Friends, customers and grilling enthusiasts,

From all of us here at Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, Happy Holidays! We wish you and yours the best this season and in the New Year. We'd also like to welcome you to the December 2005 issue of Hot Off the Grill! - the grilling lifestyle newsletter that helps you maximize the joy and satisfaction of your outdoor grilling and entertaining experience. As always, thank you for your warm response to previous issues; please keep your stories, suggestions, and comments coming to hotg@kalamazoogourmet.com.

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December/Holidays 2005
Inside This Issue...

Master Grilling

Guide to Grilling the Perfect Pork Chop

Grill: Holiday Rack of Lamb

Bar: Holiday Peppermint Martini

Grilling Tip

Don't Burn Your Barbecue

Contact Us

1-800-868-1699

Hot Off The Grill! Email

Customer Service Email

Product Information Email

Last Minute Holiday Gifts!

Introducing Our New Grillmaster's Apron!

Save your favorite griller from food splashes and stains by buying them the new Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet Grillmaster's Apron for the holidays. Kitchen aprons keep your clothes protected from cooking stains, but they aren't typically designed for the rigors of outdoor grilling. Our Grillmaster's Apron is made of 65% polyester/35% cotton twill fabric and is protected by ProDura® stain-release coating. It's generously sized, with a double front pocket, a sliding neck adjustment, and the Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet logo embroidered in a subtle silver on the chest. 23" wide, 32 1/2" long. Machine-wash. Made in the USA.

See the Accessories page on our website for more information and to order.

A Set of Our Five Gourmet Grilling Rubs Makes a Perfect Holiday Gift
Our set of five gourmet grilling rubs is popular any time of the year, but can really make an impression as a holiday gift. The set includes one each of our Za Za Barbecue Rub, signature Kalamazoo Garlic Rub, Big Shoulders Steak & Chop Rub, Big Boris Pepper Rub, and Motor City BBQ Rub. Each tin contains 3.5 or 4oz (depending on the rub) and will give you a number of uses even when used generously. Order soon to receive by the holidays!

We also offer a set of three rubs of your choice. Pick three different rubs, or get three of your favorite - it's up to you!

Either set would make a perfect holiday gift for the grill chef in your life. See our website (www.KalamazooGourmet.com) or call 1-800-868-1699 for more details or to order.

Just in time for your last minute Holiday gifts, we have brought together our popular set of five Gourmet Grilling Rubs along with our new Grillmaster's Apron into one convenient package for the grill enthusiast(s) in your life. Simply order this gift package and we'll ship you the five rubs and apron in a box suitable for giving.


Give the Gift of Wood!
Wood? As a holiday gift? Well, yes, if it's a Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet grilling wood of the month subscription!

For just $199, we'll send you or the very lucky recipient of your choice one 2lb bag of wood chips or chunks (your choice) every month for the next 12 months. This gourmet wood of the month plan sends a different variety of wood to the recipient's door every month (Alder, Apple, Cabernet, Cedar, Cherry, Grape Vine, Hickory, Maple, Mesquite, Peach, Pear, Pecan, and White Oak) for the entire year. All shipping charges are included, and we'll throw in some special surprises from time to time.

Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet woods - subscriptions or individual orders - can be shipped directly to your home by ordering on our website (www.KalamazooGourmet.com) or by calling Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet Customer Service at 1-800-868-1699.

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Special Offer for Subscribers

Use the promotional code HOTGDEC05 at checkout and get 10% off of your gourmet rubs, woods, or apron order during the month of December!

See our website for promotional details.

Master Grilling

Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet's Guide to Perfect Grilling: Pork Chop

This is the second in our series of Guides to Perfect Grilling, and we hope you enjoy it. If you love a good pork chop, we highly recommend you give this a try.

