Konro Grill

Hey all,

I recently purchased a medium konro (hibachi) grill from Korin. I know that some of you own one. As I get started, are there any resources / techniques / go-tos that you recommend?

In general I feel pretty confident in high/low heat cooking, heat transfer, 2 zone cooking, so I think I'm well-equipped to experiment, but figured I might ask people who use this particular type of grill more.

Thanks!

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Brandon_Byrd_40557

Hey Wes,

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. The best English-language book on the topic is Matt Abergel's "Chicken and Charcoal." For general Japanese charcoal cooking, there's also "The Japanese Grill" and "Robata," though if you've got a cursory familiarity with Japanese cooking, they won't be especially informative. Robata is the better of those two books, IMO.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

A recent lunch session:

whenric

thanks so much for the help. I already have the chicken knife and "Chicken and charcoal" but lack a fan. Helpful to hear what you tend to grill on it! I'll let you know how it goes.

Shayx_1348663

I have exactly the same grill, so from my own experience, I can say that this is a great choice. If you follow the meat, then you can quickly cook it. It's just that when I was just given a grill, everything I cooked on it was burnt or underdone, and I couldn't even cook elementary steaks. In our family, this was a shame since a man should cook meat, so I decided to read on https://cookoutexpert.com/ a couple of tips to improve my cooking skills. After two weeks of training, I began to cook excellent steaks, it remains to learn how to fry chicken wings.

RoseWright_1357468

Preheat your grill for 10 to 15 minutes with the lid closed. The temperature under the lid should approach 500F with all of the coals blazing red or all of the gas burners on high. The heat loosens any particles of food that have clung to the grate, making it simple to brush them away. It works very good, doing that everytime I am cooking. Check on https://grillception.com/traeger-pro-575-review/ for more tips , I got a lot of grilling hacks there, unfortunatelly can't remembor more at this moment.