Nothing says “Spring is in the air” more than the smell of a brisket on the smoker. You know what that means? It’s time to dust off the grill and get the outdoor kitchen prepped and ready for warmer days ahead. Pour a cold one, turn up the hype music and give yourself a pep talk…you can do it!
A clean grill is a happy grill. The old folklore is that all the grease build-up adds seasoning and flavor, that’s a negative Ghost Rider (Google Top Gun, it’s basically a cool way to say “no”). All it is? A catastrophe waiting to happen. That build-up can cause unwanted flare ups or fires within your grill or smoker. I don’t know about you, but with the price of proteins these days, I’m not leaving anything up to chance. Been there, done that and thank goodness for Taco Bell party boxes.
After about every 24 hours of cook time, I fire up the grill to prep it for its scrub down. The heat will help burn off some of the residual food, then a grill brush and a little elbow grease will take care of the rest.
Now, it is time to accessorize your outdoor kitchen. Make it pretty (and functional) with a grill mat, hang your spatula on the hook and have your favorite meat thermometer nearby. More importantly, decide what you are going to make first on your freshly cleaned grill. Try out the fresh smoked salsa recipe–so simple yet guaranteed to impress.
5 Tomatoes
3 Jalapenos
1/4 Cup Red Onion
4 Cloves of Garlic
Salt or season to taste
(Meat Therapy preference: 1 Tbsp Meat Church
Holy Voodoo)
1 Cup Chopped Cilantro
Juice of 1 Lime
Smoke tomatoes, jalapenos, onion and garlic at 250 degrees with hickory or lighter smoking wood/pellets for 1.5 hours. Add all the smoked veggies and cilantro to a blender with the juice of one lime.
Pulsate to the consistency you are looking for, grab a chip and dive in!
