Five Tips for Achieving Your Dream Outdoor Living Space

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us for our Anniversary Event! We had a great time sharing tips and hearing stories about your outdoor room in use.

For those who could not join us, we wanted to share some of our top tips for making your dream outdoor room a reality.

1. Appliances: If you’re starting from scratch, begin by defining appliances you cannot live without. Begin with necessities such as grill, sink, refrigerator, and burners. Next start a wish list of items such as pizza oven, warming drawers, beer tap or wine cooler. There are many options, but you’ll have to work within space limitations, making room for core items first and leaving space for items that you’ll purchase down the road.

2. Patio furniture: Next think about your patio needs. Do you mostly have friends over for drinks and snacks? Are you eating outside or just preparing the meal? Are you using your space for cocktail parties and entertaining? Once you determine how you’ll use the space the majority of the time, consider the shape and size of furniture that will work best for your space. Our online room planner is a helpful planning tool.

3. Prioritize: If you’re working with a fixed budget, prioritize to purchase items you’ll use the most first. Put your money in the chairs you’ll spend the most time using. If you love to sit outside and lounge, then that’s where you’ll get the most enjoyment. You can set a goal to add side tables and additional seating down the road.

4. Accessorize: A great solution to help you feel like you’ve updated your outdoor space is to add throw pillows, update cushions, bring in foliage or silks or add an outdoor rug. A little goes a long way. Also, don’t be afraid of color. By adding comfortable pillows with bold accent colors, outdoor rooms come to life and immediately feel more welcoming and become more comfortable for relaxing and entertaining.

5. Make a plan: Like anything in life, in order to achieve your dream outdoor living space you need a plan. Define your dream space, and set goals for items you’d like to add and set a target date. By creating an actionable plan to build your outdoor living room in phases, you’ll get the outdoor room you want without sacrificing quality or comfort along the way.

Beef & Bourbon Cooking Class at Clemenza’s at Uptown Station

Join me, Grill Master Wayne, tonight (3/21) at Clemenza’s at Uptown Station in Fort Walton Beach for my special Big Green Egg cooking demonstration.

The Beef & Bourbon Cooking Class starts at 6 p.m. You won’t want to miss the fun tips, tricks and tools that make grilling on the Big Green Egg even more exceptional. Our menu includes:

Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad

Bourbon Marinated Beef Tenderloin

Grilled Veggies

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

Grilled Pineapple Topped with Coconut Ice Cream

Don’t miss this evening of delicious delicacies!

Call 243-0707 for reservations and we will see you there!

Join us for Our Anniversary Event, April 5-7, 2013

We’re delighted to celebrate another year serving the Emerald Coast and want to thank you for your support and patronage. Since our specialty is outdoor entertaining, we’re bringing out all the stops for our annual event.

We’ll have all our vendors participating in this fun weekend that celebrates the finest in outdoor living. Grilling demonstrations, outdoor living experts, log demonstrations, fire pits, special sale prices, door prizes and more. We’re even adding a competitive cooking contest (think Food Network “Chopped”). We hope you’ll make plans to join us for the exciting weekend!

Great brands and products will be featured with specials throughout the weekend.

Grills: Big Green Egg, Broilmaster, DCS, Fire Magic, Memphis Wood, Fire Grills,

Hearth: Vantage Hearth, RealFyre, Oriflamme, Empire

Outdoor Kitchens: True, DCS

Accessories: Treasure Garden

Patio Furniture: Brown Jordan, Breezesta, Casual Creations, Jensen Leisure, Lane Venture, Lloyd Flanders, Seaside Casual, Tropitone, Winston, Windward

DETAILS:
When: April 5-7, 2013

Hours:
Friday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday noon- 5 p.m.

Where:
32 Forest Shore Drive, Destin, FL
850.269.4666

Nominations Open for About.com Annual Barbecue & Grilling Readers Choice Awards

About.com “Annual Barbecue & Grilling Readers Choice Awards” is accepting nominations.

