| |
| |
|
Cooking Tips Information |
|
|
|
Barbecue Success With The Rule Of Thirds
Ever been to a barbecue party where the 'chef' placed as much food as he could possibly fit onto the barbecue grill, every so often stabbing the food with a fork and juggling it around so that it cooks evenly? Ever noticed how, within a few minutes, the flames start gently flickering under the food, the chef proudly standing back admiring the char grill effect that he's creating? Ever notice the panic that sets in when the flames suddenly leap up and around the food burning it black on the outside and leaving it raw on the inside? The difference between great char grilled barbecue food and burnt offerings lies in a few small precautions. The chef that we've just described made a few fatal errors that could easily have been avoided. Before discussing the errors though, lets consider the equipment that we're talking about. Although the same can happen with gas as with charcoal, gas grills can be turned lower, or off, when the flames start getting out of control. The flames can also be controlled if the barbecue grill has a tight fitting lid, as with a Weber kettle grill. However most people seem to cook on an open top barbecue grill with the lid, if it has one, open. Note that we're talking about a barbecue grill here, where the food is cooked directly over the hot coals. True barbecue uses indirect heat with the food fully enclosed as though in an oven. So, the barbecue grill that our imaginary chef is using is an open top, charcoal, barbecue grill. Now lets have a look at our imaginary chef's errors. First, he filled the grate with charcoal along its entire length, providing a constant heat source, with no area of lower heat to place food if it started to burn. A simple solution is to use the rule of thirds. Imagine the grate of your barbecue being in thirds. Fill two thirds of the grill with charcoal and leave the remaining third empty. Cook your food over the hot coals and when your food is ready, or starts to burn, or creates out of control flames, move it over to the section above the empty grate. The food will stay warm but won't cook any more (or possibly it will but much more slowly), and wont cause any flare-ups. A further refinement can be had, if you've a large enough grill, by placing a double level of coals in one third of the grate, a single level of coals in the middle, and no coals in the final third. You now have three levels of heat! A further mistake was to overfill the grill. Completely filling it leaves no room to manoeuvre the food. You're not able to turn it for even cooking and you've no space to move the food to a lower heat. Assuming that you're using the rule of thirds as described above, , when you first start cooking, leave empty the area of the grill above where you've placed no coals. You've then space to move the cooked food into. Secondly, don't pack the cooking part of the grill with food. Leave room to comfortably turn your food. A second problem caused when over filling the grill is to use foods that require different cooking times. When the coals are first ready to use, they're at their hottest. This is the time to cook small, thin items of food that can be cooked in a short time with a high heat. These include items like sausages, burgers, kebabs and small pieces of meat off the bone. Don't forget that food, such as burgers and sausages, drip fat and juices onto the charcoal during cooking and it's this that causes flare-ups. So you'll need to constantly watch the items of food and move them to an area of lower heat if necessary (did I mention the rule of thirds? ). After the heat has died down somewhat, start grilling food that takes a little longer to grill like chops and steaks and meat on the bone. Finally when the heat is even lower, grill food like fruit kebabs that really only need heating through. Last, but not least, our imaginary chef stabs his food with a barbecue fork to turn it over. During the initially few minutes of grilling, the heat seals the surface of the meat, sealing in the juices. When the meat is stabbed the juices flow out onto the coals, causing the meat to dry out and become tough, and producing a flare up which burns the food. When turning food, always use barbecue tongs. With a charcoal barbecue controlling the heat is difficult. Instead you need to ensure that you cook your individual items of food at the most appropriate time and that you have separate areas of heat. Use the rule of thirds to provide separate areas of heat. When cooking your food, first grill quick cook food when the coals are at their hottest. Second, cook food that requires cooking at a mid temperature for a longer time. Thirdly, cook food that needs a low hea Les Brand is the author of The Barbecue Hut website. Featuring free recipes, and hints and tips about barbecue grills and smokers. www.barbecuehut.