Always use a meat thermometer to ensure meat has cooked all the way through to the right temperature. When smoking, low temperatures (between 90° and 120☌) and longer cooking times will result in more intense smoke flavor and also more tender meats. This will maximize the smoke flavor acquired by the food during the short amount of time it is on the grill.Ī pan of water placed on the grill during long periods of smoke cooking will not only help keep the food moist, but will help maintain lower cooking temperatures as well. For grilling steaks, fish or anything that will be on the grill a relatively short amount of time, use dry chips only in the smoke box. The dry chips get things going right away, while the wet ones give you the legs to go the distance, adding more moisturized smoke during the longer cooking times. This works best for chicken, ribs, roasts or anything that will be cooking for more than 20 minutes. One is to mix equal parts dry and wet chips, soaked in water or wine for at least 20 minutes, together. There are two approaches to take, depending on what you are grilling. Your barbecue grill can also be used as a smoker by using a smoke box and aromatic wood chips. Slow cooking is the only way to get meat to literally fall off the bone. Slow cooking with lower temperatures and longer cooking times results in more tender food by dissolving the connective tissue that makes some meats tough. Roasts, ribs and chicken pieces are sometimes seared first over direct heat, sealing in the juices, and then finished off with indirect heat. This method is used for large cuts of meat, roasts, ribs, poultry pieces with skin and bones left intact, whole chickens and turkeys and for baking. Food will be cooked all the way through, not just burned on the outside while being left raw and uncooked in the middle. The heat will circulate around the food, cooking it slowly and evenly. Indirect cooking enables you to use the grill as a regular oven. If your gas grill has only 2 burners, light only one and place the food over the un-lit burner. The food is not cooked directly over the heat, instead it is placed over the unlit center portion of the grill with the heat generating from the outside burners. Indirect cooking is used when lower temperatures – 150° to 200☌ – and longer cooking times are desired and when cooking foods that are prone to flare-ups. Usually foods are seared and then finished off either over a lower direct flame or with indirect heat. With some foods, depending on your preference of doneness, searing is all that is needed to grill the food. Steaks, fish fillets and hamburgers are best when seared first. Searing is done quickly (one to two minutes) over high heat, sealing the food, trapping in the juices and flavor. This method is used for searing and for foods that don’t require prolonged cooking times – steaks, fish fillets, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken fillets, vegetables, etc. With direct cooking, or grilling, the food is cooked directly over the heat. Think of your BBQ as an “outdoor kitchen oven”, use it accordingly.ĭirect and Indirect cooking are the two most common methods of cooking on the grill. While the control knobs are marked only ‘hi’ and ‘low’, there is a full range of flame height available. You are in control of the temperature and may adjust the heat by turning the heat control knobs to low or even off, using the temperature gauge as your guide. It is important to note that there is no thermostat in the BBQ. Cooking with the hood down will also conserve gas. Smoke and rotisserie cooking require no pre-heating.Ĭook with the hood closed as much as possible, this will trap the heat allowing it to circulate. For indirect cooking allow 3 to 4 minutes for pre-heating. Watch the temperature gauge and allow the BBQ to heat up to the desired temperature as you would your oven before you use it.įor direct grilling set all burners on high for 6 to 7 minutes, or until the temperature gauge reaches 280☌. Pre-heating brings your grill up to the desired temperature before the actual cooking process begins.
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