This is your chance to help select the best Barbecue & Grilling products and restaurants that will be on the ballot for 2013. By nominating your favorites in many categories, including best charcoal grill, best gas grill, best pellet grill, best backyard smoker, best competition smoker, and best barbecue rub among others, you’ll help ensure your favorites make the list.

Nominations will be tallied and the top five in each category will be put to a vote starting February 22nd. In the past hundreds of nominations and tens of thousands of votes were submitted.

We hope you’ll nominate “Wayne’s Get Grillin’ Rub” for Best Barbecue Rub. We would be honored to among the top 5 list of contenders!

Susan’s Marinated Smoked Prime Rib Recipe – Great for a Holiday Feast

I notice that all the grocery stores are featuring prime rib for Christmas. While just serving prime rib makes an excellent meal, we suggest taking a new approach. Cook your prime rib on the smoker or grill!

Whether you use the Big Green Egg, Traeger Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker or the Broilmaster QRave, smoking your prime rib will result in a richer flavor and juicier, more tender meat.

A couple of years ago, Susan found a simple prime rib recipe for marinating and smoking prime rib. First you want to start with selecting the perfect cut of prime rib. Of course, bigger is better and the quality of meat will depend on what is available where you shop.

We have found that a simple marinade of olive oil, red wine, garlic and your favorite herbs, (we use rosemary), works best. Blend these ingredients together.

Place the prime rib in a plastic food bag or non reactive pan. Pour the marinade over the meat, making sure that it is covered or be prepared to turn the meat over after 12 hours.

Marinate for 24-36 hours. Once done, remove meat and pat dry. Re-season with your favorite herbs and place in rack and roasting pan.

Have your smoker running at 225-250 degrees. Place extra wood-smoking chips into the smoker along with the meat.

*Note: If you have a gas grill, you can make a smoker packet out of aluminum foil and soaked wood chips. Poke small holes into the tightly sealed pack so smoke can escape.

Your length of cooking time will depend on temperature of smoker, size of the meat, and some weather conditions. Figure around 30-50% longer than the standard indoor cook at 375 degrees.

Place your corded meat thermometer in the prime rib and close the smoker up tight. Cook to 5 degrees of your desired temperature. Take off grill/smoker, cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Then take plenty of photos so you can share pics of your prized prime rib.

We’d love to see the results! Send pics to baybreezepatio@gmail.com or post to our Facebook page.

Holiday Gift Ideas for the Outdoor Lifestyle

We’re quickly learning that the question of the moment is “What can I get [insert name of friend or loved one] for Christmas?

Fortunately, we’re full of ideas! Here a few of our top picks:

Big Green Egg-cessories – Do you have a Big Green Egg owner on your list? If so, gift giving is easy. Bay Breeze Patio carries all the hot “Eggcessories.” From pizza/baking stones to the Big Green Egg BBQ Guru (a temperature control so precise, it’s like having your own personal valet), Bay Breeze Patio has the perfect gift for the Green Egg-straordinaire on your list.

LED outdoor lights – Who doesn’t like shiny things? We have many styles of outdoor LED lights that will make you the most popular gift-giver for illuminating the party.

Hammocks – Lay back and say ahhhhh! You’ve found the perfect gift. By giving the gift of a high quality Hatteras Hammock, you will give the gift of relaxation. Hatteras recently added an array of new fabrics and styles that prove that relaxation can be a beautiful experience.

Personalized items-Everyone loves a personalized gift with their own surname or moniker. Bay Breeze Patio now offers customized cutting boards and 2-gallon ceramic crock pots that can be personalized with your friend or family member’s name.

Don’t forget our decorative accessory sale continues until Christmas! Bay Breeze Patio carries wall decor, art, picture frames and more. Call us for more ideas and we’ll help you make everyone on your list smile.

Sheryl Hebert Wins the luxurious 5-piece Brown Jordan Furniture Set!

