bryan Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 OK KKer's What do you think? I have not tried this. http://cookina.co/store/us/en/cookina/8-cookina-barbecue.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Says do not use above 500* I guess for certain MD heat cooks it would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Interesting, indeed. Scoped it out on Amazon. There are 2 models and believe it or not, the heavy duty version (http://www.amazon.com/Cookina-B241770-Barbecue-Reusable-Cooking/dp/B00ESBM3EI/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t/188-5860710-7983956) is cheaper than the regular one - http://www.amazon.com/Cookina-B241660-Barbecue-Reusable-Cooking/dp/B007KNJL0K/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8. Better reviews on the heavy duty version. Lots of comments on the regular one about it being harder to clean than advertised. Also, something else that was commented on - because it's non-porous, any fat that renders out has no place to go, so your food ends up "frying" in its own fat. For some things, that might be OK, but for a steak, for example, defeats the whole purpose of grilling it. I've owned a Frogmat for quite a while and like it. Use it mainly for smaller veggies and stuff that might fall through the grates. Works great for fish, too. Since it's an open weave material, no pools of fat accumulate. http://www.amazon.com/Frogmats-Non-Stick-Grill-Mat/dp/B00LBH7TZK/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1428687108&sr=1-2&keywords=frogmats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Like you I don't like that grease problem. Wonder if it can be altered with small holes. Like you frog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Says do not use above 500* I guess for certain MD heat cooks it would work. 90% of my cooks are 200-220* so that will work for me But I am starting to look at 50-500* recipes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Like you I don't like that grease problem. Wonder if it can be altered with small holes. Like you frog. Since you can trim it, I assume that you could cut small holes in it for drainage. Not sure the best way to do that, not knowing the material it's made from. My first thought was a paper hole punch, but not sure it would cut through it. A drill bit might just get caught up in the material and bind up. Small slits would be easy to do, but I'd worry about it tearing/raveling over time and not all that sure it would drain effectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 I have some leather craft tools. One of the punches will work. Just need to still do eggs pancakes etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Either buy two - one to punch holes in and one to keep intact; or, just punch holes on one end - sort of like indirect/direct cooking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 90% of my cooks are 200-220* so that will work for me But I am starting to look at 50-500* recipes. For me 90% of my cooks are 400* + with a lot of them 500* + Probably not something I would use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Here's another version, has a slightly higher heat rating (600F). AND, can be put into the dishwasher! Lots of 5 star reviews on Amazon, too. This is a 2 pack, so you could experiment with putting holes in one to solve the drainage issue. http://www.amazon.com/Kona-C2-AE-BEST-BBQ-GRILL-MAT/dp/B00KJVTB96/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Bookmarked address. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 OK, I jumped into the pool. Bought the Cookina Xtra Reusable version (cheaper and higher quality) from Amazon (free shipping). Won't be here until next week, so won't get to play with it this weekend. Will feedback later after I get a chance to use it a couple of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyfish Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Waiting for your review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 All right. Way go go. I'm with Tinyfish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Yup lets hear all about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I'm not a big fan of these types of mats. I have baskets I use for my veggies. You can't sear on them. I've got the basic stainless steel grates and Grill Grates for that. And Grill Grates already has holes so I don't have to take time and modify something. Friends have these mats and I've just never seen the need for them, at least in my world. But that's just me. Tony, I'm interested in your review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Received my Cookina mat yesterday in time to use it to make dinner. First, I went out to measure the mat on the grill. It is bigger than the main grill on the 23†OTB. I decided to cut it to fit the upper grill. I cut it vertically to fit between the handles. The bigger piece works well on the main grill in the horizontal direction. Fits between the handles and doesn’t cover up the opening lid in the front. The smaller piece will work well on either grill for smaller pieces of food. The mat cut easily with scissors. One note of caution after reading the directions: like many “non-stick†cooking appliances, it says to avoid using metal utensils, like spatulas, as you might scratch the coating. The test cook was chicken breast and thighs, marinated in Big Bob Gibson’s White Sauce (one of the few commercials that I use, because it reminds me of Cornell chicken). Wanted to have a “sauced†cook to see how the mat performed. Pre-heated the KK to 350F, direct, cherry wood, upper grill. When the KK got to about 250F, I put the big piece of the mat on the upper grill to preheat for about 20 minutes. Then on went the chicken. Here’s a shot about 30 minutes into the cook. You can see the juices starting to pool up. About 45 minutes in, flipped over the chicken. As you can see, no grill marks, and more juices puddling. I put the smaller piece of mat onto the main grill to begin preheating. At a little over an hour in, put the asparagus on the mat on the main grill. The asparagus is dry (I’ll dress it with some lemon juice, EVOO and herbs de Provence after it comes off). Also, raised the temperature to 400F and flipped the chicken again to crisp up the skin. After about another 15 minutes, pulled the chicken and asparagus off. Note – some browning of the asparagus, but no “grill marks.†Off the grill. Asparagus has some char and the chicken is nicely browned, despite sitting in the juices. However, the skin wasn’t very crispy. This might have been due to only exposing it to the 400F temperature for only about 15 minutes. As advertised, it did clean up really easily with just some warm soapy water and the scruffy that came with it. However, I did make a bit of a mess on my deck taking the mat off the grill, as the juices were still runny - the KK wasn’t “cold†(still around 200F) when I wanted to take the mats off and put the cover back on the KK. Conclusion: It’s an OK product to have in your BBQ “tool box.†It has definite applications, especially marinated or sauced foods or small foods that could fall between the grates, like the asparagus. Will likely try it with a piece of fish, which can often stick to the grates. But, the claim of “grill marks†IMHO, is just some hype, based upon the asparagus cook. Don’t see myself cooking any dry rubbed steaks or chops on it for that reason either! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 tony - thanks for a really nice review! It is appreciated. Big Bob's white sauce is quite tasty and I love Cornell Chicken. Kudos and congrats to you ... killer money shots! Attaboy! I just don't understand the asparagus problem. I lay my asparagus directly on my KK grates, 90 degrees to the direction of the stainless steel bars. Nothing slips through that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Chaos theory - just because you lay the asparagus perpendicular to the grates doesn't mean that one or two don't find their way into the fire when flipping or taking them off - at least in my experience. I did the asparagus on the mat mainly as a test to see if I could get the supposed "grill marks" with a dry cook. Nada! (Oh, and because it had been sitting in my veggie bin in the fridge since going to the market last Wednesday and needed to be cooked!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 tony, thank you for that review Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
