Grilling 101

A few definitions:

Grilling & Barbecuing are NOT the same thing.

Grilling – means cooking over an open flame or hot coals on some type of metal grate. There are two major types of grilling.

Broiling – the most common cooking method used in the backyard, patio or deck. You simply take the food and cook it first on one side and then on the other. This is broiling. Braising is sometimes mistakenly used as a synonym for broiling. See braising for an accurate definition.

Roasting – quite possibly the best way to prepare food, especially meat. This is the method our forefathers used in the caves, once they learned that cooked meat was tastier and more tender than raw meat. True roasting is done over open flame. What is called roasting in the oven of the kitchen, is really baking. Roasting on a grill also requires the use of a spit, whether it is manual or electric, etc. It is a thing of beauty once a piece of meat has been properly spitted and balanced.

Barbecuing – means adding a basting sauce, typically one containing some type of tomato base. In today’s cuisine it also means adding some type of capsicum (peppers) to give the sauce a little heat.

Many years ago, while I was working as a machinist, I befriended a fellow co-worker nicknamed Doc. Doc was a very large African American man who invited my wife and I to his home for a traditional barbecue. This was quite possibly the best barbecue I ever tasted. We were both sure that it had nothing to do with the bottle of 151 Rum that was consumed that day. Before this I didn’t know there was such a thing as 151 proof anything. Sigh! Yet another part of my youth I don’t remember.

Braising – is cooking over live coals or open flame, but the food must be covered and in fat or oils with only a little moisture. You have most likely never braised anything on your grill, but you should try.

Smoking has two meanings.

Smoke Curing – a curing method involving rubbing salt, sugar, spices, or soaking in a brining solution. Depending on the meat, this will either completely or partially cook the meat. Smoke curing can involve two different types of smoking, hot smoked and cold smoked methods. Hot smoked isn’t really very hot, as the temperature should not get above 200°. This method typically precludes further cooking. Cold smoked is usually done from 100° to 120°, although the closer to 100° the better. Various meats and other foods are cooked or “done” at different temperatures. You might want to check the chart starting on page ?? You need to know the meat you are preparing to know whether cold smoked will be properly cooked or not.

Smoke Cooking – means cooking foods either partially or entirely by surrounding it with hot smoke. See above for a definition of hot smoke.

One year for Christmas my Dad got a smoker. First thing he tried was a turkey for Christmas dinner. After that, every time we saw Dad, and for the next few years, we would have smoked something. He smoked vegetables, meat, game, we think he even tried smoking his morning cereal, but that is just a rumor.

For both cooking and curing use only hardwoods that are sweet smelling or sweet tasting. Resinous woods like pine, cedar and most conifers should not be used. The one exception is Juniper. You may use hickory (the most popular but not necessarily the best tasting), maple, alder, oak, apple, pear, cherry (really any fruit wood), mesquite, grape vines & leaves, many herbs & spices and corn cobs (yes, corn cobs).

Types of grills
There are three basic types of grills: charcoal, gas, and smokers. The first two types can then be broken down even further. These are open, kettle, table, portable, drum, and backyard pit.

In the US we have become partial to gas. Although it is not the preferred method of devoted grillers, it can still give you good tasting food when used properly. The gas grill was invented in the late fifties. Today 70% of grill owners own gas while 30% own charcoal. Not surprisingly 1 in 5 grill owners own both and about 1 in 10 also own a smoker. Americans fire up their grills 1.5 billion times a year. We use our grills an average of 5 times a month. There are those of us, however, that skew the average and still others of us that do not believe in a grilling season. If you have never grilled with snow hitting you in the face, you haven’t really grilled.

Grill basics
There are a few basic specifications that you want to keep in mind when choosing a grill. These are primarily for charcoal, but most will apply to gas as well. First and foremost is sturdy construction. You do NOT want a wobbly grill. It is not safe. We are talking a very hot cooking method here. Charcoal, when it is cooking is 200° hotter than burning wood. That’s hot. You want a grill that is larger than what you will use all of the time. You want this for two reasons.