We recently caught up with Sheryl Hebert of Canon City, Colorado, and winner of the 30A.com, Bay Breeze Patio, Brown Jordan Facebook promotion. She will be receiving the luxurious 5-piece Brown Jordan furniture set from the new Tangiers Collection.

We were thrilled to learn that she and her husband are working on an expansion of their outdoor living area and the Tangiers sofa, loveseat, club chair, end table and coffee table will fit perfectly. She thinks it will be a big hit with family and friends due to its comfort, durability, wicker braiding and attractively simple design.

It is especially fitting that Sheryl is our winner since she just celebrated a big birthday and considers this set as a special birthday gift waiting for her back home. She’s been living in New York and working around the clock in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. As an insurance adjustor, she told us they simply cannot get enough adjustors up to the Northeast right now to deal with the massive amount of damage. She’s working tirelessly to help get claims filed quickly for the many victims of this brutal storm. Living along the Gulf Coast, we know the devastation a hurricane can cause and our heart goes out to the many families that have lost so much.

Kudos to our new friend, Sheryl, for all her good work! We’re thrilled that Bay Breeze Patio and our partner Brown Jordan could do a small part in making Sheryl’s life more comfortable and enjoyable when she returns home. We know she’ll love experiencing the finest in outdoor living.

The Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

Turkey day is rapidly approaching. Have you decided how you are going to prepare the bird?

We have three favorite suggestions for preparing your turkey differently than the traditional oven-baked turkey. In fact, we leave the oven open for all accoutrement.

All of our ways are outside–on the grill, in the smoker, or fried. All are delicious! Our friends who host us for Thanksgiving do a turkey each way!

SMOKED
One of the favorites around the beach is smoking the turkey in the Big Green Egg or Memphis Pellet smoker. This allows you to have a wonderfully rich smoky flavor. Be careful not to over smoke in case some of the guests do not “love” that flavor. (Of course, why are you inviting these people?)

FRIED
Everyone should try a fried turkey. It is very easy to do with the right equipment and especially quick, about 3-4 minutes per pound. Skin comes out extra crispy with a juicy inside.

GRILLED
For a more conventional taste, the rotisserie on your grill is perfect. The rotisserie on a Fire Magic can hold up to 65 lbs, in case you want to cook more than one at a time. If you do not have a rotisserie, you can do indirect grilling.

Special hints:

1. If you have not started to thaw the turkey, get to it. Larger turkeys can take up to 3 day in the refrigerator . If you run out of time, you can thaw in cold water in your refrigerator. Always cook the turkey completely thawed.

2. If you have time, you might want to brine the bird. You can brine for up to 2 days. Use any flavor of herbs that you like. A simple brine is one gallon of water with a half cup of salt and sugar. We like adding a variety of fresh herbs and garlic.

3. Make sure that you check all your equipment the day before. Do you have enough charcoal, wood chips or gas? If you are adding flavor wood to the smoker, make sure you have soaked it at least 2 hours in advance.

4. The best piece of equipment you can invest in is a high quality thermometer. Make sure that you test for accuracy ahead of time. For long cooks, I always recommend a thermometer that you can see without opening the hood of your smoker/grill/fryer.

5. Figure out approximate cooking time. This will depend on the temperature and size of the bird.

6. Take the guest of honor out of the refrigerator about 1 hour in advance.

6a. Mix your favorite herb with softened butter. Carefully lift the skin and rub the meat with the butter herb mix. Replace the skin and rub with the herbs.

7. Use drip pans to catch all the juice and make gravy later. We like to keep water with herbs in the pan under the bird to add extra moisture.

7a. Unless you like a full smoked turkey, smoke for about 1- 1 1/2 hours and then raise the temperature for the final roasting.

8. Use your thermometer to determine when the bird is done. Most people are after 160 degree breast and 170 for dark meat. Tent the white meat if the turkey is cooking unevenly. Remember the more you open the grill to look at it, the longer it is going to take. Just like the inside oven.

