Welcome to GrillingGoodEats.com!

How much charcoal should I use? How long does charcoal stay hot? What kind of grill should I buy? Which is better, gas or charcoal? Do I put the lid on or leave it off? Are those wood pellets any good?

These are all great questions. Whether you’re new to grilling or are looking to expand on your grilling expertise, you’re reading the right source. The answers are here.

This is a grilling 'how to' website for beginners, weekenders and experienced hands alike.  There's something for everyone here, consider this source as a blueprint for backyard grilling.

I take great pleasure in grilling good eats!

~ Mike Thayer

 

Grilling Good Eats: A Beginner's Guide to Grilling in paperback

BachelorontheCheap.com

How much charcoal should I use? How long does charcoal stay hot? What kind of grill should I buy? Which is better, gas or charcoal? Do I put the lid on or leave it off? How do I know if the steak is done?

• This is a grilling 'how to' resource for beginners, weekenders and experienced hands alike. There's something for everyone here, consider this a blueprint for backyard grilling.
• Featuring mouthwatering recipes for beef, chicken, pork, lamb, fish, veggies and specialty items like pizza, desserts and much more.
• Each chapter is dedicated to putting you on the path to becoming a grill master, from selecting the right cuts of meat at the store, to serving up that mouthwatering grilled fare that will have your guests reaching for seconds and begging you for the recipe.
• You'll love the flavorful recipes, from appetizers, to main dishes, to sides and desserts, complete with pictures, step-by-step instructions, tips and serving suggestions.
• It's all about the flavor, and this book will help you deliver it.

Available on Amazon.  Order your copy today!

Celebrate National Deviled Egg Day

BachelorontheCheap.com

Everything is better with bacon!

Today, November 2, 2023, is National Deviled Egg Day.

I love deviled eggs, but as much as I also love eggs over easy or scrambled for breakfast, I tend not to have enough eggs on hand when the mood for deviled eggs hits me.  It's also getting close to Thanksgiving and with deviled eggs on many family menus for the holiday, here's my recipe to share, a great side dish for any grilled fare.

Mike's Classic Deviled Eggs topped with bacon - because everything is better with bacon! 

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 heaping Tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• A pinch of Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Smoked paprika (garnish)
• 1/4 cup bacon bits (garnish)
• Sliced green onion (garnish)
• A splash of pickle juice (optional)

Directions:

Boil the eggs.  Do you need directions on how to boil eggs?  Really?  Place eggs in a pan, fill the pan with cold water, about an inch above the eggs.  Bring water to a hard boil, then turn off the heat and cover for about 10 minutes.  Fill a decent size bowl with ice and water to make an ice bath (this is going to make peeling the eggs easier).  Using tongs, remove the eggs from the hot water at that 10 minute mark and place them in the ice bath to cool for about 10 minutes.  Gently tap the eggs on a hard surface and remove the shell, rinse and pat dry as needed.  Slice the eggs lengthwise and remove the yolks, then mash them with a fork in a medium sized bowl.  Add the mayo, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Mix well and then spoon into the empty egg whites.  Garnish with the smoked paprika, bacon bits and sliced green onion.  Serving Option:  There's still going to be a little of the yolk mixture left in the bowl, add a generous splash of pickle juice to create a bit of a 'crema' and drizzle that over the top of the eggs.  The 'crema' delivers a little extra twang on those deviled morsels of sinful delight!

I love these eggs because not only are they SO tasty, but they're an excellent source of protein (about 9 grams in two prepared egg halves) and this snack or side dish is relatively inexpensive to prepare, even with the bacon bits included.  

Enjoy National Deviled Egg Day!  

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Food Review: Sabatino's Smoked Chicken Sausage

Each link weighs in at 3 ounces

BachelorontheCheap.com

In my continued pursuit to eat healthier, gluten-free, and also reducing my consumption of red meat, I picked up some chicken sausages during my latest shopping trip at Costco.

I'm a sucker for just about any kind of sausage, ground, links, patties, pork, beef, and lately given the diet change, chicken.  Grabbing a package of Sabatino's Paleo Organic Basil & Cracked Black Pepper link sausages, I was looking forward to trying these, enticed by the mention of "Smoked" Chicken Sausage on the packaging.

These are fully cooked sausages, so all you have to do is heat them through and put some color on them if you're into presentation (no, the microwave option won't do that).

A chicken sausage in a Paella preparation

I prepared them in a variety of ways in sampling, in the frying pan, and on the grill. Some were nuked in the microwave and I even included some as part of a Paella dish.  I enjoyed them best grilled.  I really didn't get much of a smoky flavor though except for those prepared on the grill.  That was a disappointment, I was hoping for that smoky element in the finish regardless of the preparation method, but these links don't deliver on that if not prepared on the grill.

