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lava rocks for the grill are they good ??

post #1 of 9
9/28/11 at 2:15pm
Thread Starter 

Hey everyone ! was wondering do you think if I got lava rocks for my grill it would make veggies taste better esp. eggplant ??

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post #2 of 9
10/2/11 at 7:00pm

I'm guessing you have a gas grill, since I have never seen anyone use lava rocks on a charcoal grill.  The lava rocks provide a barrier between the flames and the food which evens out hot spots and prevents grease from dripping directly onto the burners, which is supposed to help with flare ups.  Personally, I don't use lava rocks.

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post #3 of 9
10/2/11 at 7:50pm
Thread Starter 

thanks for the advice ! I am having difficulty grilling eggplant on my baby weber gas grill. It always comes out rubbery and tasteless. Any suggestions ? I even salt it before to remove bitterness and I am not undercooking it. How come local delis grilled eggplant tastse so good but I can;t get mine to be like theirs ?

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post #4 of 9
10/2/11 at 7:52pm

In order, I prefer

 

ceramic tiles

lava rock

metal flavorizer bars--these things are lousy for flavor.

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post #5 of 9
10/3/11 at 9:51pm

What are you seasoning it with? Maybe some good olive oil, garlic, fresh herbs would help....

I think you are not cooking it as hot as the restaurant does. Its just laying there drying out.

Commercial grills cook hotter than a lot of home grills.

'They are most likely seasoned much better than your home grill, cooking 1000's of pounds of meat on them every month, as apposed to you cooking a couple of steaks and some grilled veggies.

 

I have a lava rock broiler in my food trailer, first thing I did with it was buy 40lbs of the cheapest, greasiest  burgers I could find and cook them to help season the grill, took a few months to get it right.

That thing has had so much meat cooked on it now, a piece of shoe leather tastes good cooked on it!

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post #6 of 9
10/5/11 at 3:51am
Thread Starter 

wow Chef Buba Thanks for your help I really appreciate your advice, I think your exactly right. I don't think my grill gets as hot enough as restaurants. It's a baby weber propane grill. Would you suggest me to buy another grill like a bigger one ? I used the lava rocks the other day on the grill and it seemed like the flames couldn't even get through. It took double the time to cook my food. Thanks for the help. I just wish I could figure out this grilled eggplant because it's my favorite. It stinks I always have to buy it when I want it and not make it myself =(

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post #7 of 9
10/5/11 at 8:39am

I just looked up what type of grill you have, that thing puts out 8500 btu's, a commercial grill will put out 80,000 or more.

 

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post #8 of 9
10/5/11 at 3:36pm

Personally, I cook off my grill about 3 times a week all year round.  So I got a nice mid-size Weber grill, one of the Genesis line, and I love it.  Having enough heat like chefbuba pointed out can be crucial.  Right now a lot of places have grills on clearance as the weather gets colder, check around and see if you can score a nice deal.

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post #9 of 9
10/5/11 at 4:25pm

Keep in mind, it's not just the BTU, but the area as well, Bigger grills with higher BTUs are spreading that out over more area. So you want to do a little division to figure BTUs/square inch to compare grills to get a sense of if it will burn hotter than some other grill.

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