Feel the Side Burn

April 20, 2009 6:11 PM

What should I make with my grill's side burner?

My uncle went in with me to buy a very nice, highly rated natural gas barbecue. It's fantastic. And it comes with this handy side burner that I can use for... umm... well, I have no clue.

What do you do with a side burner on a barbecue? What makes it better than going inside and using my stove?

posted by rouftop to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

Onions? Garlic? Small portions of stuff that some people like but not necessarily everyone?
posted by turgid dahlia at 6:15 PM on April 20, 2009

Intrinsically, nothing - though they're handy to keep sauces going on grilled meats warm, consolidate cooking, and keep the inside of the house cool on a hot day.
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:20 PM on April 20, 2009

It can also be nice for frying fish or anything else that you want to cook without getting grease all over your kitchen, or getting your house smelling like fish.
posted by craven_morhead at 6:26 PM on April 20, 2009

Deep frying. I dunno about you but I love deep fry, but can't stand the smell inside. This is a major use for my side burner.
posted by Neiltupper at 6:28 PM on April 20, 2009

Boil bratwursts in beer, then crisp them up a little on the grill once everything else is done. That's about the best use for a side burner in my opinion.
posted by Shohn at 6:39 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Baked beans would be an easy one. Or Bernaise Sauce. I love bernaise.
I think the burner is there to either better time side dishes with your entree, or to simply consolidate your cooking to one location.
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 6:40 PM on April 20, 2009

Corn. It's better cooking outside than inside because it's outside. Duh.
posted by zerokey at 6:42 PM on April 20, 2009

We use ours for heating up baked beans in a saucepan, and sometimes for a pot of boiled corn. It's handy to be able to fix everything right there at the same place instead of heating up the kitchen just for one or two extra things.
posted by amyms at 6:42 PM on April 20, 2009

Beans.

Or, if you're like me and seem to only fire up the grill when there's 15 steaks worth of people over (my grill can do ten in one shot), keep the first batch hot while the second batch grills.

Third option, which ties in well with my grandpa's theory of BBQ: after you grill, place each piece of meat in a dutch oven filled with reused BBQ sauce on low heat. Let this cook for as long as you can keep your guests happy. When you finally do serve the meat, it can be cut with your finger.
posted by notsnot at 6:56 PM on April 20, 2009

baked beans
posted by Flood at 7:06 PM on April 20, 2009

Untainted vegeburgers for the vegetarians.
posted by pompomtom at 8:30 PM on April 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

I use mine with a giant wok for stir fry because the burner is quite a bit larger than the one on my kitchen stove. It's hotter, which means I can make a more authentic stir fry than I normally could -- or at least I can make it faster, without doing it in batches. Stir fries that sit over flames that never get hot enough (or stir fries with crowded pans) often turn into "steam" fries instead. The large burner is the perfect solution to this problem for me, and it has the added benefit of not causing any splatter mess in the house.
posted by theantikitty at 8:51 PM on April 20, 2009

The power was out. We had an electric stove. My wife was sick. I asked her what she wanted for dinner, and she said "Soup, but I can't have soup." I said, "If you want soup, I'll make you soup." She looked at me like I was crazy. I grilled her some soup :).
posted by madmethods at 10:21 PM on April 20, 2009 [5 favorites]

I hate it when someone starts a comment with "I can't believe no one's said * yet". But I can't believe no one's said rice yet ;) We make rice outside all the time....it's great to keep the heat out of the house and have one person tending to dinner. Whenever we do kabobs or chicken, there's rice on the side burner.
posted by iconomy at 6:16 AM on April 21, 2009

Homemade potato chips: Heat up some oil real hot, slice some unpeeled russet or yukon gold potatoes real thin (with a mandolin if you have one). Throw a bunch in the hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Dry on newspaper/paper towel. Lightly salt and enjoy the best chips you've ever had.

(Also works well with sweet potatoes and other root vegetables)
posted by General Malaise at 7:05 AM on April 21, 2009

Lobsters to go in the surf and turf. Isn't that what everyone uses their side burner for? Either that or corn.
posted by koolkat at 7:17 AM on April 21, 2009

I'm a bit paranoid about cooking meats for guests (I'm an ex-vegetarian), so I love doing as Shohn suggests and boiling brats first. I actually use an instant-read thermometer to make sure they're pretty close to safe temp on the inside before I grill them (I definitely mix the beer with water too--why waste beer?). Another thing I do with this same pot is sterilize my grill utensils frequently. (BTW, when I've given really big barbecue parties, I always keep a separate set of utensils and an unused area of the grill for the vegetarians to get their 'fuburgers).
The only other thing I do on my side burner is occasionally reduce a glaze on it while the thing I'm going to glaze is cooking.
posted by Mngo at 10:38 AM on April 21, 2009