Brazilian BBQ

I finally accomplished a task that i have been wanting to for a very very long time. For the last 4 years, i have been wanting a great way to do true blue Brazilian BBQ. It all started when the wife wanted to have a fun campfire and roast some shmellows and cookie dough. I was on a secret mission to search for some wire hangers, who has those anymore, to make the roasting sticks. After a good 20 minutes of searching, I FINALLY found some! Now the adventure begins!

So, you might be asking yourself, "Where is he going with this?" well, let me tell ya. We were roasting the cookie dough and other items, when the misses said she was a little hungry for real food instead of junk food. I looked in the fridge and all i could see was chicken and a fresh steak. I brought out the steak and we cut it into small pieces and starting roasting them on the hangers! BRILLIANT!!! i thought to myself. Thats when the gears starting turning!

I needed a way for me to roast a bunch of chicken and beef at once with some vegies on the side. I love kebabs but i like the freedom of having no cooking grate over the fire. It feels more authentic that way. Once i had the vission in my mind of waht i wanted to do, i started on my way. My first attempt was pretty cool and it worked until i got burned. haha, but thats what it is all about, right? haha.

Here is what i did the first time around. I took some round 1.4th inch steel rods, placed them on the fire pit, which is just my Weber 22.5 inch grill with very short legs, and spaced the rods apart by about 11 inches or so. Then i took some skewers that were flat and full of fresh meats and placed them over the rods and fire. Worked great! until i needed to turn the skewers. The weight of the meat would roll the skewers back to the original position they were in which made it difficult to cook. And they were screaming hot!

As it began to dark fast, since it was early spring, it was harder to see when the food was done and turning the skewers was a difficult. In fact, I eventually took the food and placed it right on the coals. You can do this if and only if you are using a real wood fire and or lump charcoal since lump is just char wood.

So most people would think this a failed attempt, but not me. I continued the journey and along the way, i created something that was AWESOME!. I needed giant skewers. That was my answer to all this. I jumped in the car, ran down to the nearest Home Depot to see what they had in the grilling section. Nothing!!!

Disapointed, i was ready to go home when i realized, "Wait a minute, i am a Mechanical Engineering student. I should be able to make my own." So thats what i did. I walked over to the isle that had raw steel on it, purchased me some 1/8th inch thick by 1/2 inch wide, roughly 24 inches in length of raw steel. I purchased 4 of them. Then i picked up some scrap oak dowels for handles.

Once i was home with them, i started to make my giant swards sorta speak. haha. All i had to do was grind the tips down to points and attach the handles. It was a cinch to do. My dad wanted to help so i let him do the grinding. I was tired so i sat back and drank a Sprite!

Not to bad Eh? Now lets test them out. I first washed the steel with hot water and soap to rinse off any steel shards and oils. Then i took chicken and new york steak, seasoned with liberally with kosher salt and pepper. i let them sit and create their pelicale for an hour or so. I marinated the veggies in olive oil and basil.

Once the hot mesquite fire was going, i was ready to put the food on my swards and cook!! It was very very successful and i am very happy with my product i made.

Well, thats that. As usual....Enjoy