# Dirty Bird w/ grilled tater tots & salad



## Smokey Lew (May 24, 2010)

Tested my new grill basket with some chicken legs and thighs tonight. I used Kosmo's Dirty Bird to season the chicken. The salad was grilled for about a minute on direct heat with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. It was dressed with some  feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette just before serving. And of course, there were tater tots!

Chicken is on the indirect side of the grill. If you look close, you can see the homemade grill basket to the left of the chicken and drip pans under the bird pieces.




Here's the grill with everything on it. Salad only took about a minute before everything was pulled off.




The final results plated. It was all pretty good.




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## Vermin999 (May 24, 2010)

Great looking chicken and sides. How you like your new grill so far?


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## Toby Keil (May 24, 2010)

Great lookin meal.


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## Shores (May 24, 2010)

Kick ass grill Lew! Great lookin' dinner to boot! That salad looks like something they serve in a high end place (meaning they bring it out whole and you got to cut it up yourself :roll:   ) and charge a lot of $$. I'd tear that dinner up. Thanks for sharing.


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## californiagrillin (May 25, 2010)

Good looking meal Smokey. The grill looks great too!


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## Tri Tip (May 25, 2010)

I asked for some shots with the new grill basket and I got em. Great Job Lew. How did you cook em tater tots? Just let em roast or is there oil in that there skillette? I'm doing the tater tots for sure.


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## bbquzz (May 25, 2010)

Lew all looks great if I hadn't seen your avatar I would have thought it was Tri Tip's meal


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## Smokey Lew (May 25, 2010)

Vermin999 said:
			
		

> Great looking chicken and sides. How you like your new grill so far?


Hey Vermin, so far I like the grill a lot but I've only done a couple of test cooks so far. The biggest adjustment I'm having so far is calculating the amount of fuel for a particular cook.

The thing that's so different about this type of grill from the Performer, other than size, is that it eats whatever amount of fuel you put in it.

I got psyched by Tri-tips comment to one of my posts on the basket when he said "you can put a whole bag of Stubb's briquets in the basket and cook for a couple of hours". I took him up on the comment and dumped a whole bag into the basket for last nights cook of some chicken legs and thighs.

The problem was that he was right. The grill kept on chugging along with the Stubb's long after the chicken was cooked and the dishes were washed. I even tried stuffing a large tinfoil plug into the chimney to damp the air flow and smother the coals. It didn't work. It ate it all.

The Performer is very good at snuffing out the coals once you close all the vents. This beast is an animal of a different color, but I'm really having fun with it. Probably told you a lot more here than you even wanted to know. Sorry


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## Smokey Lew (May 25, 2010)

Tri Tip said:
			
		

> I asked for some shots with the new grill basket and I got em. Great Job Lew. How did you cook em tater tots? Just let em roast or is there oil in that there skillette? I'm doing the tater tots for sure.


Hi Tri-tip, how was the baseball game? The tater tots were a bit of a disappointment. I put them in the cast iron pan with just a bit of oil coated on the bottom to keep them from burning. I think I put them into the grill to bake a bit late. The chicken was ready a lot sooner than I anticipated and I pulled the tots before they got crisp. The kids liked them though.


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## Tri Tip (May 25, 2010)

Smokey Lew said:
			
		

> [quote="Tri Tip":1efhl9y1]I asked for some shots with the new grill basket and I got em. Great Job Lew. How did you cook em tater tots? Just let em roast or is there oil in that there skillette? I'm doing the tater tots for sure.


Hi Tri-tip, how was the baseball game? The tater tots were a bit of a disappointment. I put them in the cast iron pan with just a bit of oil coated on the bottom to keep them from burning. I think I put them into the grill to bake a bit late. The chicken was ready a lot sooner than I anticipated and I pulled the tots before they got crisp. The kids liked them though.[/quote:1efhl9y1]

Angels got smoked. Left in the 7th inning. A few fly balls came my way but all I caught was a buzz! 
I too miss the ability to extinguish the coal. But I have conquered that. I mainly cook with Mesquite Lump. Long and large cooks I use Stubbs. (also a lot of the family don't like Mesquite)
Stuff a small towel in the exhaust and come back after dinner. The coals will not go out but they will be very low. Get on your welding gloves and lift out your basket. Pour it in one of these. I built this contraption for cheep and it puts out the coal in minutes and you can reuse it the next day. The coal sits on top and the ashes fall to the bottom. 
I'm sure your wife will enjoy you building some more BBQ junk  
Be patient. It took me quite some time to get my fuel amounts correct. I've been cooken on a one touch for 10 years. Also this thing seems to cook better the more gunk builds up on the inside.