Step One: Selection
You'll need bone-in pork rib chops, at least two inches thick, so we're talking about a chop that includes at least two rib bones and weighs between three-quarters and one-and-a quarter pounds. Once you've found a source for these chops, you'll want to select ones that strike a good balance between light and dark meat. 50/50 is ideal, but you'll be lucky to find cuts with more than 30% dark meat. The chops should be close-trimmed (either by you or by your butcher) so that there is a very thin layer of fat around the outside. If you can't find a local source, the Berkshire bone-in pork chops from Allen Brothers (www.allenbrothers.com) are a great alternative.

Step Two: Preparation
Start soaking some apple or cherry wood chips at least an hour before grilling. Snap one of the chips in two after a while to ensure the liquid has penetrated thoroughly.

If you have a Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet Dual-Fuel grill, we suggest you grill your steaks over chunked hardwood or branches from apple and/or cherry trees (Kalamazoo woods available online). Using natural wood as your grilling fuel, you can ignore the directions regarding wood chips.

The chops should be at room temperature before you start grilling, so prepare them about 20 minutes before you'll be ready to put them on the grill. Rinse the chops in water and dry with paper towels. Season the chops generously with your favorite dry rub. We recommend our own Big Shoulders Steak and Chop Rub, but you should be able to get a flavorful result with nothing but a little coarse sea salt and a freshly cracked black pepper. Please note, if you purchased vacuum-packed frozen chops, they may have been injected with a solution. If so, avoid adding much more salt.

Once the chops are prepared, it is time to prepare the grill. On a standard Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet grill, prepare for indirect grilling at 400 to 500°F. If you have our gourmet dual-fuel drawer system, then you'll want to prepare for indirect grilling at the same temperature, but use hardwood for the fuel, supplemented/started with your gas burner. In either case, get your smoker drawer started with a layer of dry wood chips underneath a layer of soaked wood chips as your grill pre-heats (If you do not have a smoker drawer, prepare two tinfoil smoker pouches - start with one and then replace with the second if the first stops smoking). If you have one of our smoker box models, you'll want to prepare for smoking with apple or cherry wood rather than using the smoking drawer.

Step Three: Grilling
Once the grill is ready and the chops are up to room temperature, start by searing the chops on each side. If you have a searing burner, please use it for about one minute per side. If you do not have a searing burner, sear each chop for about two minutes per side directly over the flame.

Once the chops are seared, move them to the part of the grill without flame and proceed with indirect grilling. Again, you should be grilling with indirect heat between 400 and 500°F, and using apple or cherry wood smoke to add flavor. Keep the hood closed as much as possible, but turn the pork chops every 5 minutes. It is also a good idea to rotate the chops position on the grill every ten minutes to avoid having some of the chops nearest the heat source for the entire cooking time while others are away from the heat source the entire cooking time.

The chops should be ready after about 35 minutes of grilling.

Step Four: Resting the Chops
Remove the chops from the grill when they reach an internal temperature of 150°F (using a meat thermometer). Let the chops rest for about three minutes on a platter, covered loosely with tinfoil, and they will continue to rise slightly in internal temperature. If you've timed it right, the chops will be fully cooked, but still very juicy and tender.

Look for more in our series of "Guide to Perfect Grilling" articles in future issues of Hot Off The Grill!

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Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet Featured Recipes

For the Grill: Holiday Rack of Lamb

Rack of lamb is great off the grill, and makes for a nice holiday presentation at the table. Each rack of lamb will serve two to three people-depending on what else you are serving. This preparation uses the savory rub recipe from our August 2005 issue of Hot Off the Grill! It has been a favorite of ours on holiday roasts for many seasons.

