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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

My First Cook on the Hasty Bake Gourmet

I finally had the chance to try out the new Hasty Bake Gourmet Grill manufactured by the Hasty Bake Company in Tulsa Oklahoma.

This is a charcoal unit that gives you the option to smoke at low temperatures, bake .. or sear with high heat by lowering or raising the heat source. (hot coal rack)

I decided to try out both the smoke and grilling features for my first attempt by cooking some reverse seared ribeyes.






I seasoned two thick ribeyes with olive oil, kosher salt and cracked black pepper....









Soaked my dried morel mushrooms (from last spring)...




The Hasty Bake came with a bag of their lump charcoal and starter matches, which was great!

I covered the lower ash rack with foil for easy clean up.....





Pulled the hot coal rack out and filled it about half way full, then used the starter stick.

The coals need to be placed on top of the fire.. I just wanted to take a picture before burying it. :)






The hot coal and ash racks slide back inside... so easy!








I made sure that the drip pan was in place under the shelf on the left side.




Then I lowered the hot coal rack down to smoke...





Placed my seasoned steaks on the grill... also a skillet of morels, portabellas and button mushrooms with olive oil, butter and garlic.



I let these smoke at 200F for 45 minutes..
For this smoke I used some of my hickory wood pellets on top of the coals.





After low smoking for 45 minutes, I moved the steaks and mushrooms to the top rack while I raised the hot coal rack up to the highest setting.

I wanted to bring the hot coals up close to the cooking grate to heat it for searing the steaks.

Thanks to a tip from Smoking Pal Big Poppa , I probably could have smoked the steaks on the upper rack in the first place. I will try that next time.. see how it goes. :)



Another feature of the Hasty Bake....the hood is not vented. The heat and smoke circulate around the food.
I love the fact that I can keep an eye on things through the window without opening the hood... Keeping the smoke and heat inside.




I gave the steaks a quick sear on each side. These were thick so I went for 7 minutes per side.

I also grilled a few spears of asparagus drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with kosher salt and cracked black pepper...



I made a sauce with the smoked mushrooms, the morel infused water, some of my wild grape wine and herbs....



I was very happy with the outcome. The steaks carried a mild smoke flavor along with the fire kissed charcoal flavor that I love.

The Hasty Bake performed so well... Being able to low smoke and high heat sear on one unit in a matter of minutes is amazing.

I'm very happy with my first experiment. :)

Looking forward to seeing what else the unit will do!

24 comments:

From the mouth of Kevin Stewart said...

Looks great as usual jeanie!

Smokomotive said...

It looks so good.
Hats off MASTERGRILLER !!!!!

Anonymous said...

I know this was your first cook, but I was wondering about the clear shield in the Hasty Bake...will it discolor or is it designed to remain clear? I hope so, because that is a brillant feature. BTW..the sauce should arrive today. Thanks, Gerald

cowgirl said...

Thank you Kevin! I am impressed with the Hasty Bake so far. :)
I hope to do several more cooks soon if the weather cooperates.

cowgirl said...

Chris Thank you!! You are way too kind. :)

cowgirl said...

Gerald I believe the glass is designed to remain clear. I've not found or heard of any problems with discoloration.
After being in business this long I would think any problems with this would have shown up by now.
I'll keep you posted if I hear anything.

Thank you again for the sauce!! I'm looking forward to giving it a try. :)

Thanks Gerald!

Nick said...

Wow Jeanie, Beautiful plate! I would say a plate like that is usually accompanied by white table cloths and waiters in tuxedos! Looks like the maiden voyage with the Hasty Bake was a huge success.

cowgirl said...

Thank you Nick!
This is nothing fancy... it's just country cookin'. :)

The first attempt went well. The Hasty Bake performed as great as I had hoped.

Thanks again and thanks for stopping by Nick!

Jason said...

I'm confused when you say the Hasty Bake is not vented. How does the smoke escape? I thought old smoke affected the taste of the food by leaving too much creosote?

cowgirl said...

Hi Jason,

They have a unique design that allows the heat and smoke to rotate around the food.
The bottom of the unit does have an air inlet vent but the hood is ventless.

here is a clip from their site.

"each Hasty-Bake creates a cooking environment that produces meals that are superior in taste. Our adjustable fire box offers you the flexibility to grill, bake or smoke your food. Additional features such as a grease drain system and "V"-shaped grills work together to virtually eliminate flare ups. An accurate thermometer helps you maintain your desired cooking temperature. Our removable heat deflector lets you cook with indirect heat while baking or smoking. And our ventless hood holds in heat and smoke allowing it to rotate around your food."


As with using any smoker, I avoid billowing white smoke and go for the thin blue smoke. It doesn't take much smoke to get the flavor you want.
(hope that makes sense!)

The Hasty Bake site has more information and they explain the unit a lot better than I. lol

Thanks Jason.. let me know if I didn't answer your question!

Anonymous said...

People just send you stuff to use dont they... I hope this thing works for you. But I like the other grill better. I have been wondering tho. Do you taste any difference in pellets or real wood smoke. It just don't seem right to use "pellets".... Buddy

Jeffery said...

I love the shot of the measuring tape next to the ribeye!! Looks great. To bad it would cost a fortune to ship to northern Canada!! :(

cowgirl said...

lol Buddy, pellets work fine. I was skeptic at first until I ran it through several smokes... works great!
You would love this one too. The adjustable coal rack is so handy!
Hope you aren't freezing down in Florida. :)

cowgirl said...

Thank you Jeffery, I hand cut those and didn't do the best job of getting them even. It didn't seem to make a difference in flavor though.
I'd definately share with you if you lived closer! :)

Chris said...

Those are a gorgeous pair of ribeyes, J! Nice and thick too. That Hasty Bake seems like a good cooker!

cowgirl said...

Thank you Chris! I had hoped to try the Hasty Bake out again today but I'm iced over. lol
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. :)

Revolution Farm said...

Always nice to see someone appreciating a charcoal bar-be-que. Nice stuff. Especially enjoy your sidebar with all the smokers and pit roasts.

Cheers,
Alex

cowgirl said...

Thank you so much Alex! Thanks for stopping by too, it's nice to meet you. :)

Mark said...

I think given about 10 hours notice, I can be there for the next pair of hand-cut rib-eyes. Muy delicioso!

cowgirl said...

:) Mark, Thanks!

Frugal Canadian Hermit said...

Another fine patio toy Jeanie. I love the way it all turned out, even without an actual taste test, I can just imagine how it all tasted. That's beautiful Jeanie.

cowgirl said...

Thank you Mark!
I was just thinking about you.
My favorite show "The Wild Within" was on tonight... they were hunting moose north of Grande Prairie. Sort of in your neck of the woods.
It looked so pretty up there. :)

Hope all is well with you, good to see ya!

Frugal Canadian Hermit said...

Hey thats pretty interesting Jeanie. I AM a little north of Grande Prairie, and I do see alot of moose, and elk and deer. Just the other morning I saw a cow and calf moose walk right through the bosses yard. A few weeks ago I seen a real large herd of elk in a field not too far from my place. Probably about a hundred critters in that herd. Wish I had my good camera with me that morning.

cowgirl said...

Wow Mark, that would be so amazing to see! You are probably used to it. :)
The country looked so beautiful up there. The guy in the show took a canoe trip into the bush to hunt for the moose.
Reminded me of your love of canoeing. :) I can see why you would like to get one.. (I guess you still want to do some canoeing)

You live in God's country Mark. :)