like a kitten.
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If you’re watching beef prices soar through the roof, stretch out what you have by mixing it with chopped mushrooms. Our Beef and Mushroom Blended Burgers have so much savory umami flavor no one will suspect there’s less ground beef in them. Or make burgers with other ground meats. You can probably get ground pork, and then turn it into spicy Pork Satay Sliders with Thai peanut sauce and sesame lime scented slaw. Ground lamb also makes fantastic Greek Gyros with a creamy yogurt sauce and fresh tomatoes in pita bread that will please the whole family. Or transform some corned beef brisket into Reuben Burgers grilled until crusty all over with melted Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing on toasted rye bread.
Let’s see… what else can we turn into a burger… Got brats? Re-assemble a few links to make rich and gooey Brat Burgers with Beer Cheese Sauce. Heck, you could even re-live the comforts of Thanksgiving with a box of stuffing and some ground turkey made into Turkey and Stuffing Burgers with Cranberry BBQ Sauce and sweet potato fries. Or order some kangaroo meat online to make Butter-Stuffed Kangaroo Burgers. Enjoy them with a pint of Foster’s beer. There’s lots of burger options! You can get all kinds of exotic meats from Durham Ranch. If it’s beef or nothing, order up some of the best beef available and get it delivered. Top meat suppliers like Allen Brothers, Porter Road, and Snake River Farms have lost a lot of their restaurant business over they years, and they would be more than happy to send you a few pounds of high-quality meat to grill or smoke at home.
Ran out of a key ingredient? Store shelves are empty? A simple swap might do the trick. The Food Substitutions Bible, authored by our own Dave Joachim has more than 8,000 substitutions for ingredients, equipment, and techniques, including emergency substitutions, time-savers, healthy swaps, alternatives for hard-to-find ingredients, and ideas for varying a dish in countless ways. Organized from A-Z, this award-winning book is in its third edition. It even has entries for things like “Barbecue Sauce,” “Grill,” and “Wood Smoke.” If you don’t have it, substitute it. Read more about The Food Substitutions Bible here.
Or maybe you just want to get outside and celebrate the season Either way, it’s high time to have a barbecue. Join us! Let’s #stayincookout while we can.
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