First, you will occasionally have a large group to prepare for and you never want to overcrowd a grill. This messes up the heat, the timing, and usually the food. Second, you want to be able to have a hot area and cooler area. The ultimate is to also have a medium area. This way you can move the food from area to area depending on the circumstances you are in.

An added bonus is to have a shelf above the main grilling area. You can use this to keep prepared food warm and to cook some side dishes while your main course is grilling away below. You want a lid with a thermometer that is easy to read. You do not want a lid with a window. Your food does not need to see out. You want a way to be able to access the charcoal area, without having to remove the food and the grill in the middle of the cooking process. You want either a way to raise and lower the charcoal and/or a way to raise and lower the food being prepared or a way to regulate the air that is getting to the coals. The more air the hotter the coals. The less air the cooler the coals.

Ideally you want a way to be able to have an area that has no heat directly under the food, so that you can use the slow cooking method of indirect grilling. The method you are used to is direct grilling. This is how you cook your hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, and metts. But, for thick pieces of meat, like roasts and tenderloins, and tougher cuts like flank steak, you will want to use the slow cooking indirect grilling method. You also want an ash bin. Clean the ashes out religiously. This ash material is highly acidic and if it gets wet (think humidity and rain) it can eat away at the bottom of your grill. It is good to put under your Azaleas or put on our compost heap.

The best grill surface is a good wide grill. We have become used to the little chrome wire grills, while they are okay and will do the job, the more substantial wide grate type grill made from cast iron or a substance like cast iron is the best.

Let’s cover charcoal briefly. If you can, the preferred material is called charcoal chunks. They are just that, uneven dark gray chunks of charcoal. Commercial briquettes that we buy have all kinds of nasty stuff added to them to make them uniform in size color and liteability. Chunks are just pieces of charcoal ready to be used on the grill. An interesting piece of trivia for you, Henry Ford is credited with inventing the charcoal briquette.

The three basic rules of grilling

1. Get it hot

2. Keep it clean

3. Lubricate it

How do I know when the grill is hot enough to start cooking my food? Very easily. Guys, with your hand ½ a beer height above the grill count 1 barbecue, 2 barbecue, 3 barbecue, ouch. Ladies, put your hand about a four inch heel height above the grill and use the same count.

Use some type of grill cleaner; pumice, wire brush or grill scraper to clean the surface of the grill while the grill is still warm. Let it cool and enjoy the food before you clean the grill. After all, good food is what this is all about.

Then before you cook anything on the grill surface apply cooking oil to the grill. This will keep the grill well lubricated and keep the food from sticking. A dirty unlubed grill will cause food to stick every time.

Lid up or down
Unlike the bathroom, this is not an ethical issue. It is a physics issue. Using the thickness of the average hand, if what you are cooking is thinner than your hand, leave the grill open and you will also want the grill very hot. If what you are cooking is thicker than your hand, cool the grill and close the lid. When preparing food with the lid closed, keep in mind that every time you open the lid you add 5 minutes to the cooking time.

All fish and other flaky grilled items
With fish and other similar flaky foods, there are three additional rules that need to be applied. In addition to Hot, Clean, and Lubricated, we need to add

Oil it

Slip and slide it

Special flip it

We need to add oil or some other type of lubricant to the surface of the fish. This will keep the very tender meat from drying out and will also aid in keeping it from sticking.

When you first put the fish down on the grilling surface, take your tongs and slip and slide it up and down a small area of the grill. This also aids in keeping the tender meat from sticking.

Then when you are ready to flip the fish over, flip it to a new unused area of the grill and do the old slip and slide.

Tools You Will Need

Chimney starter

Grill gloves or mitts

Long handled spatula

Long handled tongs

Pastry brush

Serving platter

Table

Beer cozy

Tools You Do NOT Need

Fork of any kind (unless you want dried out meat)

Want to get that good old fashioned flavor in your steak like Grandpa used to get? Liberally add pats of butter to an un-marinated and un-basted and un-dry rubbed steak, just as it is finishing on the grill. Leave on the grill long enough for butter to melt. Suddenly, you will have flavor you haven’t tasted in years.

The following is a chart to help you determine what the proper temperature should be for the degree of doneness you are trying to achieve. This is done by meat type.

Click on the chart to download a PDF that you can print out and keep on hand.

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