Had a good time meeting up with people at Mama Brown’s BBQ over in Mt. Pleasant. It’s not a fancy place (the good BBQ places never are), but the food is tasty and they offer a number of dining options ranging from small to large plates and the all-you-can-eat buffet.
I went for the all-you-can-eat option.
Round 1: Pulled pork (vinegar based sauce), mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and red rice.
Round 2: More pulled pork, ribs, more mashed potatoes and some other kind of rice.
Recently, #meatwaffles has become a prominent hashtag in the Lowcountry Twitterverse. While there is much speculation on just what #meatwaffles are and what the term might mean (physically and metaphysically), there is the obvious interpretation: a waffle made of meat. The method of creating a literal #meatwaffle was investigated and found to be a very efficient method for cooking and consuming meat. However there are several disadvantages mostly relating to the waffle iron used.
Materials and Methods
Two types of ground meat obtained from a local grocery store were used for the #meatwaffle experiment. The first was a package of prepared meatballs similar to what you would make for spaghetti and meatballs. The second was a tube package of the house brand hot italian sausage.
One of the prepared meatballs was split in half to create two smaller meatballs. A small portion of the italian sausage was extruded from the roll to create two small balls. Once the waffle iron had finished it’s heating cycle, one of each type of meat was placed into separate waffle wells as shown below.
The lid was closed and the #meatwaffles were left to cook for two (2) minutes. At the end of the two minutes, the lid raised and the two mini #meatwaffles were removed. The remaining two meatballs were cooked in the same manner.
Discussion
The mini #meatwaffles made in this manner did not differ in taste to their non-#meatwaffle counterparts, but did have a nice brown and crispy seared exterior. Because of the wells created by the waffle iron, the ratio of seared exterior to #meatwaffle size is significantly greater than that for the non-#meatwaffle counterpart. For those people that appreciate this, the #meatwaffle cooking method would seem to be ideal. Cooking time is reduced significantly because of the dual heating surfaces. The mini #meatwaffles prepared in this experiment took only two minutes to cook. Since the waffle iron creates a #meatwaffle of more or less uniform shape and thickness, cooking time should not depend significantly on the size of the #meatwaffle created. Only the end thickness of the #meatwaffle should affect cooking time.
The concept of the #meatwaffle is an interesting one. From a practical standpoint, the wells created by the waffle iron allow the #meatwaffle to hold any desired condiment, such as ketchup, relish or gravy, in the same manner as regular waffles do. For example, with a traditionally made burger, only a certain amount of condiment can be added before it becomes too messy to eat. Condiments can ooze out of the side, and slippage between the burger and bun can hamper eating efforts. A burger made using the #meatwaffle method would cook significantly faster, could hold a significant amount of condiment (ketchup, relish, mustard, etc) which would be held in place by the waffle wells, and because of its flat shape would have less burger-bun slippage.
While the #meatwaffle cooking method proved to be very efficient and practical, a standard waffle iron is not the most optimal instrument to use for the #meatwaffle method. Since most waffle irons do not have removable surfaces, cleaning the the waffle iron afterwards is somewhat difficult and tedious. Also, depending on the type of meat used for creating #meatwaffles, there can be a significant amount of grease created in the cooking process. If the #meatwaffle is made too large, there is possibility of grease overflowing out of the waffle iron and creating a fire hazard.
In light of this, the ideal #meatwaffle cooking appliance would be something similar to a George Foreman Grill designed to allow grease to drain out of the unit, and with removable cooking plates for easy cleanup. To our knowledge however, George Foreman does not make a unit with waffle pattern cooking plates.
Conclusion
The #meatwaffle cooking method is an efficient and practical method for cooking meat. However, the designs of existing waffle irons is not optimal for cooking meat, but these issues can be resolved with some simple design changes.
Note: the dogs would like to say that the mixed gift bag had absolutely no influence on how well they enjoyed the doggie oreos (I suppose I should call them sandwich cookies or something to avoid trademark infringement). They happily enjoyed all of the treats equally.
The new sandwich cookies are pretty substantial: two of the lamb and rice cookies dipped in carob with a solid yogurty type filling between them. They look pretty tasty, and I have to admit I was tempted to nibble on one because they looked so good. I’m not sure how many calories each one would come out to, but these probably aren’t something you want to give your dog lots of or you’re likely to end up with a very chubby dog. They’ll definitely appeal to dog owners looking for a tasty wheat/corn free treat (me being one of them) to reward their dog with.
Doggie Oreo
On to the taste testing. Simba and Barkley aren’t exactly the most discriminating eaters, so they gobbled down their cookies right away and came looking for more. Simba did pause a little bit to lick the carob coating before eating his though. Nala is much more discriminating and had to sniff and lick her cookie a few times before eating it.
Nala’s new treat
Nala eating her treat
Nala’s a pretty messy eater and ends up dropping crumbs all over the place, which Simba is always more than happy to help clean up.
Simba cleaning up
Nala making sure to get all the crumbs she dropped.
Cleaning up the crumbs
Final verdict: based on how fast the doggie sandwich cookies disappeared, two paws up. Barkley is still sniffing around looking for any crumbs that might have been missed.
Paul, the dogs will be very disappointed if these don’t become a regular item.
The dogs have thoroughly enjoyed their treats from The Baker’s Dog, especially the Lamb and Rice ones. The lamb and rice cookies are small hard cookies that the dogs seem to really like. First they crunch crunch crunch, then sniff around for any crumbs they might have dropped and lick them up. Then they look at me hoping for another one.
Baker’s Dog lamb and rice cookie
Nala was a little sceptical about the PB and Honey treats at first. When I first gave one to her, she took it, then dropped it out of her mouth as if to say “what the heck is this?”. She usually does this any time I give her something new though and eventually decided it was good to eat. The other dogs didn’t hesitate at all before downing them. I’m not sure they even chewed.
Baker’s Dog peanut butter and honey treat
While The Baker’s Dog probably won’t replace The Good Dog Bakery as my dog treat source, mostly because they’re just down the road from me (and they also sell some pretty rocking treats that the dogs love), Baker’s Dog will definitely be on my list for regular purchases. Paul Reynolds has done a great job setting up the online store and making the online purchase experience fun and easy, especially with the custom labels. In fact he made it almost too much fun and I ended up sending out gifts to a few dog owning friends before I made myself stop.
Sending out bags of treats with a picture of your own pet(s) couldn’t be simpler. Create an account for yourself at the store and add the treat of your choice to the shopping cart. Adding a photo is as easy as uploading the photo and selecting the region that will be printed on the label. There’s a one time fee of $4.99 for each photo, and after that you can use it on as many bags as you like and as often as you like. You can even share the photo with others (they won’t have to pay the fee) so they can use it for their purchases.
Two paws up (any more and the dogs would fall down) for The Baker’s Dog. Go visit them, online or in person if you happen to be in the Myrtle Beach area.
