Grill Maintenance, Cooking Techniques, And Recipes - Evo Classic Series Owner's Manual

Grill Maintenance, Cooking Techniques, and Recipes

Cook Surface And Grill Maintenance For The Evo Companion Elite Flattop Grill
Cooking Techniques
Stove Top Cooking and Heat Zones
You can use Evo's cook surface similar to the burners on your kitchen stove top. Adjust Evo's burner to control the tem-
peratures of the cook surface. The Evo Companion circular grill top is heated by a single burner that provides edge-to-edge
heat from a setting of low to high across the complete cook surface. Because the cook surface is made of heavy steel with a
ceramic coating, it takes 5-8 minutes from a cold start to completely heat the surface. With a preheated cook surface, you will
have to wait momentarily before the cook surface adjusts to the selected temperature.
Oiling the Cook Surface
A squirt bottle fi lled with cooking oil is perfect for applying an even, thin coat of oil on the cook surface. Another way to oil the
cook surface is with an inexpensive terry cloth cotton towel or paper towel that has been doused with cooking oil. When the
cook surface is hot, hold the oiled towel with a pair of tongs to prevent being burned. Having cooking oil readily available al-
lows you to oil the grill easily and quickly at any time.
Cooking Meats
Meats are perfect to sear, roast or braise on the grill. Searing and Roasting techniques are described in more detail below.
Braising requires a tightly covered pot or pan placed on the grill surface. Braise as you would for a stove-top braising recipe,
adjust the burner to control the cook surface temperature. Meats can also be sliced and put on skewers, added to a stir-fry
or used in hot sandwiches. Veal and Pork are often made into cutlets or scallopini. Create small slices that have been lightly
fl attened with a meat mallet, seasoned and then dusted with fl our. Scaloppine and cutlets are usually seared in butter until
golden brown and served with a sauce or lemon juice and fresh parsley.
Cooking Poultry
Boneless cuts that have been fl attened to an even thickness with a meat mallet cook more evenly and more quickly. Poultry
that has been prepared in this way can then be marinated, breaded or rubbed with spices before searing on the grill. Poultry
can also be roasted, braised, sautéed, fried or poached on the Evo grill. Roast as you would in your kitchen oven placing the
roast in a roasting pan with a rack and using the hood to contain the heat from the grill. To sauté, slice the meat into thin strips
and sauté, turning with a spatula directly on the cook surface. Use pots and pans for stove-top cooking techniques. Fill a pot
with oil for frying or with stock for poaching. Use a tightly covered pot or pan to braise. Small game birds such as quail are
small enough that they can be sear cooked all the way through without having to use the hood to create an oven. In the case
of duck breast, it is best to sear the skin side of the duck breast fi rst and to continue cooking until the skin becomes crispy and
much of the fat has been rendered away. This way the duck meat won't get over cooked before the skin is crispy.
Cooking Fish
Lean fi sh such as Flounder, Sole, Sea Bass, Cod, Monk Fish and Red Snapper are usually purchased in the form of fi llets.
Fillets of fi sh are ideal to cook on the Evo grill because they are fl at and will cook quickly and effi ciently. Because lean fi sh
tends to fl ake apart easily, using Evo's fl at top grill makes handling and cooking fi sh much easier than open-fl ame grills. For
additional fl avor and texture, you can also lightly dust the seasoned fi llets with fl our or use a breading mixture before searing.
Fatty Fish such as Swordfi sh, Tuna, Sturgeon, Striped Bass, and Salmon are usually purchased in steaks or fi llets. Marinate
them, rub them with spices, or simply season with salt and pepper. Sear the fi sh on a lightly oiled hot cook surface till golden
brown and cooked to your desired doneness.
Searing
Sear cooking is the most common cooking technique used on the Evo fl attop grill. Searing is done by placing food directly onto
the hot cook surface and allowing that food item to develop a fl avorful "seared" or browned exterior. Searing imparts fl avor to
food and also helps seal in natural juices. Searing can be done with vegetables, meats, fi sh, poultry, etc. One nice feature of
the Evo grill is its slightly convex, or crowned cooking surface. The convex shape allows fats to fl ow away from the center of
the cook surface, and hence adjunct food items, and into a drip pan. This minimizes fl avors from mixing on the cook surface
and also helps cut down on fat in your food. Once the food is seared on one side, fl ip to sear the other side and allow it to
fi nish cooking. Some foods take longer to cook and will require that you reduce the cook surface temperature to fi nish cooking
without over cooking the exterior. With foods that take longer to cook you can also adjust one of the two heat zones to a lower
temperature and move food to the lower temperature zone after it has been seared over the high temperature zone. The
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