Serves:	2 to 3	Rosemary
Ingredients:	1 Frenched rack of lamb, 1½ to 2 pounds, 8 ribs
	1 large garlic clove, sliced thin, 7 slices
	Olive oil
Ingredients for Savory Rub:
	3 large garlic cloves, minced or chopped fine in food processor
	2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
	1 ½ teaspoon freshly ground or coarse sea salt
	1 ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or pepper blend
	Fresh, finely grated lemon zest from one lemon
	Large handful dry alder wood chips
	Large handful wet alder wood chips, soaked for at least an hour

• Prepare the savory rub by mixing the fresh ingredients in a bowl. If tightly sealed, the rub will keep refrigerated overnight.
• Prepare grill for 500°F indirect grilling. If your grill requires the use of all main burners to maintain 500°F, you won't be able to use the indirect method, but the recipe will still work for you.
• Prepare alder wood chips for smoking-in your smoking tray, in your smoker box or in a tinfoil smoking pouch.
• The lamb should reach room temperature before being put on the grill, so time the grill preparation accordingly.
• Prepare the lamb by trimming off the outside fat and removing the membrane from the bone side. If the butcher did not French the rack of lamb for you, trim the meat from the last 3 or so inches of the bone, and scrape the bone clean with a knife.
• From the bone side, cut a very small slit into the meat between each bone and insert a thin garlic slice. The slits you make should be as small as possible while still allowing the garlic to be inserted.
• Wrap each exposed bone in foil to protect the bone from burning (they will break off very easily if burnt on the grill).
• Brush the lamb lightly with the olive oil, and then rub the savory rub into all sides of the meat. The lamb should rise to room temperature before grilling, but should not sit out more than 30 minutes, including the time spent trimming and prepping the lamb.
• Grill the lamb for about 25 minutes, turning about every five to seven minutes. If the rack of lamb cooperates, you should be able to grill it in three different positions: bone-side down; bone-side up; and bones sticking straight up in the air. The lamb should spend one five-minute session with the bones sticking straight up in the air. Keep the grill hood closed as much as possible. For medium rare, remove the lamb when a meat thermometer reads 135°F.
• Place the lamb on a platter or carving board and cover loosely with foil for about three minutes. Remove the tinfoil from the bone tips, and slice the ribs apart into individual chops for serving.

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For the Martini Bar: Holiday Peppermint Martini

This simple but delicious martini recipe, given to us by our friend chef Sandy Farler, brings out the tastes of the Holidays. Cheers!

• Pour the gin, peppermint schnapps, and water into a cocktail shaker half-filled with cracked ice.
• Shake well, and strain into a chilled martini glass.
• Add peppermint stick and serve.

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Grilling Tip

Don't Burn Your Barbecue Sauce

Barbecue sauces have a high sugar content and burn easily. Many people grill their food with barbecue sauce on it, or even marinate the meat in barbecue sauce. This will almost always result in burnt sauce. Most grilling pros, including our experts at Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, recommend basting with barbecue sauce for about the last five minutes of grilling only. The sauce should be exposed to just enough heat to caramelize it. If your sauce turns into a black crust all over, it was exposed to too much heat for too long. Sauce is caramelized the right amount when it is browned or blackened in some areas, but not all, or when there are burnt bubbles of sauce.

For the best barbecue flavor, use a dry barbecue rub in conjunction with your favorite sauce. Rub the meat generously with your favorite dry barbecue rub about 10 minutes before grilling. Grill the meat until it is almost done, and then add the barbecue sauce.

We also like this combination of dry seasoning plus sauce for Asian flavors. On pork or chicken, try a Chinese five-spice blend or your own powdered blend of cloves, garlic, cinnamon and red pepper as a rub, and then finish the last five minutes of grilling with a thick soy glaze.

Lastly, a number of silicon basting brushes have come onto the market. We recommend a silicon brush rather than a traditional bristle brush for applying barbecue sauces and other glazes. Silicon brushes hold barbecue sauce better then bristle brushes, and most are dishwasher safe.

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We Want to Hear from You

As we continue our efforts to help our readers maximize the joy and satisfaction of their outdoor grilling and entertaining experience, we would love to know what you think:

• Share with us your favorite grilling recipes or outdoor gourmet entertaining tips
• Provide us with pictures of your grill or grill setting
• Tell us what you like most about your Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet product
• Tell us which product features you would like to see added to or improved on our products
• Let us know if there are any services Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet should offer

Feel free to drop us a line at hotg@kalamazoogourmet.com with your thoughts on any of the above, or just to say hello.

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Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet
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