The snap on the bite was unremarkable with the exception of the grilled preparation.  Overall the links lacked a juicy 'pop' of flavor.  It's a quality sausage, but not a flavor profile I'm into.  I prefer basil as a complimentary flavor, not the predominant one.  These are a bit herbal and basil-forward to my liking.  I'm a fan of black pepper and you definitely get that note in each bite, along with the pleasant flavors of onion, and garlic, common ingredients in just about any sausage.  What's missing is a bit of a spice kick.

Costing about $15 for a 12-link package at Costco, I'm giving Sabatino's Paleo Organic Basil & Cracked Black Pepper Smoked Sausage 3 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap Stars.  They're reasonably priced, each link weighs in at about 3 ounces so that breaks down to $1.25 each for an organic sausage.  However the flavor profile is a bit boring, and the casing lacks the pop factor except in a grilled preparation.  I'll pass on buying these again and will look for another chicken sausage to try on my next shopping trip.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

~ Mike

Grilling Good Eats: A Beginner's Guide to Grilling Kindle Edition, by Mike Thayer

How much charcoal should I use? How long does charcoal stay hot? What kind of grill should I buy? Which is better, gas or charcoal? Do I put the lid on or leave it off? How do I know if the steak is done?

• This is a grilling 'how to' resource for beginners, weekenders and experienced hands alike. There's something for everyone here, consider this a blueprint for backyard grilling.
• Featuring mouthwatering recipes for beef, chicken, pork, lamb, fish, veggies and specialty items like pizza, desserts and much more.
• Each chapter is dedicated to putting you on the path to becoming a grill master, from selecting the right cuts of meat at the store, to serving up that mouthwatering grilled fare that will have your guests reaching for seconds and begging you for the recipe.
• You'll love the flavorful recipes, from appetizers, to main dishes, to sides and desserts, complete with pictures, step-by-step instructions, tips and serving suggestions.
• It's all about the flavor, and this book will help you deliver it.

Set to release on October 31, you can pre-order the book now and it will be on you Kindle on Monday!  Order Today.

The Living on Appetizers Challenge: Crab Dip & Toasted Garlic Bread - Bachelor on the Cheap

By Mike Thayer

Can a guy live on just appetizers alone? I'm going to find out. Over the next couple weeks, I'm preparing, eating and, 'surviving' on appetizers alone.

Baked Crap Dip & Toasted Baguettes

I love a good crab dip, but that's not easy to do when you live in the Midwest....  It's not like good, fresh crab is readily available and canned crab is, well, eh....  Hopefully you've got a nice seafood shop near you that offers lump crab meat.  In a pinch, the imitation stuff will do, it's better than canned which undoubtedly will have shell bits in it.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lump crab meat
• 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup chopped green onion, reserve some for garnish
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1 teaspoon Louisiana Hot Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
• The juice from one lemon
• Baguette, sliced
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

It's another dose of YUM!

Directions:  Mix all ingredients (except the baguettes and melted garlic butter of course) together in a medium sized bowl.  Transfer to a cast iron skillet and grill over indirect heat on the grill until bubbly, golden brown, and delicious, about 45 minutes.  About 10 minutes before pulling from the grill, melt the garlic butter in a grill safe bowl and toast the sliced baguettes, brushing them with the garlic butter on both sides until golden, brown and delicious.  Serve the baked dip on the toast and enjoy!

You would pay high dollar to get this kind of an appetizer in a restaurant and finding a restaurant that even has this appetizer on the menu could prove to be a challenge.  Making this yourself makes sense and it's SO tasty!  It's another dose of YUM!

$pend Wisely My Friends...

Help support the continued content for Shopping, Dining, Best Deals, Product & Service Reviews, Tips, Hacks, Recipes and other great information by buying me a coffee. Your support to keep Bachelor on the Cheap a free resource is much appreciated! ~ Mike

follow me on twitter @Bacheloronthe1

Product Review: Kingsford Onion, Garlic & Paprika Flavored Charcoal

How much garlic, onion & paprika flavor will this deliver?

By Mike Thayer

Make no mistake, I am a charcoal enthusiast.  In my humble opinion, for a grilled meal, you can't beat charcoal and a Weber Kettle. 

I do like to throw some added flavor through wood in combination with the charcoal, chunks of pecan wood to do up some brats, chunks of a fruit wood for pork or chunks of oak for beef.  It all depends on what you're grilling or smoking.  The key is creating layers of flavor.

I recently did a review of Kingsford's Cumin Chili Flavored Charcoal and I really like it. I have to admit that I was initially skeptical of 'spice flavored smoke,' thinking, "How much spice flavor will that actually crank out?" and "Isn't that what spices, rubs and marinades are for?  Talk about lazy grilling...." 

