Ekco Steel Eighteen Inch Barbecue Skewers: The John Holmes of Grilling Accessories
Written: Jul 01 '06
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Pros: Easy to work with, thick steel body, clean up nicely, four per pack.
Cons: Semi sharp point could puncture skin.
The Bottom Line: Looking for the biggest, baddest skewers on the market? Ekco's got you covered with their eighteen inch steel skewers!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Ekco Bar-B-Que Skewers 1158032 |
Everyone has an obnoxious neighbor that they dread running in to. Mine is named Doug; he sports a comb-over hair style, Bermuda shorts, black socks and sandals, reeks of Old Spice and is a complete chauvinist. How he ever managed to find someone willing to marry him is a mystery but I do have to say, his wife can't be human. She has that glazed Stepford wife look on her face, has never been spotted looking anything less than immaculate and has a waist so tiny that if she stands sideways her mid section disappears. This past Memorial Day I had a small party for some of the ink slingers that were banned from other public functions. Everything was perfect and I was just putting the first of the steaks on the grill when the gate to the backyard was kicked open and Cousin Eddie's doppelganger walked in ... the only good side to the story was that Bunny, the wife, was carrying a tray of food. And on that tray were several shish kabobs - chicken, steak, mushrooms, green peppers, pineapple chunks and cherry tomatoes. And what was holding all these food items together? Ekco's 18 inch barbecue skewers ... go ahead, get the giggles out of the way right now ... when you get your filth trap mind out of the gutter, move on with the next part of the review.
Ekco 18 Inch Barbecue Skewers
If you've never used any of the items from the Ekco series you don't know what you are missing. They are generally lower in price than other name brand items but they work well for their intended purposes. These skewers are eighteen inches long however Ekco does make ones in shorter lengths in case these are too long. I was perfectly happy with the Linen 'N Things Non-Stick 14 Inch Skewers that I had and didn't think that four extra inches would make that much of a difference. I mean, there is only so much that you can put in a skewer and still have it cook evenly. Bunny was going on and on about how these were the absolute best skewers she had ever used and that they were the only ones that her beloved Doug would buy. Hey, what ever floats your boat. They do have a nicer tip to them than the others that I have owned and used but for the most part they are the same as the 14 inch ones. The extra four inches comes in handy if you have things that you want to leave on the grill longer; since this is made of solid metal you are going to have to have some kind of oven mitt or oven glove [or at the very least a pot holder] to get them off the grill.
When I started to ask Bunny about these, in the hopes that I'd be able to get enough information from her to write a solid review about them, her face lit up. "I have some extras packs, let me go and get some for you" In the same perky manner that she arrived, she departed and was on her way to grab a few new packs of the skewers. That's when Doug moved in for the kill, "I couldn't help but overhear how much you like them, I can give you a private demonstration of them later if you want." Eww. If I didn't have six people that needed adult supervision in the back yard I would have immediately left to go take a shower. Passing on Doug's offer I started turning the skewers so they would be thoroughly cooked without getting burned. These are a little thicker than the 14 inch Linen 'N Things ones so they would be a better pick for broccoli, cubed meats and if you are going to wrap bacon about the food. Thinner ones are lighter and easier to work with but when foods start to cook they release juice or moisture and start to slide around on the skewer, having a thicker one helps keep food from falling off.
Bunny came back with two packages of the Ekco 18 inch skewers still in the wrapper. They come mounted on a long piece of cardboard with a minimal amount of information on the back. One thing I am going to tell you right off the bat, these could really hurt someone if people were to start goofing around with them. I mentioned that in passing when I reviewed the Linen 'N Things skewers but I am saying it again. These have a little bit more of a point to them on the tip and I am sure that if you jabbed someone with them, it would leave a nasty mark. These are dishwasher safe or at least that is what the package states, I wouldn't put them in the dishwasher though. It's best to clean these by hand so you are 100% sure that all the food is removed, especially if you are cooking with things that have been marinated in anything that has a sugar base to it. The skewers that were on the grill didn't look like they had been used all that much but Bunny said that they were at least three years old and got used almost every weekend, it seems Doug is a shish kabob junkie.
I was really curious to see how easily these were to load up with food so I grabbed a few of the containers from the refrigerator and made some more kabobs [after I cleaned them of course]. These are heavier than the 14 inch ones but it was easy to work with them and get the food on to them. These worked great with broccoli spears, cubed chicken, mushrooms and the rest of the food I had on hand. Bunny showed me some cool tricks to really maximize the flavor, buy smaller red and green peppers and cut them into quarters then put the food inside them and skewer them. The food cooks inside of the pepper and retains a lot of the juices. Another cool thing was to take a loaf of Italian or French bread and cut it into cubes and put one cube on each end, when you are done cooking the food use the bread to slide the items off the skewer. I stood there and looked at her with a blank expression ... the only thing going through my mind was, "Why didn't I think of that?".
The Bottom Line
Doug said that he got these at Home Depot in the garden and barbecue section for about $1.75 a pack [four skewers per pack]. I've used them a few times over the past couple of days and really like them. You can load more food on to them if you want but if you have a smaller grill chances are the extra four inches will be used to grab hold it when you are done cooking. These do clean up nicely but because they are longer you may have trouble storing them in a drawer. I suggest putting them inside a paper bag and taping the end of it so you don't accidentally jab yourself on them if you reach into the drawer without looking first. So far I am pretty happy with these, I won't be retiring the others I have any time soon but now I can get a little more creative with what I am grilling since I have extras to play around with. One last tip Bunny gave me was about how to marinade things overnight with these. Instead of cutting up the food and marinating it then having to fight with it to get it on the skewer, cut up the food, put it on the skewer then make a long canal from aluminum foil and pop the loaded up skewers into it and then top it off with the marinade. Flip them a couple of times and when you fire up the grill all you have to do is open up the foil and toss them on the grill top. I guess being a Stepford wife does have its advantages ...
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2006 Freak369
Other barbecue gadgets...
Weber 18 Inch Grill Brush And Scraper
Tablecraft Meat Tenderizer
OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Barbecue Basting Brush
Nordicware Stir Fry Basket
Misto Gourmet Olive Oil Sprayer
OXO Meat Tenderizer
Linen 'N Things Non-Stick 14 Inch Skewers
Other Ekco product reviews...
Ekco Fillable Corn Brush
Ekco Magnetic Bottle Opener
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): see review
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