Have you tried the BBQ Veg Rack yet? Any thoughts or suggestions?

[pctharper]

What have you made using the new BBQ Veg Rack? Its such a beautiful day outside I think I'm going to grill up some steaks and taters, using this. I was just wondering if anyone else was able to experiment with their rack and had any comments or suggestions.

 

[babywings76]

At our team meeting last night we talked about this product. I was thinking of how much I liked that video at Spring Launch that showed them grilling potatoes and then squeezing them with the Chef's Tongs and them opening up nicely. You could do a potato bar! Do bacon in the Small Ridged Baker, sour cream in the EAD, grate cheese with the Coarse Grater, cook some broccoli in the micro-cooker and chop it w/ the salad choppers. You could even make a small batch of chili in the DCB or RCB. Lots of options there. The only trouble though, is that potatoes take a long time to grill. At our meeting someone suggested perhaps pre-cooking them, or partially cooking them in the microwave before the show to jump start the cooking process.

 

[BethCooks4U]

Anyone make potatoes with it yet? How long does it take? We're thinking of steak and baked potatoes but not sure how long before the steaks to put those potatoes on.

 

[Becca_in_MD]

The cooking time for potatoes was a big question at our meeting last night. No one knows. I haven't gotten it out of the box but I gather it's not on use & care.

 

[BethCooks4U]

There is a recipe on the U&C. I just checked on CC as I don't know where I put mine. lol Anyway it says 35-40 minutes. Well we usually "bake" our potatoes in the microwave in about 10 minutes. Since we just make one and split it I don't think we'll be using this tool any time soon. I will try it next time we have a crowd over though.

 

[kam]

There is a recipe on the U&C. I just checked on CC as I don't know where I put mine. lol Anyway it says 35-40 minutes. Well we usually "bake" our potatoes in the microwave in about 10 minutes. Since we just make one and split it I don't think we'll be using this tool any time soon. I will try it next time we have a crowd over though.

We are going to try potatoes tomorrow night on the grill. DH usually wraps them in foil and they go on the grill for about an hour (good size potatoes). When I saw U&C said 35-40 minutes, I was hopeful.

Actually, I always read that sticking a (clean) large nail into the potato before grilling or cooking in the oven would make them bake faster (heat being sent into the potato) that I asssume this is the same concept.

I'll post once we see how it goes.

 

[ejleinenbach]

I am in the middle of getting a new kitchen so I have been forced to use the new grill products that PC introduced this season. I have used the rack twice now for baked potatoes and it has been amazing how quickly they are done - truly just about 30 minutes! You want to be sure to grease the prongs as suggested in the video. Otherwise the potato does stick and it is a little tricky pulling a hot potato off. Keep the rack away from the hottest part of the grill because the underside of the potato can get a little darker. Also, a great cross sell with all of the grill stuff is the Silicone Oven Mitt. I have 2 of them and have been using them for everything - the roasting pan, the vegetable rack. It has been great!! No fear of getting burned as I carried the stuff back to the serving space.

By the way, the Beer Can Chicken was AMAZING!!!!!!! So- tender. Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf was good too.

 

[pctharper]

I was wondering if you can use the silicone mit with this.

Our potatoes actually took about 40-45 minutes. They were average size. Mine wasn't as soft as I would have liked it but Dh and the kids seemed to like it.

We normally put ours in the microwave to soften them, brush with oil, season, and wrap in foil for about 20-30 minutes. When I used the rack, I spritzed them with oil and put the lemon pepper rub on it. They didn't seem as flavorful using the rack. Hmm...might have to play around with this one.

I will admit that it was nice to just put them on the rack and not have to deal with the microwave and foil. Foil is expensive!!!

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

We made potatoes tonight. We made two red potatoes about the size of a baseball and two russet potatoes that were about the length of my hand so that we could put it to the test.Definitely put the oil on the metal inserts! Red potatoes took about 45 minutes and the russets over an hour before they were done. They don't come off easily though. I didn't try the silicone mitt but I will next time. The taste was amazing so i will definitely do it again. I may nuke them for a couple minutes next time to speed things up. One way or another I'm going to make this work!!!

 

[esavvymom]

Grill temperature probably impacts the cooking time. 25degrees can make a difference I'm sure.

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

this is true....I'm sure that using charcoal or a gas grill would make a difference too. I will keep experimenting, but I really think that it takes a lot longer to cook these things than I prefer. Heck, I'd have to start out with the potatoes and wait for 40 minutes or so before cooking a steak. By then, the coals will be nearly dead and I'll have to throw more on so that I'll have some heat for the steak. It's times like this that I wish I had a gas grill ....

 

[kam]

OK, I am unimpressed. DH will NEVER use it again.

Keep in mind, we always cook potatoes on the grill, wrapped in foil, in about 1 hour.

We put 2 good size russets on the vegetable rack on the grill. After 40 minutes, they were a little squishy, but I could not tell if they were done. They did not seem to have as much give as we like. We decided to leave them on a little bit longer (since they were so large anyway) to wait for the chicken to cook.

The bottom of the potatoes were black and hard. The rest of the skin wasn't that soft. DH likes to eat some of the skin, so I know he is disappointed. They also did not come off the rack that easy (and we greased the rack).

One thing I do know, instead of just ditching the foil, I NOW HAVE AN ADDITIONAL THING TO CLEAN TONIGHT. And it does not look easy. Ugh.

 

[higoobs]

Can we use the vegetable rack in the oven? for how long? And what temperature?

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

that vegetable rack is not easy to clean either. Mine has been used three times and it looks 100 years old. I'm still trying to like it, but it's not coming easily (like that brownie pan!!)

 

[Bren706]

Has anyone tried making grilled stuffed peppers with the vegetable rack?

 

[carlajanes]

higoobs....yes we can use it in the oven.....i used mine at 350 for about 30 minutes....worked perfect!