I lost all skepticism I had for 'spice flavored smoke' when I dumped the chimney of that Cumin Chili charcoal.  You can smell all those spice notes, it's like I was already grilling something and I hadn't even put any food on the grill yet!  The aroma of the cumin and chili was enticing and it did indeed help create depth of flavor in the chicken I fired up that day.

So today, I'm reviewing Kingsford Onion, Garlic & Paprika Flavored Charcoal.

Here is the description pulled from the Kingsford website:

Garlic Onion Paprika:  "Savory, caramelized flavor featuring an earthy base of garlic paired with the mildly sweet notes of onion and warmth of paprika."  The flavored briquettes are hickory based.

It's a celebration of bacon!

In testing how much flavor this charcoal delivers, I did a "Celebration of Bacon," grilling up bacon cheddar brats, bacon wrapped hot dogs and bacon wrapped Kielbasa.  You can't beat a brat done right on the grill and everything is better with bacon!  I used to do beer brats, then I experimented with wine and doing brats in those ways are tasty, but my favorite way to do brats is to just let them pick up the smoke flavor over indirect heat and my go-to wood for brats is pecan.

How did the Garlic Onion & Paprika charcoal do?

I continue to be a fan of the Kingsford line of 'spice flavored smoke.'  All of the meats I prepared on the Weber were delicious, complimented with those notes of garlic, onion and paprika.  And complimented is a key word, it's not overpowering smoke, it lets the deliciousness of the meat shine!  The brats had that nice crisp, snap of a bite when puncturing the skin, the sausage inside was juicy and there was that nice smoky spice flavor throughout.   The dawgs, Kielbasa and bacon was all good too, but those brats were the best.

In the bag, traditional Kingsford briquettes and 'Signature Flavor' briquettes

Costing me $13.99 for an 12 pound bag, I'm giving Kingsford Onion, Garlic & Paprika Flavored Charcoal 5 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  It's reasonably priced and most definitely delivers another layer of flavor on whatever you're grilling!  This charcoal is certainly a repeat buy and I can't wait to try the Basil, Sage & Thyme flavor!  Marinade and/or dry rub (on this day it was bacon & black pepper)+ Kingsford Flavored Charcoal = Another Dose of YUM!

 

I take great pleasure in grilling good eats!

~ Mike Thayer

$pend Wisely My Friends...

Related:  Product Review: Kingsford Cumin Chili Flavored Charcoal - Grillinggoodeats.com

The brats really picked up the flavored smoke

A juicy brat, with a nice smoky bite

 

 

 

 

 

 

Help support the continued content for Shopping, Dining, Best Deals, Product & Service Reviews, Tips, Hacks, Recipes and other great information by buying me a coffee. Your support to keep Bachelor on the Cheap a free resource is much appreciated! ~ Mike

follow me on twitter @Bacheloronthe1

The many uses for Tzatziki Sauce - Bachelor on the Cheap

By Mike Thayer

Tzatziki Sauce

Tzatziki isn't just for gyros....   The sauce is actually a fantastic change of pace addition to any grilled meat or fish.  Use it as a topping on a burger, put a generous dollop on salmon, serve it on the side with kabobs.  It's also excellent used as a veggie dip, salad dressing, put it on a pork rind, a lettuce wrap sandwich and more.  You can pretty much substitute Tzatziki sauce for anything you might use mayonnaise on and with only about two carbs per two Tablespoon serving that makes it Carb-Check Diet friendly!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 an English cucumber, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• One Tablespoon dried dill
• One Tablespoon lemon juice (citric acid is a nice alternative)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix until thoroughly incorporated, cover and chill for about 30 minutes or until ready to use. 

Not only is Tzatziki delicious, versatile and easy to put together, it's cheap to make!   You can whip up a batch of Tzatziki for less than $5 and have plenty of leftover ingredients to make more, or create something else.  That's what I call a Bachelor on the Cheap winner of a recipe.

$pend Wisely My Friends...

Help support the continued content for Shopping & Service reviews, Tips, Hacks and other great information by buying me a coffee. Your support to keep Bachelor on the Cheap a free resource is much appreciated! ~ Mike

What to do with that leftover Easter ham - make ham fried rice

Chop up some leftover holiday ham to make an easy and delicious fried rice

By Mike Thayer

If' you're running out of ideas on how to use up that leftover ham, here's something super easy to try using ingredients you probably already have on hand.

