There are two kinds of people in this world. No, seriously, only TWO!
1) Those that can and
must follow the recipe. These, in my experience, are usually fantastic cooks who can RELIABLY get the job done and impress a crowd small or large or extra large.
2) Those that have tried to follow the recipe, ruined it all to hell and back "because the recipe is plainly stupid" despite doing fairly well in English classes and general Reading Comprehension and figured they have pretty much nothing left to lose by more or less feeling their way. I blame it all (OK not all) on
@1buckie . Actually I credit Ken for much critical and moral support during some formative months just a couple years ago. Statesman? It's an embarrassment to ever wonder why.
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>> chicken wings and some corn
<<I was jonsin' to heat up this weekend's acquisition, a freebie 18.5" OTS that had come with the cheapo gray Weber cover (#7450 in good shape), 2 half-full cans of lighter fluid and a Weber chimney that looked like it'd been used once.
After I'd freed the sweeps with a hammer and performed a brief cleanup this well-used 16 yr old was ready for action. Wait, forget I said that last part OK? I am NOT going to name this grill LOLITA.
Lighter fluid, sure, because I can't even find my Weber cubes for some reason. And My Performer's covered up tonight and I'm too whiny to move stuff around for this and it's LATE and I gotta get food on the table sometime tonight for "those meddling kids."
I soaked a full chimney of K-Blue and lit the side, through the chimney holes, and top of it. You're probably saying to yourself, "Why yes A-T-S, I quite frequently use a spare 26er to light coals for my 18er" and really, why wouldn't you?
At this juncture is was time to dip into one of the the horse feed bags and retrieve some dried apple wood.
I wanted to burn off the bark prior to putting it on the grill, while the coals finished starting.
After the "campfire" smell abated and it began to look like char I figured I was done, but no, when removing the wood from the chimney and setting aside I got a bunch of new white smoke. Oh well. Wait a while longer for that.
The wings (remember? we're cooking wings ...) were about to get a lot of heat. You've never used two baskets of coals in an 18? Good thing basic grill grates for an 18 are cheap, because I essentially obliterated any protective oil on them, as well as probably the nickel plating in the center.
Did I mention the wings were frozen? Straight from the freezer and splashed with two kinds of Weber seasoning, mesquite and sriracha.
You can't tell from this picture but AMAZING things are happing here.
When removing the lid I placed it in the 26 for safe keeping ... it sat there for a minute or so while tended to the chicken, turning and whatnot, and then went to replace the lid. I grasped the handle. BAD MOVE. Almost burned my hand and had to abort. I realize the heat was right under the handle but wow, I hate the plastic handles. Grabbed a mitt.
Turned them like twice, repositioned the ones cooking too fast,
spooned a water/vinegar mixture over them a few times (can't find my spritzer!) and gave a light coat of Sweet Baby Ray's Wing Glaze/Sauce on them at the end yada yada and done. They went through full phases of sticking to the grate to feeling rubbery to feeling light/well done in less than an hour probably. Not a lot here but it's just me and the kids.
Foiled and brought in the wings ... now for the corn, ALSO frozen from a freakin' bag. Just enough for us 3 tonight. Used my Goodwill-sourced shaker without the lid, added a little white pepper, salt and Annatto (Achiote Molido). In the 10+ years we've had it I have no idea what Achiote does besides add "dry" red color and good karma but both are good enough for me.
Lid didn't fit with the shaker. Dang those flat tops.
I only let the corn go for a few minutes. I was concerned that a zillion degrees of direct heat (the smoke wood was now ash) would surely burn them in no time. Stirred a few times and removed.
After it was all plated (ha! no pic) I dove into the corn and LOL'd ... it was luke warn at best, cold! The Boy said, "It's OK ...." but I had to microwave mine for 20 secs.
And it was amazing corn, frozen or not, and only available from a kettle-fired grill (as usual.) And yeah, the chicken was pretty much on-point also.