Backyard New England Clam Bake in a Weber Kettle
If you have ever wanted to have a traditional New England Clam Bake but don’t have a beach nearby, you have to try this New England Clam Bake in a Weber Kettle!
I teamed up with Klondike Brands and Greg from Ballistic BBQ fame to solve the dilemma of no beach!
We simply created a beach in our Weber Kettle to bring the sensation to your backyard.
(Closed captioning available on this video)
To say this turned out perfectly is an understatement!
I want to thank Klondike Brands and Greg at Ballistic BBQ for making this video possible!
Be sure to visit Klondike Brands for even more great recipes at Klondike Brands
Equipment used on this episode:
Weber 22.5” One-Touch Gold BBQ
Weber Rapidfire Chimney Charcoal Starter
Dried Seaweed or Dried Seaweed
Video Transcript:
Presenter: Hey, everybody, today we’re having a clam bake with Greg at Ballistic BBQ on the Cooking Everything Outdoors show.
Announcer: The Cooking Everything Outdoors show is sponsored by Camp Chef, and www.OutdoorCooking.com and www.IslandGrillstone.com.
Presenter: So let me tell you how we got going with this crazy idea of doing a clam bake without a beach.
Now, as you know, I’m a partner with Klondike Brands and they asked me to do a clam bake and I was really kind of cool as to how to pull this out.
And I got to talk with my buddy Greg and we really kind of figured out a way to do this in the backyard in a Weber Kettle and actually we went out shopping for a few ingredients this morning.
And Greg actually found seaweed for us and we didn’t have to go out swimming for it, which is really cool.
Greg: We have kept offshore here, but we’re actually using dehydrated seaweed.
Presenter: Yeah, which we found and it re-hydrates really quickly.
And the ingredients were a no-brainer, we went to the fish markets and we picked up some clams and some muscles.
And the seaweed re-hydrates really fantastically.
Greg: Oh yes, and it’s actually pretty tasty.
Presenter: Yeah, pretty tasty stuff.
And we’ve got some lemons of course, some fresh herbs, some oregano and thyme, some garlic and Klondike Rose potatoes which are going to be a key element of this recipe.
Some corn, Greg found, obviously some onions and then this was–
Greg: Smoked kebabs.
Presenter: Smoked kebabs.
And we’re going to put all of these together and we’re going to build it just like a traditional clam bake.
Greg: And what New England clam bake wouldn’t be complete without male lobsters.
Presenter: Male lobsters. Look at this, yeah.
This is going to be an incredible feast that you’re going to be part of and we’re going to show you step by step how we go through it right here at Greg from Ballistic BBQ’s place.
Very cool.
Greg: The whole idea of this video is bringing the beach home.
So we have the Weber here.
This is the hole in the beach.
What we have a nice bed of hot coal going on.
We’re going to lay some rock down.
Any size rock will work as long as it doesn’t fall through the charcoal grate.
Lay the rock down on top of this charcoal here, this burning charcoal.
We want to get this rock nice and hot.
Presenter: And that is hot.
Greg: Next up, it’s going to be laying another bed of hot charcoal on top of this rock.
These rocks are hot, and Gary and I have noticed something, I think we need to mention.
Presenter: Yeah.
Greg: They’re popping.
A lot of these rocks are kind of fracturing on it.
So no problem, just be aware of it, be safe.
We’re kind of standing back.
Presenter: Don’t put your head in the barbecue.
Greg: Do not.
Presenter: And it’s mainly the small ones, right?
Greg: Yes, it’s the small ones.
Presenter: So think big when you’re finding rocks.
Greg: And once we get this covered with another base of charcoal, you know, the risk is going to be minimized dramatically.
Presenter: It is, yeah.
Greg: So I’m going to go ahead and drop this down, Gary, if you’re cool with that.
Presenter: Yup.
Greg: Alright, so Gary went ahead and spread the charcoal evenly over the rocks.
I’m going to go and dump some lump charcoal on top of this burning charcoal.
What we’re looking for is the briquettes to actually burn out.
Again, they’re super heating, saturating the rock with heat.
The cooking source is actually going to be the radiant heat of the rocks and also the heat from this lump charcoal, which is going to provide some really good smoky flare.
Presenter: Yup.
We’re going to put our seaweed directly on top of the lump charcoal, then our food, then some more seaweed, we’re going to close it up and cook it.
So what you want to do is preheat this.
We’re going to probably let it go for about 30 minutes, let that charcoal burn down so we have a really nice hot baste to work with.
Okay, so now what we’ve done is we’ve layered our charcoal.
We layered our rock.
We laid our charcoal.
Then we put some lump on top.
And the thought process behind that is that we want to super heat our rock up to about 400-450 degrees.
