I see lots of recipes I’d like to try, but they’re call for grilling.
I don’t have a grill. Or, even, a broiling pan (I live in an apartment.) I’d still like to try these recipes, but is there another cooking method I could substitute for grilling?
Well, I’d suggest getting a broiling pan. It’s probably the best alternative.
Or you could buy a little habachi. Or you could use a cast-iron skillet. It depends on what you’re cooking and for how long.
It’s almost sacrilege to say so, but George Foreman style electric grills do an admirable job of cooking meat. They’re faster, too, because both sides are cooked at the same time. You won’t get charcoal flavor, and you won’t get the fog of scorched fat that a gas grill gives you. If you have a digital thermometer with a probe, you can jab it in edgewise to get precisely the level of doneness you want.
When you shop, try to get one that will keep the plates parallel when you cook something thick.
The closest you are probably going to come is broiling. It still won’t have quite the same flavor as grilling, though, especially grilling over charcoal or wood. You could pick up a small, inexpensive broiling pan.
If you have a small balcony or outdoor area, the hibachi is a good idea. It doesn’t take up as much space as a standard barbecue grill.
The distinctive flavor of any kind of grilling, though, comes from the smoke resulting from fat dripping on a hot surface. Broiling is the closest you’ll get indoors.
Sort of along the lines of AskNott’s suggestion, but more expensive (and in my opninion, a touch better) is the grill that I use, from Williams-Sonoma: DeLonghi Grill
I live in a small NYC apartment, and formerly used a George Forman Grill. Couldn’t get a nice sear on anything. The DeLonghi grill has variable temps, and is wide enough (though still compact) for, say, two steaks and a handful of big shrimp. I find that I can get a decent sear on the low-to-medium setting, and if I turn it up to high-- what a sizzle. And it’s easy to clean-- the grill face detaches easily for cleanup in the sink.
Highly recommended. Good luck.
Use your bare hands, you wuss!
::making mental note::
Uh-huh uh-huh okay…
So, then, how best to heat my fingers to an appropriate grilling temperature? Do you recommend just placing them directly* on* the stove burner, or do you find grabbing the broiler coils results in a tastier salmon kebab? Also, the smoke from burning flesh, is that more or less flavorful then, say, cedar chips?
Heat a cast iron pan in a hot oven, remove it briefly (and carefully) to throw in the ingredients, then put it back in the oven for a few minutes. It isn’t grilling, but it works quite well for chunks of meat; fast, hot cooking like this results in that sort of seared, juicy tenderness that you get in restaurants.
How about a cast-iron grill pan? --not the kind with the flat bottom, but the kind with the raised grill ridges. Heat it up on the stove as hot as you can get it, then throw your meat or vegetables or what-have-you on the pan to get the charred flavor and grill marks (but not so much burned fat/smokiness) that you would get with a real grill.
You got an oven? It has an oven rack, yes?
Get a cookie sheet, the kind with a lip around the outside. Put it down at the bottom, centered below the oven rack. Put your meat directly on the oven rack. Broil.
(This assumes that your oven is the type where the broiler contraption is at the top of the oven, rather than being the type that has a separate slot-tray down below the oven where you broil things).
It’s not as good as charcoal grilling, but it’s every bit as good as gas grilling.
You might want to buy a spare oven rack and dedicate it to the task (although you can clean them pretty good with a scouring pad afterwards). The drip pan keeps you from making a sloppy mess out of the bottom of your oven, especially if you’re basting with a brush.
When I don’t grill steaks, I usually just cook them in a very hot pan on the stove top. Same with hamburgers.
That has it’s own benefits, anyway. . .like being able to make a pan sauce.
Fish – I like broiling. You don’t NEED a broiling pan. It just makes everything a little easier.
Chicken & ribs – You can do a lot in the oven with both.
Shrimp – hot pans can get a nice sear on shrimp.
Scallops – Great under the broiler.
Seconding the cast iron grill pan idea. They’re usually square (at least the ones I’ve seen) and have the raised ridges to get the grill marks. Since you place them right on the burner, you can crank it up and get them nicely heated. I don’t have one, so I don’t know from experience, but I’d imagine that you could get a nice sear with one.
Have you tried using a grill?
Yeah, that’s what I was going to suggest. Something like this.
I also had a George Foreman when I was in an apartment, and it works OK. True, it doesn’t sear well, but it’s possible to do that step first, if you’re so inclined, and then switch to the Foreman.
I was reading my Better Homes and Gardens at lunch today, and they had an article on indoor grilling. Check out the website.
Grill, grill, grill, grill,
Grill, grill, grill, grill,
Lovely GRILL
Wonderful GRILL!!!
Err, I mean, I use the George Foreman, too. Love it.
I have a $20 Lodge pan and it works well enough.
Something like this works admirably well. I actually learned it from Alton Brown (of food network fame). One of his good eats programs covers this method for grilling indoors and I’ve tried it.
Works VERY well thank you.
I just jury rigged a “pan” out of foil and tossed the meat onto the oven rack above. seared nicely indeed. The trick is to leave the oven door a smidge open to make sure the element in the oven doesn’t turn off.
You know, the SDMB is much better for a neophyte cook than any book could ever be.
Apologies to those that see/saw (seesaw!!) this thread as appallingly obvious in its answer/options. You see, my mother didn’t cook, and I didn’t learn the things about cooking that you’re supposed to when you’re a kid.
But, I do want to get better and learn learn learn.
So, anyway, thought I’d respond to let you know how much your responses have helped me and enlightened me!
I second the grilling pan. We got one of those for our wedding, and it’s fantastic. We haven’t cooked steaks at home in 5 years - since October, we do so almost once a week! It’s also great for grilled veggies, like peppers and onions. Definitely the way to go!