9. When the turkey hits your desired temperature, pull from the heat and let it rest at least 15 minutes for a small bird and up to 30 for a larger bird. Cover with foil to keep it warm.

10. Show off to all the guests and bathe in the accolades.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Send us photos of your dinner to info@baybreezepatio.com or post on our Facebook Page. We want to celebrate your perfectly cooked meal!

P.S. Our family always does a marinated prime rib on the smoker. Great treat for those who do not like turkey. Yes, we like everyone full and happy.

Warm Up By The Fire

Feeling the chill in the air? Grilling season may be coming to an end for some, but here at Bay Breeze Patio we’re always looking for ways to extend our time outdoors.

Warm up your indoor or outdoor space with a beautiful gas fireplace and log set. You can use either natural gas or propane to fuel the fire. Fireplaces are attractive and functional, and come in a wide array of sizes and styles, including logs, burners and inserts from 18 to 60 inches. Select from vented, vent-free, or direct-vent systems depending on the size and location of your space.

The new vent-free fireplaces are up to 99.9% efficient. The key to this product is that you do not need to install a chimney and can add to any wall for warmth and comfort. Today’s fireplaces come with a remote control so you can adjust the fire from the comfort of your chair. (Our favorite part!)

A fireplace is one of the best investments you can add to your home. If you’re considering adding a fireplace, call us to discuss the advantages of each system and what might be right for your family.

Hot Grilling Tip for Fall

Here is a great grilling idea for the fall. Try using cedar or alder planks with your fish. We especially like to plank salmon since it takes to the cedar flavor so well. Try putting your favorite Wayne’s Grillin’ World Rub on it and follow these simple tips:

1. Soak the plank for at least 2-4 hours
2. Heat your Big Green Egg or gas grill up to desired temperature
3. For extra flavor char one side, flip over and place your salmon on
the char side
4. Replace on the grill, cook with the hood down
5. Check for doneness when white juices start to form
6. Remember to pull from the grill slightly underdone, and let stand for about 10 minutes

Pair with grilled vegetables. Grilling gives veggies a caramelized sweet flavor, making vegetables so mouthwatering even the kids will ask for more!

New QRave by Broilmaster Gets a Thumbs Up

It takes a lot to impress a grill master such as myself, and the new QRave really is a very unique product in the grilling category. For starters, it is all gas and cooks through indirect heat so it is great for slow cooking. It can be used for slow cooking, smoking, steaming, and grilling. Due to the heat source, it can smoke indefinitely. Since it has a front-loading smoking chip drawer, you can add more wood without disturbing the food and impacting your cooking temperature. QRave’s thick aluminum casting maintains a consistent cooking temperature all day and night. So if your recipe calls for 220 degrees for 14 hours, you got it! If you’re grilling, the QRave reaches up to 700 degrees and is ideal for searing as well.

The QRave also includes a stainless steel drip pan, allowing you to fill with water and add moisture to the cooking process. The stainless steel drip pan also eliminates flair-ups so you spend more time entertaining and less time lifting the lid. Drippings fall into the pan and vaporize to produce flavorful smoke. Excess fat and liquids flow down into the drain channel and out into the external drip bucket. The best part is the collection bucket. When you’re done, open the valve and drain and voila ready for the next use! We also like that the QRave is made in America out of cast aluminum that will not rust.

The QRave gets a thumbs up!

Our New Web site is up and running

Dear Folks, We have been working on our new web site for a couple of months and it is finally finished.

Now the young ladies that designed the site, thought it would be great if I could do a cooking/grilling blog. This is because part of Bay Breeze Patio is selling grills, smokers and summer kitchens. Plus my wife wanted to give me something to do.

But first I must learn what a blog is and why. So I am doing some research and will figure it out. If any of you have any suggestions are we go along, please let me know. Just be patient, I have a lot to learn. We will go on the venture together.

Hello world!

Bay Breeze is up and running on our new blog.  More soon!