Preparing to BBQ
Preparation, preparation, preparation should be the motto.
Preparation amounts to more than 80% success of a barbecue. Prepare everything, both food and tools, for great outdoor grilling.
Preparing to barbecue tips
Preparation is nine-tenths of victory it's often said. Readying your food, tools and the barbeque itself will bring you close to the goal line.
In the days when a charcoal grill was the only option, there were more or less standard methods for deciding when it was time to begin. You looked, and you felt. For those who still use a charcoal barbeque, those are still useful..
With only modest practice it's possible to tell when charcoal briquettes are ready to use. Piled up in a pyramid they transfer heat among themselves and inwardly. Eventually they glow red and form a thin layer of white ash, both telling signs.
But there's another way. Simply hold your hand six inches above the grill and time how long you can hold your hand there without excessive discomfort. Don't be too macho. The goal is to judge the grill, not your endurance. You don't want to ruin the test. If you can only hold for 3 seconds, the grill is about 500°F (260°C), 5 seconds signals about 400°F (204°C), and 7 seconds means it's about 350°F (177°C).
Not the best method, because it's so inexact. But it's useful when you're at the campsite and you don't have a barbeque thermometer handy. In general, though, one of the ways of being prepared is to have just such a tool available. And that's not the only one...
Once the grill is hot, you need to move fairly quickly. If you have a propane grill, you don't want to waste gas. If you have a charcoal grill, you want to use the briquettes at their peak. In any case, you have hungry people waiting, so you'll want to get moving.
That means having all rubs, sauces and more applied and the meat staged out. If you have a limited amount of space, as is often the case, decide which goes first. Let your meal plan determine the order.
All your tools should be clean and ready to go. Ever have a flareup and not have your spray bottle handy? Or a steak that's ready to flip while the spatula is still in the kitchen? That's not good planning. Any food which sits on the grill for two minutes longer than it's supposed to isn't getting cooked to perfection.
Any sauces that are supposed to be lathered on during the grilling should be within easy reach. Ditto for salt, pepper and other spices that get sprinkled on after the meat has been turned.
Have all the plates you need on a barbeque tray on the grill or on a small table nearby. And arrange for a helper to whisk the food to the dining area at an instant's notice.
Barbecuing isn't a military mission. But planning it like one will result in a lot less warfare from those around you.
Preparing your food
Good preparation techniques will set you on the road to a great barbeque. Meat, fish, vegetables and other aspects of the meal all require special handling.
The optimal barbeque, like any meal, always uses fresh ingredients. Frozen meat can be thawed (in the refrigerator, never by being left out on the counter), but it never fully returns to its original state. For the best taste, buy the meat as shortly before you barbeque as possible. Ditto vegetables, and especially any fish that's part of your recipe.
Develop your own unique rubs. The blend of spices that enhance your meal is one aspect that makes your barbeque unlike that of anyone else. Hundreds of recipes are available online, but experiment to find the one that suits you best. Then prepare the rub before you even take the meat out of the refrigerator.
If you plan to use a sauce on the meat before or during cooking, prepare it in advance as well. For those you slather on at the end, wait until the meat is near ready if you can. For smokers that take a half a day to finish, that's easy. For a grill that only lasts ten minutes, there's no reason to wait.
Also before you take the meat out of cold storage, clean the area.
Give yourself plenty of room to work on a thoroughly cleaned and sanitized area. Any cutting boards, counters and so forth should not only be cleaned well, but disinfected too. That wet sponge or cloth you just used to wipe off the counter has enough bacteria in it to turn any meal into a regrettable episode.
Meat is especially prone to bacterial infection, so wipe the counter with a dilute bleach solution, then thoroughly rinse with purified water before laying anything out.
A good cut of beef will have some marbling throughout and on the exterior. 'Marbling' is the pattern of veins of fat that thread through the meat, but it also sometimes refers to the layer of fat on the outside. But keep it to the right thickness in order to add flavor but not overwhelm. A ¼ inch around the edge is plenty for pork or beef. Slice off any excess.
Some backyard chefs like to prepare hamburger patties, chicken parts and other components outside near the grill. Bad idea. Invasive insects, absorption of volatile organic molecules given off by nearby trees, and other problems are much more likely outside than in. Stick to the kitchen for preparation where you have a clean, protected environment in which to work.
Some thicker cuts will benefit from a bit of forking. Stabbing the slice will open up holes that allow spices, sauce, melting fat and other compounds to enter the interior more easily. But don't overdo it. Too much exposure of the interior leads to excessive drying during cooking. Sealing in the juices is a natural and needed process for a good barbeque.
For anything more than a quick burger or hot dog, planning your barbeque is essential to achieve great results.