grill cooks

[foodisall]

If you kind folks would indulge me with your opinions I would like to know what you think it means to be called an experienced grill cook,and what it takes to be such?I will throw out that an important part of, if not thee most important part is knowing when the steak or meat has reached the proper degree of doneness. Comments please.

[Katie Etouffee]

Sure, an integral part of being a good grill cook is the ability to bring any given cut and type of meat to a designated temperature on a consistent basis. In fact, that's kind of the baseline requirement. There's a lot more to it. Your line cook skills need to be impeccable if you work in a high-volume grill situation - if the grill cook is off, chances are the saute and fry stations will take a big hit as a result and everyone's timing will be shot. By line cook skills I mean organization, cleanliness, listening skills, and the ability to multitask. The other thing I absolutely demand in a grill cook is maintenance skills - if you don't know how to take care of your grill, your meat is going to taste like ca-ca. And if you aren't meticulous, the grease buildup on your grill will get away from you in a heartbeat.

So what if you can cook steak to temp? You have to be on the team, too.

[dano1]

ahh broilerman-i tend to work saute when i can. Organization is the key-just like any position. The first thing i look at is marking. Is that piece of protein slapped on the grill haphazardly? Was it seasoned properly? Is that broiler CLEAN? do you zone your grill? Do you rest your meat or let it sit on the edge of the broiler cooking and dripping juices down the front? Is your fish scraped off with the side of a spat or properly marked(back to that marking thing)?
Temp is important but very subjective ie. "med rare on the med side with no pink" . HUH??? After a while you will get to tell doneness by looking at the product. Then its second nature.
hth, danny

[Artameates]

im taking notes. can you elaborate on letting meat sit on the side of the grill?

[dano1]

1/2 sheet, sheetpan or more with a rack depending on volume. allows meat to rest without contact to a hot surface. Muscle relaxes so to speak and juices are redistributed throughout the cut instead of being "pushed" to the center and bleeding out when cut. I've seen many folks pull meat off the broiler and let it set in front on the rail where its still hot-overcooking the product and making a mess . I cook to just about temp, rest, and slap back on the broiler to finish and heat through.
Also know when to dump that 30oz porterhouse into the oven to finish instead of incinerating on the broiler. Most beef cuts at med and above i will finish in the oven with some caveats-convections dry out your product, gimme a conventional; oven must be close by(some kitchen setups really suck); and of course the cut itself.
I've never used rollout broilers a la Peter Lugers etc. my experience is based on conventional broilers fwiw.
hth, danny

[foodisall]

Great responses to a baited question.I would like to quote these responses in a report that I am doing if there is no objetions.So we have time ,team,resting ,finishing,cleaning, zone and experience and the ever present need for skills.
Love it ,thanks
foodisall

[cape chef]

Foodisall,

Cheftalk is always a great place to exchange ideas and help our fellow members, however, if you don't mind could you please private message either Nicko or Jim to ask there thoughts on this. You can look under "Members" to find them.
Thanks for your understanding.

[Nicko]

You cannot quote any of these response in an article that you are getting paid for without the express permission of ChefTalk. You can contact the indiviual posters and seek out their response but if you are using our forums then you need our permission. All content is the property of ChefTalk.

Please contact me to discuss this further.

[phatch]

Originally Posted by Nicko

You cannot quote any of these response in an article that you are getting paid for without the express permission of ChefTalk. You can contact the indiviual posters and seek out their response but if you are using our forums then you need our permission. All content is the property of ChefTalk.

Please contact me to discuss this further.

This position seems to violate fair use principles of Copyright.

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples of activities that courts have regarded as fair use: “quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author’s observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.”

Bolds are mine to highlight why I feel the way I do.

Of course, permission is always best.

Respectfully,

Phil

[Nicko]

I guess what I mean here Phil is that a person cannot take content from our site without our permission such as an article or repost the contents of an entire thread. According to what you posted people can quote so in this case I guess it is ok? This is always such a sticky issue. I think here the main thing is that foodisal does get the permission of the posters. Thanks for posting the copyright information I really appreciate it.

[phatch]

If he took an entire thread, that could be a breach of fair use, and on into plagiarism.

That link above goes on to say what you said. It is a sticky issue and the copyright office has no hard guidelines and will not judge any given issue. That's for the courts. It also says that permission is best, just as you said.

Phil

[Nicko]

I definately tend to be very sensitive to this issue because over the years I have so many people rip off ChefTalk. Everything from our color scheme to our actual logo and even articles. It gets frustrating as it is pretty much impossible to police the whole web.

I think in this case it isn't an issue.

[chefboy2160]

OK , in response to what makes a good grill cook? Well that would be me!
Been there, done that,still there and do not think any more.I just kinda let it happen.May the force be with you. Doug.............