putting greens

some use a bed of chopped greens underneath the parsley bed and some don't.

Figure 2-3 bunches of parsley per box.. Depends on how selective you are on color, freshness of the greens etc.. Better to have extra as it's cheap enough. Remember most of the middle will likely be covered with meat so don't use your best parsely under what will be covered.

Try to group them in bunches (think multiple groups of broccoli crowns).. dont try to manually place each stem in as it will take forever and get you to the same place.. just group in small batches, pack it tightly, level it out and them fill in or correct and glaring problems.

Stem length depends on what you put underneath and what meat it is and how you position.. Figure enough heigt to get up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to the top of the box for a single layer entry.

Looks like someones getting ready for sayville!!

MilitantSquatter said:

some use a bed of chopped greens underneath the parsley bed and some don't.

Figure 2-3 bunches of parsley per box.. Depends on how selective you are on color, freshness of the greens etc.. Better to have extra as it's cheap enough. Remember most of the middle will likely be covered with meat so don't use your best parsely under what will be covered.

Try to group them in bunches (think multiple groups of broccoli crowns).. dont try to manually place each stem in as it will take forever and get you to the same place.. just group in small batches, pack it tightly, level it out and them fill in or correct and glaring problems.

Stem length depends on what you put underneath and what meat it is and how you position.. Figure enough heigt to get up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to the top of the box for a single layer entry.

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Pfffft and you would know this how?

MilitantSquatter said:

some use a bed of chopped greens underneath the parsley bed and some don't.

Figure 2-3 bunches of parsley per box.. Depends on how selective you are on color, freshness of the greens etc.. Better to have extra as it's cheap enough. Remember most of the middle will likely be covered with meat so don't use your best parsely under what will be covered.

Try to group them in bunches (think multiple groups of broccoli crowns).. dont try to manually place each stem in as it will take forever and get you to the same place.. just group in small batches, pack it tightly, level it out and them fill in or correct and glaring problems.

Stem length depends on what you put underneath and what meat it is and how you position.. Figure enough heigt to get up about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to the top of the box for a single layer entry.

Click to expand...

what he said:icon_cool

only thing I wanted to add, nice thing about parsley is if meat is hitting the top of the box, no problem, just push it down and try again:biggrin:

Sledneck said:

Pfffft and you would know this how?

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Yeah.. you're right, what do I know ? I've been officially retired since Oct. '07 @ Dover...but unofficially I've cooked or helped at about ten contests since. When you retire after the Jack you can do the same.. Do you need a formal invite ? :biggrin:

Smokehouse - Make sure you get the boxes done well enough in advance.. Either late evening or early AM and put them in a cooler or fridge if you have one with a moist paper towel over it until ready to fill the box.

MilitantSquatter said:

Yeah.. you're right, what do I know ? I've been officially retired since Oct. '07 @ Dover...but unofficially I've cooked or helped at about ten contests since. When you retire after the Jack you can do the same.. Do you need a formal invite ? :biggrin:

Smokehouse - Make sure you get the boxes done well enough in advance.. Either late evening or early AM and put them in a cooler or fridge if you have one with a moist paper towel over it until ready to fill the box.

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I dont recall you "unofficially" making any boxes since your retirement:tongue: No formal invite needed.

4 bunches per box. Sometimes it only take 2-3 but why be short for a couple of dollars. 2 heads of green leaf although I usually tear up just part of one.

How high depends on the type of box. Some have equal height top and bottoms and others have most depth on the bottom. My best guess is 1 - 1 1/2 inches. Now as to tearing them together well they usually come in clumps of 3 and one is a lot longer so I tear it off then tear off the other 2 with a little more of the main stem so they are the same lengeth.

I'm picky on the look and some bunches have big leaves while others are tighter smaller leaves. I put the crappy big stuff in the middle and keep the edges built with good stuff.

Boxes should be fairly tight so once you get a row you can push it over and add at least one or two more bunches in. Outside should be a little tighter than the inside.

Hope all this makes sense.

smokehouserules said:

I am going to try garnishing with using putting greens for the first time. I have a couple of questions...How many bunches of parsley do you need to do 4 boxes of putting greens? Do you cut multiple leaf bunches per sprig or is it more like one little bunch per sprig? How much stem do you leave on? Do you lay anything under the parsley to raise it at all?

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come see me...I'll get you started. I always try to to them saturday night if you'd like to do them with me...:biggrin:

I love parsley!!!!!!!

WannaBeBBQueen said:

come see me...I'll get you started. I always try to to them saturday night if you'd like to do them with me...:biggrin:

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thats a good idea
trust me

I've always done shredded lettuce underneath until recently. I took a head of iceburg and cut it into discs. I placed the disks in the bottom of the box and then shoved the stems into it. It really works well!

Yes it does....