How-to: Secrets of great grilling, BBQ-ing and smoking
Grilling How-to
It takes a few hours to barbeque, so most people prefer to cook over hotter coals located directly under the meat. This is called grilling.
There are many ways to grill. Probably the most popular way today is with a gas grill. Gas grills have become extremely affordable and easy to use. With a gas grill, you just open the lid and push a button and -- walla, you have fire! This is, of course, Hank Hill's preference because, as every one knows, he sells propane and propane accessories.
My favorite grilling method and, in my opinion, the best way to grill (I believe my brother Roger who thinks he is "King of the Grill" will agree with me on this) is with charcoal or wood of several varieties.
Most people go to the store and buy the cheapest charcoal they can find and a
can of lighter fluid, come home, dump the charcoal in the grill, douse it with
lighter fluid, strike a match to it, go to the emergency room to get first
degree burns attended to and then come back home for the cookout.
An easier way and safer too is to use a charcoal chimney to start the charcoal burning. A charcoal chimney is a big can with a handle, an open top and an open bottom and a wire mesh in the middle. The charcoal goes in the top part, above the wire, and paper goes in the bottom. The paper is lit and does its job. Using a charcoal chimney eliminates the lighter fluid taste and saves you money on your trip to the E.R. It also saves time because when you dump the coals into the grill, they are ready to cook.
BBQ How-to
On the other hand, let's say you decide to take the time to do a "real" barbeque. Exactly how do you do it? To really "barbeque" something requires cooking the food over a bed of coals a goodly distance from the fire.
To barbeque, you build the fire just as you do for grilling. There is a major difference, though: to barbeque, you shove the coals to one side and put the meat or whatever you are cooking to the other side. What arranging the coals and the food in this way accomplishes is to sorta slow cook the items but at a much faster rate than smoking.
Barbeque is the method I choose when I am preparing steak, pork chops or chicken. After the food is cooked, you can put it directly over the fire to get the grilled look -- but because the meat was barbequed, you'll still have the good slow cooking tenderness you desire.
Smoking How-to
The wood smoker is probably the most difficult to master, but the results are certainly worth the wait.
A wood smoker is a cooker that has two barrels, one for the wood and the other for the meat. You build a fire in the smaller barrel and wait for it to burn down to where you get a good solid plume of smoke drifting through the larger barrel. The smoke drifting through the larger barrel cooks or "smokes" the meat.
Since smoking is done ala the low and slow method, it takes a lot longer and and requires more attention than either grilling or bbq-ing, but smoked meat is a taste sensation that every meat lover enjoys.
The kind of wood used is what gives the unique flavor to the meat. There are several different kinds of wood that can be used.
- For the flavor that is most popular by far, you'd go with hickory. This wood imparts the natural, heavy, smoky taste that we all have come to expect when we bite into a big ole hunk of meat that has been lounging around in the smoker all day.
- Some of the other less heavy tasting woods are apple, peach and even cherry. These woods are lighter and give the meat the sweeter taste you would want on pork and chicken.
And here's a special cooking tip: you can also use these lighter woods on fruits and veggies -- but we'll get into that later when Leslie Ann gets involved. People let me tell you when this little lady starts with the vegetable dishes, you want to hold on tight because I will promise you they are wonderful. She makes a tomato salad using . . . now you didn't really think I was going to tell you that here did you?
Here's another cooking tip: one of the misconceptions about smoked meat is that it isn't done for 18 to 24 hours. Actually the meat is done in the first few hours of cooking. It rests in the heat for the remainder of time to acquire the tenderness everyone has come to expect from good smoked meat. The smoke permeates the meat and does about all the good it can do in those first few hours.
Usually when I smoke a brisket or pork butt, after 3 or 4 hours, I'll wrap it in aluminum foil for the duration. This keeps the meat from drying out and the outer layer from "charring" too badly.
In the BBQ General Store, we will discuss different types and costs of grills and smokers, and I'll give you my recommendations for size and about how much money you should expect to spend. You will even be able to purchase the items you need to be a great backyard chef.