New toy: Tuscan fireplace grill

I ordered a new toy, and it arrived in the mail this weekend: the Tuscan fireplace grill from Spitjack. Every time I build a fire in the fireplace, I think "man I wish I could cook over this". I never found a way to do it that a) wasn't potentially destructive to the fireplace, and b) didn't look like a cheap piece of garbage (see reviews of Rome's hearth grill on Amazon).

I took the risk with the Spitjack. It arrived virtually completely assembled. I think the packaging could be improved: the box was only taped down the center, and was bulging outwards when leaned upright (a potential escape route for the baggie of hardware inside). Also, the wood-grip handles had clearly taken a beating, as they were just floating around inside the box.


According to the few photos of this out on the web, this used to be made of cast iron, but is now made of stainless. I was worried it might be flimsy, but this thing is solid. It has three rack levels, though I suspect the bottom level is too low to be useful in a fireplace. I also plan to only cook lean meats, otherwise grease may build up in the flue. Apologies for the sideways photos.









The grate sits tilted back, so the juices run down the bars and drip into the tray. We'll have to see how well that works in practice.



Three cast iron skillets, to simulate a dutch oven/etc. It didn't blink an eye with this load.

I'm going to break it in tonight. More thoughts & photos to follow.

Alright, here's my first impressions. For it's maiden voyage, I planned one of my usual simple grilled dinners - roasted sweet potatoes, a half-head of cabbage, some zukes, and a big piece of meat.

Roasting sweet potatoes doesn't make much sense in a fireplace, since there is nowhere near as much radiant heat as in a closed grill (even after having a fire burning all day). I ended up putting a small dutch oven upside over them, to trap heat. This worked OK, but was kinda a PITA. The cabbage turned out OK, but was undercooked on top for similar reasons. Not the grills fault though.

The zukes turned out great. The meat (a small ribeye roast, exactly what I said I shouldn't cook in the fireplace) turned out far more rare than I intended, but it was still within my threshold. This was just a fire management mistake. Flavor was great, with that wood smoke flavor you can't get from gas or charcoal.

I think my initial run was too ambitious, but it was a learning experience. I think cooking direct & slowly is difficult - a fire that's cool enough to roast over is prone to go out, and also doesn't heat the room much. What I'll try next is to run the fire hot, and pick more appropriate foods. I will definitely be enjoying grilling in my living room this winter when it's no degrees outside.

Strengths:
* you can cook in your fireplace
* wood flavor is great.

Weaknesses:
* you are probably going to make a mess in your fireplace.
* the rack gets in the way of fire management a little.
* kinda big - not sure where to store it yet.


There's potatoes under that DO


Time for the zukes.


Then the meat.


The tilted bars actually do draw drippings towards the tray.


Off the grill.


Plated. I think my steak flinched a little when I cut into it.