Ham Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cubed ham
• 1 cup leftover rice (cold rice gives you that crispy edge you're looking for in a good fried rice)
• 1/4 cup onion - diced
• 1/4 cup carrot - rough chopped, if you want to make it look 'purdy', cut julliane
• 1/4 cup peas or whatever veggie you have on hand really, that's the beauty of fried rice
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2Tablespoon hoisin sauce
• Pinch of red pepper flake (optional)
• Black pepper to taste

Directions:

Put a large skillet over medium high heat.  Assemble all your ingredients for easy dump in to the hot pan.  That and cold rice is the key to a good fried rice, having everything right there, ready to go.  Once the pan is hot, add the oils and once that gets hot and easily coats the bottom of the pan, dump in the veggies (mushrooms are really good in this too, but like I said, pretty much whatever leftover veggie you have on hand works).  Once the veggies start to caramelize, toss in the rice and ham.  Stir to incorporate.  Add the soy and hoisin sauces, stir to incorporate.  For the egg, you can either scramble and add it to the fried rice at this point stirring to incorporate, or you can push the fried rice to the side of the pan and fry your egg over easy so you have an egg yolk that oozes over the plated fried rice.  The latter is my preferred method, which also allows that rice to crisp up on the bottom.

Fried rice is the easiest way to kill a bunch of leftovers in the fridge - talk about being Bachelor on the Cheap wallet friendly!  And the best part, it's another dose of YUM!   Don't get take out or delivery - do your own fried rice!

$pend Wisely My Friends...

Bacon-Wrapped Corn on the Cob - Bachelor on the Cheap

Easy Peasy Preparation

By Mike Thayer

Try making this great appetizer at your next party.  It combines the great summertime flavor of corn on the cob, the subtle bite of jalapeno pepper and it's all brought together in a blanket of smoky bacon.  It's another dose of YUM! 

Ingredients:

• One pound of regular cut bacon
• One package of Green Giant Nibblers corn on the cob (You'll need 8 mini ears)
• Two jalapenos, finely diced
• Black pepper to taste

Directions:

A perfect summer time appetizer for a party on the patio

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line a sheet tray with parchment paper.  Take two slices of bacon and place on parchment paper with one slice just slightly overlapping the other.  Hit it with some black pepper.  Sprinkle on some diced jalapeno, then wrap the corn.  Repeat until all corn is wrapped and arrange on parchment paper seam side down.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the bacon is crispy and the corn is tender. 

These can easily be done on the grill as well.  Make sure you have a hot zone and an indirect heat zone on your grill, we are doing bacon after all.  Grill the bacon wrapped corn, seam side down over direct heat moving as necessary to avoid flare ups.  Rotate every 5 minutes or so until the bacon is crispy and the corn is tender.  Serve immediately.

Bacon, corn, jalapeno, what's not to like?

You can also do full ears of corn, but you'll need about 3 pounds of bacon for that, pretty much turning an appetizer, into a meal.

This flavor combination is tremendous, it's a perfect marriage that is a little bit sweet, a little bit spicey, a little bit smoky.  You're going to want more than one of these!

Costing me about $11 for the bag Green Giant Nibblers, a pound of Oscar Mayer bacon and a couple jalapenos, this appetizer serves 8 and took me maybe 5 minutes to prepare.  People will ask you for the recipe!

$pend Wisely My Friends...

For other great recipes, food & drink reviews and grilling ideas, go to BachelorontheCheap.com

It's another dose of YUM!

 

Food Review: Oscar Mayer Smokies - Bachelor on the Cheap

By Mike Thayer

Without question, burgers and hot dogs (that’s spelled, D.A.W.G.S) are the most popular meats to be placed on a grill in the summer time.  They're also an easy peasy, go-to meal for many families prepared on the stove top any time of year as well.   

Oscar Mayer Smokies are a great choice if you're looking for a quick and easy hot dog meal but can't take advantage of a grilled preparation.  Desiring a little smoky flavor in that dawg but cooking on the stovetop tonight?  No problem, Smokies are your friend.

Here's the description from the Oscar Mayer website:  Oscar Mayer Smokies are hardwood smoked and made with all the great taste and quality you crave. Made with no added nitrates or nitrites, no artificial preservatives, and no by-products so you can enjoy the great taste and quality you expect, with no guilt.

This is no ordinary hot dog.  Made with beef and pork, you get nice smoky notes in each bite along with a good snap, the mark of a quality dawg.  When cooking, these things plump up nicely, those smoky note juices flowing.  And hey, BONUS!  It's an eight count package of dawgs, matching the bun count!

Simple, but quite tasty!

I picked up a couple packages of Smokies the other day, on sale at my neighborhood grocery store, 2 packages for $5.  That's cheap eats and frankly (pun intended), I'll take these over the classic Oscar Mayer all beef hot dog 9 times out of 10, on sale or not.

The price is right, the smokiness is tasty and these dawgs are SO easy to prepare.  Heck, microwave for 60 seconds, put on a street taco sized tortilla (perfect size), top with any kind of mustard be it yellow, brown or Dijon to embrace that smokiness and voila, quick eats, good eats!  I'm giving Oscar Mayer Smokies 5 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars, these are a routine buy for me!

$pend Wisely My Friends...

Related: Burgers, Sausages and Hot Dogs