Konro grilling

This has been my charcoal grilling setup. @Grant_Lee_Crilly_63791 did a great Facebook Live video of this "put a bunch of charcoal in a hotel pan" grill hack about a year ago. It's a fun and cheap way to go about it.

But it was time for an upgrade.

That's the Pok Pok brand Thaan binchotan. I've got some Aramaru bincho coming from Korin soon. I can't afford the high end Japanese white bincho, but I can still dream about it.

Anyway, I'm going to be taking a kind of deep dive into yakitori this coming grilling season. And I fully intend to do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7E4DdDsZqU

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Comments

pd3ski_278514

You’re going to love that thing Brandon!! I’ve had mine for almost 4 years now and it’s a champ! I haven’t seen the pokpok stuff but have been using the sumi and the aramaru. If you don’t use all the charcoal after cooking put it out in that hotel pan with water to be reused next time. If you want to try a piece or two of the white bincho pm me on the other forum. Now you just gotta go make a batch of tare and get your yakitori on

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Oh, I'm real excited. I've got a box of sumi coming with the aramaru, just to get a feel for everything. I think it would be interesting to see a ChefSteps mini-course on yakitori butchery. There's no english-language resource on that yet, until Yardbird comes out. I have a honesuki that's raring to go. I've already planned to consign the hotelpan to the ashbin of history (i.e. - the quencher box). Great minds think alike!

Do you have a go-to tare recipe? Mine's basically a sake/mirin/soy sauce reduction infused with chicken bones and a dash of sugar. When I'm feeling lazy, I leave out the chicken bones and just stir in some chicken demi glace from More Than Gourmet.

pd3ski_278514

I add a few scallions, couple garlic cloves, few peppercorns and a finger of ginger to what you have going then reduce. There’s always a jar ready in the fridge

tshewman

That setup looks amazing!!!!!! god help me and my growing wish-list of cooking equipment.

robert.c.brown15

I’m assuming they’re using it indoors because they have industrial hoods that allow them to do it, but for the average person this would be outside on like a picnic table?

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Yep. Outside use only. That's a picnic table on my back patio. Also probably killer for tailgating and glamping. I am planning to do something perverse and try putting the konro on my Weber gas grill and use its rotisserie attachment to have a spit over binchotan. It may be too tall for all that though. I will report back.

Also, just a quick heads up... these are porous, so you don't want to let them sit out and get rained on (or to submerge them in water for any reason).

robert.c.brown15

This may be useful when it comes out much later this year - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/490832509X/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DWBKE7CY01ECQ3072NCC&dpPl=1&dpID=515-8FS6nYL

Enjoythis5_1017670

It looks cool, but I prefer gas grills because they can be cooked at home and besides there is no smell of coal. I used to have such an ordinary grill and in order to cook a steak I had to go to the forest, because if I started to cook a steak on such a grill in the courtyard or on the balcony, then the neighbors would certainly call the cops. As a result, I was very tired of it and I decided to find a cool gas grill to cook awesome steaks at home. I started looking for small gas grills and I was lucky to find reviews on Best Small Gas Grill. Now I have a mini grill at home and every evening I cook just perfect steaks!

aaron_5771

What do you put it on to grill? Will it damage picnic table if I grill on top of that?

Brandon_Byrd_40557

It has a wooden stand that's about an inch tall, though it's optional. It shouldn't scorch the table, but it might potentially warp it. Of course, my wooden stand hasn't warped and it's made of wood... so the risk is probably minimal.

kuppal_1228031

There will be many reasons to deny buying a full-size grill. Be it the compact space in the kitchen or maybe you live single. No matter what it is, buying a small gas grill serves many needs and brings you great portability.

whenric

Hey Brandon, I've got a medium korin grill on the way! Any updates on your experience? Any recommendations for newbies?

Brandon_Byrd_40557

I've found that the aramaru binchotan from Korin is the best bincho for the buck. It is very clean burning compared to extruded charcoal products like Thaan or Korin's sumi charcoal. If you're interested in the extruded charcoal, sumi is denser and cleaner burning than Thaan (and also cheaper, if I am thinking correctly). Aramaru does take a while to light and can pop while it's getting going if you overheat it. I'd love to try some of the more expensive white binchotan, but it's very expensive and doesn't offer much benefit for a homecook doing backyard grilling.

Get a fan. I was skeptical about the fan doing much of anything, but you can really dial up the heat with a few waves of your arm. I also use it with the fire pit and take it camping. In an emergency, you can also use a leaf blower.

Also go ahead and pick up some replacement nets just to have on hand. If something sticks or they start to gunk up during use, you can swap in a fresh one. You can also hit the nets with some nonstick spray to help with release.

When grilling, the thing to keep in mind is that you're going to be cooking almost directly on top of the heat source. Fatty items will flare up like crazy. Keep them moving. You can use tongs or tweezers to move the net around instead of manipulating the food item directly. Depending on how many you're cooking for, it can be helpful to have one side of the grill full with charcoal and have just a few pieces on the other side to create a dual-zone situation. I generally stick to leaner items like chicken, fish, and vegetables. I sometimes cook beef, but I slice it into thin pieces and cook them individually. They can also be skewered. Cooking something like a whole ribeye can be done, but it will take patience and be a pain.

If you want to get into yakitori and/or break down a chicken or two per week, you might consider investing in a honesuki (a Japanese poultry knife). It really is the best tool for the job.