In article . com,
"Pete C." wrote:

Joseph Gwinn wrote:

In article .com,
"Pete C." wrote:

Joseph Gwinn wrote:

I have been in the market for double-prong skewers for barbecuing meat.
Double-prong skewers look like a very large hairpin, with both prongs
going
through the meat, thus preventing rotation, so when one turns the
skewer
full of meat over, everything turns over.

I have a old and ratty set of such skewers, but need more, and perhaps
better.
[snip]
Probably get to use them this week. I'm wondering if 1/8" diameter is
too
large. If it is, I'll use 3/32" diameter rod instead.

Joe Gwinn

The folks in the parts of the world where skewering stuff is the norm
use flat metal skewers, around 1/2" wide x 1/16" thick or so.

How big are the critters they are roasting?

I was thinking kabobs: cubes about 2" on a side, and a blade that big could
be hard to use.

That's exactly what I meant, middle-eastern through north-african type
area, kebabs, kofta and the like, all on flat metal skewers.

Well, a bit of 1/4" or 3/8" wide strip would work better for what I cook.

There is a tandoori oven in the Indian Restaurant my wife and I often go to.
They put the meat on what appear to be 6' long ~swords made of plain steel. The
handle sticks out of the oven, and remains cool. I'll have to look at the
blades. I think they are thicker than 1/16" and narrower than 1/2".


Although it would certainly be easy to get SS flat strip in 0.5 by 0.0625"
or similar size.

SS would work, most I've seen are just steel, oiled and seasoned like a
griddle.

I did think of that, as I have used cast-iron skillets forever. But I don't use
these skewers enough to not need to wash them, so they have to survive the
dishwasher. Thus, stainless steel.

Cast iron skillets are cleaned by heating them up until the grease starts to
smoke, dropping some water into them, and scraping with a steel spatula, rinse
and wipe dry. I learned this from the short-order cook in a McDonalds where I
worked as a teenager.

The grill I keep clean by running it very hot, usually 500 F, so the grease
simply burns off. What doesn't is removed with a stainless-steel scouring pad
held in long tongs and used on the hot grill bars, usually wit the flame still
on High.

MSC sells lots of spring-stock steel strips that would work just fine as
skewers, if rusting is no problem.

Joe Gwinn