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## Smokey Lew (May 25, 2010)

Tri Tip said:
			
		

> [quote="Smokey Lew":3j48kosh][quote="Tri Tip":3j48kosh]I asked for some shots with the new grill basket and I got em. Great Job Lew. How did you cook em tater tots? Just let em roast or is there oil in that there skillette? I'm doing the tater tots for sure.


Hi Tri-tip, how was the baseball game? The tater tots were a bit of a disappointment. I put them in the cast iron pan with just a bit of oil coated on the bottom to keep them from burning. I think I put them into the grill to bake a bit late. The chicken was ready a lot sooner than I anticipated and I pulled the tots before they got crisp. The kids liked them though.[/quote:3j48kosh]

Angels got smoked. Left in the 7th inning. A few fly balls came my way but all I caught was a buzz! 
I too miss the ability to extinguish the coal. But I have conquered that. I mainly cook with Mesquite Lump. Long and large cooks I use Stubbs. (also a lot of the family don't like Mesquite)
Stuff a small towel in the exhaust and come back after dinner. The coals will not go out but they will be very low. Get on your welding gloves and lift out your basket. Pour it in one of these. I built this contraption for cheep and it puts out the coal in minutes and you can reuse it the next day. The coal sits on top and the ashes fall to the bottom. 
I'm sure your wife will enjoy you building some more BBQ junk  
Be patient. It took me quite some time to get my fuel amounts correct. I've been cooken on a one touch for 10 years. Also this thing seems to cook better the more gunk builds up on the inside.[/quote:3j48kosh]
Hey Mike, that's cool. Is that coal snuffer a small metal trash can with a lid?


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## BluzQue (May 25, 2010)

*Smokey Lew* That's a Mighty Fine Lookin' Spread
you put together! YUM!

 8)


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## Tri Tip (May 25, 2010)

Smokey Lew said:
			
		

> [quote="Tri Tip":796buwr2][quote="Smokey Lew":796buwr2][quote="Tri Tip":796buwr2]I asked for some shots with the new grill basket and I got em. Great Job Lew. How did you cook em tater tots? Just let em roast or is there oil in that there skillette? I'm doing the tater tots for sure.


Hi Tri-tip, how was the baseball game? The tater tots were a bit of a disappointment. I put them in the cast iron pan with just a bit of oil coated on the bottom to keep them from burning. I think I put them into the grill to bake a bit late. The chicken was ready a lot sooner than I anticipated and I pulled the tots before they got crisp. The kids liked them though.[/quote:796buwr2]

Angels got smoked. Left in the 7th inning. A few fly balls came my way but all I caught was a buzz! 
I too miss the ability to extinguish the coal. But I have conquered that. I mainly cook with Mesquite Lump. Long and large cooks I use Stubbs. (also a lot of the family don't like Mesquite)
Stuff a small towel in the exhaust and come back after dinner. The coals will not go out but they will be very low. Get on your welding gloves and lift out your basket. Pour it in one of these. I built this contraption for cheep and it puts out the coal in minutes and you can reuse it the next day. The coal sits on top and the ashes fall to the bottom. 
I'm sure your wife will enjoy you building some more BBQ junk  
Be patient. It took me quite some time to get my fuel amounts correct. I've been cooken on a one touch for 10 years. Also this thing seems to cook better the more gunk builds up on the inside.[/quote:796buwr2]
Hey Mike, that's cool. Is that coal snuffer a small metal trash can with a lid?[/quote:796buwr2]

Yep it's the regular size trash can about 3 feet tall with lid. Garden Dept Home Depot. Also I got the expanded metal there too.


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## ScottyDaQ (May 25, 2010)

NNNNNNnnnnnnnnnnnice!


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## Puff1 (May 25, 2010)

Looks great Smokey L!
TOTS! YES! 8)


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## Guest (May 26, 2010)

That's a great lookin' spread! I especially like the grilled salad.   

John


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