Greaseless

I've not been doing a lot of writing lately, but have been doing a great deal of consuming information and cogitating. So, I'm not going to rely on a common theme for this piece; it's just about cool stuff I've found.

Starting with cool stuff - walk into any urban resale shop and you'll see that the #1 abandoned item is the George Foreman grill.  The funny thing about virtually all of these abandoned grilles is that they didn't get kicked to the curb WITH the vital grease trap that sits beneath the front of the grill.  The patented slanted cooking surface, that so famously promotes grease and fat reduction, has to drain off all that hot grease.  Without the grease trap, all of that grease is gonna be all over the counter.

Also, the grease trap has to be pushed ALL the way back under the grill until it stops moving.  Or, again, one will be swamping grease from every kitchen surface.

I wonder whether improper grease trap placement sours all of these grill owners?  Or, I wonder whether the wild variety of Foreman grilles induces people giving them as gifts, which then sit unused in a closet for several years until they get sold at a garage sale or donated to a charity?

Anyway, the other day, my computer popped up and said "Okay, fatboy - you've been in front of the computer for too long again, get up and walk around!"  And, I complied by walking across the street to the Goodwill which recently occupied the 99 cents store space.

A River Oaks-y Goodwill, no less!

The Foreman grill was on my mind after last weekend, when Billy told me that the two little Filet Mignons I bought from the Kroger discount bin would cook up just wonderfully in his Foreman grill.

So, there I was, in the Goodwill, with Foreman grills on the mind.  After all, I'm all about the bargains, even though my parsimony pales in comparison to Air-Rick, the Canuck.  HE is genetically bred to identify bargains before even the Seller knows that they are selling.

There were ELEVEN Foreman grills at this particular Goodwill.  Oh, wait, my lawyer training requires me to state that as "There were ELEVEN (11) Foreman grills at this particular Goodwill." 

How the heck can one tell them apart?  I knew nothing of Foreman grills.  I compared them endlessly.  Why is the one with the red bun heater lid only five bucks, when the identical one save for the lid being blue is ten? 

One of the grills, just one, had a grease tray strapped to it with packing tape.  Clearly, this distinguished the one grill mated to the grease tray from the lesser, unlovable grills without said grease tray.  And, this one was DIGITAL, with little buttons marked "up" and "down" bracing a digital timer display.  AND, this one was STAINLESS STEEL (veneer).  And, it was .. ten bucks.

The identical price to lesser grills without the grease tray.

I nabbed it.

After a few days of fiddling with it, and after having done internet research on the use and care of said grill (Goodwill not being so good about having owner's manuals and such dross) I discovered a few things:

• These grills are a MESS, but no more so than anything else when cooking meats!  The difference here is that this grill can't be dipped into hot, sudsy water.
• Once you get the cooking times down, they are great cookers!
• Bacon - never better.  Perfectly cooked, perfect consistency.
• A food thermometer is a requirement
• Cleaning the grill is pretty easy if you do it when it's warm, using a 10% bleach/water solution in a spray bottle and paper towels

So, for ten bucks, I am keeping my Cuisinart ceramic "Green" cookware more pristine and feeling more effective in the kitchen!  And, should this one up and die, I know where about twenty of his brothers are living.