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Cooking-Tips - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Two for One Dinners: Eggplant If you find leftovers boring, uninviting or downright "yuck," then here are some ideas to put the "zing" back into mealtime. With a little creativity your home-cooked meal can easily become a delicious meal another night. What is a Serving Size? Have you ever wondered how much a serving really is. Well, pull out your box of Raisin Bran, grab the milk a bowl and a spoon. 6 Steps to Grill the Perfect Steak There's nothing better than a nicely grilled juicy steak.But how come I can't duplicate that restaurant, expensive, juicy, melt-in-your mouth, perfectly grilled steak?Well, I found out how to grill steak perfectly - and here's how you can too. Grill Your Corn for Maximum Flavor There's two basic theories on grilling corn. Some people prefer wrapping the corn in aluminum foil or its own husk, maybe with a little butter and seasonings, then cooking it on the grill until done. Cooking -- What You Need To Know From ancient times till the nineteenth century cooking was basically a survival skill. The nineteenth century marked the division of cooking into two main categories. 10 Mind-Easing Ways To Make Sure Your Childs Bag Lunch Is Safe Perishable food must be kept cold while commuting via bus, bicycle, on foot, in a car, or on the subway. After arriving at school or work, perishable food must be kept cold until lunchtime. How to Grill Most Any Vegetable You Can Think Of! Grilling vegetables is easy. The fact that more people don't do it is the strange thing. Troubleshooting Cookies If your cookies are too tough . . Pyrex Mixing Bowls - A Kitchen Favorite Pyrex mixing bowls typically come in sets of 3 with a small, medium and large bowl that sits snuggly inside each other. Pyrex has been around for almost 90 years. Wok this Way! (Part 4 of 5) Cleaning and Caring for Your Wok Non-stick woks do not require seasoning, and come with simple cleaning instructions from the manufacturers, while steel carbon and iron woks require seasoning. Cleaning a seasoned wok is a lot different than a non-stick wok, and this is what we will cover here. Buying, Storing, and Preparing Apples When buying apples, look for those that are firm and brightly colored. Shiny red for Macintosh, Rome and red Delicious. Herbs and Spices - the Essence of Flavor In any number of cookbooks and recipes you will find advice on which herbs go with what. I'm not going to take that route. Easy Herb Butters Since herbs are plentiful this time of year, why not use them to make a variety of simple herb butters? You can even freeze the butters to enjoy in the cooler fall months ahead.Use these tasty butters on everything from grilled steaks, fish, and chicken, to cooked vegetables. Rice Cookers - Perfect Rice Every Time Love fluffy cooked rice but dislike the preparation time and clean up? Then rice cookers maybe just what you need. Today's rice cooker is a thrifty time saving device for anyone's kitchen. Once-A-Month-Cooking: How to Make Your Plan Work As one of the oldest children in a family of nine, I know that cooking for a crowd can almost be a full-time job. Once-a-month-cooking has been a lifesaver for our family. Chinese Cooking Technique: Deep Fry There are usually 2 ways of deep frying in Chinese cooking:Deep frying the ingredients directly Deep frying the ingredients with batterThe latter is the most commonly used method. Here are some pointer in how to deep fry Chinese food most effectively. Cookware - Whats In It? Have you ever wanted to buy new cookware but didn't know what kind to buy? There are many types of cookware from which to choose. The following is a summary of the different materials that are used in cookware. 10 Convenient Ways To Eliminate Food Poisoning With Your Microwave Microwave ovens can play an important role at mealtime, but special care must be taken when cooking or reheating meat, poultry, fish, and eggs to make sure they are prepared safely. Microwave ovens can cook unevenly and leave "cold spots," where harmful bacteria can survive. Moms Easy Cooking - Fast Meal Ideas For Busy Moms Every busy mom worries about how to prepare fast, nutritious meals for her family. Working moms often find they have very little time for meal planning and preparation. Is Your Cookware Poisoning You? For over 40 years scientists have known that the fumes from hot non-stick surfaces can kill pet birds such as canaries. So just how dangerous are they to you?Several studies have been conducted into health concerns surrounding Teflon, the coating invented and patented by DuPont.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
.JPG)
