Roasting large cuts of meat or whole poultry on a charcoal or gas grill can be intimidating for less-experienced outdoor cooks.
However, the flavor and aroma of a beef roast, leg of lamb, pork loin, whole chicken, or whole turkey cooked with flame and smoke are incomparable and add new sensory dimensions that oven roasting simply cannot deliver.
Trying to manipulate a 14-pound rib roast or a whole turkey with tongs or gloved hands can be awkward, messy, and can lead to catastrophic results.
So, for those who want to venture beyond your comfort zone of burgers, hot dogs, and steaks, there are a couple tools that can open up a new panorama of tasting adventures created by you and your grill.
Reversible Roasting Rack
The first is a reversible roasting rack, which can be used on the grill—it can also be used indoors with a roasting pan in the oven.
On one side, the roasting rack has rounded or pointed carriage in which the roast or poultry nestles. The rack has handles so moving, turning, and removing it from the grill are sure-handed and far easier than tongs or gloved hands.
Turn the rack over and you have room for 6 to 8 full racks of rib, depending on its size.
If you were to place rib racks on the flat grilling surface of a standard 22-inch charcoal kettle, you could probably get 3 or 4 racks on the grid at a time.
Photo courtesy of The Companion Group
Beer-Can Chicken Roaster
Making beer-can chicken on the grill is a tasty treat of smoky, moist, roasted chicken. But, the method requires balance.
With the chicken perched precariously on the beer can, have you ever had the chicken tip over in the grill and have the beer spill into your fire?
It’s almost an accident waiting to happen.
A beer-can chicken roaster is the answer to this dilemma. This roaster consists of a perforated metal plate on the bottom, which has a cylinder big enough for a beer can in the middle permanently affixed to the metal plate. Other versions include ceramic or stoneware versions, as well as those that are a simple metal frame for holding the chicken and beer upright (with no plate at the bottom, which are not as steady on the grill grate).
Simply insert the beer can into the metal holder and slide the chicken onto the metal holder. Now then chicken will remain upright and steady throughout the grill-roasting process and it’s easy to move without risk of tipping everything over.
Photo courtesy of The Companion Group
A reversible rack and a beer-can chicken roaster are essential, practical tools that should have a place in every pit master’s grilling arsenal.
Are you afraid to grill-roast large cuts of meat and poultry? Have you ever used either of these tools? If so, isn’t your life a whole lot more delicious?
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