And the ash from the regular charcoal is going to filter through and come out the bottom and then we’ll have a relatively nice layer of lump charcoal on the top.
And now, we’re going to put a layer of our seaweed on there, that’s going to be the bed for our vegetables.
Greg: Going to add a little steam-bath here.
Not that bad.
Presenter: Not bad.
Good.
And we just want enough of a layer on here that we are going to be able to set our food on.
Greg: Smell it, that brine?
Presenter: Yeah.
You cannot but love the smell, right.
So I think we’re ready to get some grub on there.
Greg: It’s going to kind of alternate nice, even amounts of veges.
Presenter: Corn, onion.
We had garlic.
We’ve got the Klondike Rose potatoes.
Some of our sausage in there, we’re going to put in.
Greg: It’s just really… I mean this is type of kind of culinary alchemy I dig on.
Presenter: And then we’re going to sprinkle our fresh herbs around, our thyme and oregano.
Greg: He says herbs, I say herbs.
Are you Euro?
Presenter: Can be.
I’m willing to learn.
And let’s just put a couple of these.
Greg: Okay.
Presenter: Just for some…
Greg: Statics, right.
Presenter: Static, there you go.
Now, we need to put our friends on.
Greg: And I have to tell you guys, Gary and I dispatched this painlessly and humanely.
Presenter: Humanely.
Greg: Very quickly.
Treat these guys with respect.
Any movement you see here is just because of the heat, because they’re no longer with us.
Presenter: Wow.
Greg: These looks awesome.
This is one of the clicks I’m very excited about.
Presenter: Yup.
Greg: When we were talking about over the phone it was like, wow, I love it when a plan comes together.
Presenter: Sure.
Greg: We have more lemon, we can…
Presenter: Okay, so now we’re going to put another layer of our seafood or seaweed on top of this.
So, one other thing that we’re going to is we’re going to put a couple of eggs on top of this.
Greg: Let me go grab some eggs.
Presenter: And the reason we’re going to do that is that, the egg is going to cook and when the egg is hard boiled, then we’re going to know that all of our seafood should be about done.
That could take anywhere from 20-45 minutes.
We’ll just put those right on the top, our sacrificial eggs.
We’re going to cover it up with our vents just partially opened.
We want to maintain our heat as best we can around to 400-450 mark and we’re just going to go and I think have something to drink.
Greg: Alright, guys, this is smelling good and we are ready to eat.
So, what we did was we checked the egg for doneness.
20 minutes, it was more like kind of a soft boiled egg.
40 minutes still wasn’t quite there.
We’re at 50 minutes now and we’re pretty sure we’re ready to eat.
The clams are looking good.
They’re just starting to open, which is pretty much close to perfect.
Presenter: Well, now, as you all know, if your muscle or clam hasn’t opened up, right, you do not want to eat this one, so make sure you’re safe on that.
Greg: He’s fired.
Presenter: And look at that color, Greg, does that…
Greg: Well, that’s beautiful.
Presenter: That’s absolutely beautiful.
And these potatoes, oh yeah, look at that, those are ready to go.
Greg: Wow.
Wow.
And I love the color of the…
Presenter: Gorgeous, yeah.
Greg: Kind of gold color.
Presenter: And so creamy and soft.
Greg: Yeah.
Presenter: Alright, so we’re going to plate these up.
Greg: Let’s plate it up.
Presenter: You know, I think that our Klondike Brands clam bake with the Klondike Rose potatoes turned out absolutely flawless.
And I couldn’t be more proud to have experience this with you, man.
It was fantastic.
Greg: It was my pleasure.
Anytime you got an open invitation.
Presenter: Thank you very much.
Greg: Can we have a lunch now?
Presenter: Let’s take a bite.
Greg: I’m hungry.
Little bit of butter.
Presenter: We need napkins.
Hmm.
Greg: Oh, my Gosh.
Presenter: Yeah.
I’m seriously happy.
Greg: I’m going to try one of these potatoes.
You said they are like very creamy?
Presenter: Yeah.
And that’s it.
I guess I’m out of here.
I want to personally thank Greg for letting me come down here and doing this with him because, you know, it’s kind of like a dream come true, which has been fantastic.
We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.
Greg: It was fun.
Presenter: And I will see you when I see you.
(Full disclosure: This is video is a compensated production, sponsored by Klondike Brands.Merchandise links are affiliate links which I earn a small commission from if you purchase when you click the link)
Warning!!!!
Heating rock up to extremely high temperature can lead to fracturing and small pieces exploding into the air. Use all possible safety precautions – keep lid on, stand back as rocks heat, use large rocks, wear safety glasses. Cooking-Outdoors, Ballistic BBQ and Klondike brands assume no responsibility for any and all harm and damages. Be safe!
