I made yakitori yesterday "on" my performer (sort of).
Notes:
I would like to get the charcoal closer to the meat. I would say use more charcoal too, but I feel like that would be hard to control on a small cooker. When I get new skewers I'll try the mike.stavlund suspended skewers method
We used smaller cuts of meat this time and it worked out OK. Cooking it was easier and that texture was great but I like to have more meat per bite.
Binchotan is a pain to light but burns hot and smokefree.
Don't forget the lemon and Ichima Togarashi (red pepper flakes)
We cook 2-4 skewers at a time and eat them as they come off. It's more fun that way.
This was a Japanese style meal, cooked on a Japanese style cooker, cooked with Japanese style charcoal, and Japanese whiskey. It was alot of fun!
Cutting the meat. We used a smaller chicken this time, and smaller cuts of meat.
Assembled
I found some Binchotan locally. This brand is made in Myanmar, not Japan.
Binchotan is lump, made of oak. Alot of the pieces look like branches. It is super dense, and sounds like ceramic when you tap it. Read more about
Binchotan on wikipediaBinchotan is a b*tch to light. I had it in a chimney and the ss gas assist first, but it died out when I poured it in the kamado. I then put the charcoal directly on the burner until they were glowing RED HOT.
Okra and shishito peppers
Today's setup. My drink of choice is Hakushu 12yr whiskey from Suntory. Good stuff.
I had the iGrill setup on this one because I was curious of the grate temp. The Binchotan stayed around 350F for close to 2 hours.
First skewers, leek & thigh and breast.
First skewer to come off- note that it doesn't have that much char on it. The cooker was still warming up.
Next skewers- thigh and leek. Looking better on heat now.
Some cartilage and shishito peppers
Neck (top) and thigh
Breast with the ichimi togarashi red pepper flakes
Mochi! Rice dough cakes. First time I've cooked these and the top was was overcooked. oops.
The inside is gooey
Okra and breast
Breast. I was pretty happy with the char but the fire could have been a little hotter.
Okra and Tenderloin
Skin and Tenderloin
Skin causes flareups.
Chicken tenderloin is slowly becoming one of my faves. The meat tastes like chicken breast, but with a looser stringy consistency.
Skin. It was starting to get dark. I lost alot of time trying to light the binchotan.
Tail and Belly
Did I mention that this binchotan stay's hot? It doesn't produce smoke or thick ash on itself so it's good for high heat cooks.
Aftermath. we went through about 40 skewers.
Cheers!