BBQ Hints & Tips
Posted: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
by kevin ashton
wannabetvchef
Although the summer weather in the UK has been poor this year, being a Bank Holiday Weekend a lot of folks will be trying to light their BBQ's one last time. Year on year outdoor cooking has become bigger and bigger and yet a large number of my fellow countrymen have still to grasp the principles of how to barbecue.
Barbecuing, like anyone form of cooking takes practice, but here are some do's and don'ts to help you have a successful one. It is quite possible to roast and bake on a BBQ as long as you have a lid and control the heat; indeed I have even baked cheesecakes on a BBQ to show people what's possible.
Before you Start
The day before make a pot of curry or chilli so if the weather turns bad all is not lost. Even if the weather is great, there are times when there's not enough food ready for your hungry guests, so the curry or casserole gives them a choice.
Think about bug prevention and how you can prevent them from spoiling your fun. Remember if you use bug sprays..do so before you start cooking or before you bring out the food. Bugs can be more of a problem close to water so don't set up your BBQ grill close to the ornamental pond.Before you Start
The day before make a pot of curry or chilli so if the weather turns bad all is not lost. Even if the weather is great, there are times when there's not enough food ready for your hungry guests, so the curry or casserole gives them a choice.
If there's going to young children there try to rope off the area around the BBQ to prevent accidents. If your party is large get one of the adults to make sure kids don't get too close.
If using charcoal light the coals about 50 minutes before you are ready to cook.
If your using a gas grill then light it about 15 mins before you want to start cooking.
Once the charcoal is alight then get all your meat, seafood ,vegetables
prepared and put into plastic containers (with lids). Place all the containers into a large cooler bag together with 1-2 frozen cool blocks.
If you have any vegetarian guests, make sure you cook their food first, before you put meat on the grill.
Have heat proof containers to transfer cooked food into...don't put the cooked food onto plates or bowls that had raw foods in them.
Set up a work table close to barbecue, with your cooler bag,a cutting board and any thing else you need to prevent you from having to run constantly back into the house.
Cut courgettes and aubergines lengthwise so they are big thin slices that are easy to turn on the grill and wont fall between the grill bars. Cut them into bite size pieces afterwards.
Brush a little olive oil onto your meat or veg before placing onto the grill. Season it when it is on the grill.
Don't brush BBQ sauce on any food until it is cooked because the sugar content will make the food brown very quickly. Brush the BBQ sauce on during the final minutes of cooking.
Don't put out the salads -coleslaws-potato salads etc until you are ready to serve.
If making your own burgers make them several hours before hand, this helps to keep there shape and prevent them from falling apart on the grill.
Cooking the chicken breasts with the skin on helps to keep more moisture in. If you wish you can remove it after cooking.
If it's a large BBQ make sure you have a place for keeping your grilled food hot/warm Cook the longer cook items such as chicken before you cook the burgers.
A great way to cook sausage is use a disposable tin foil tray placed on the BBQ, add a littel sliced onion and a bottle of lager. Cook them in the beer, then finish them on the BBQ grill to get them brown.
You can add a great smoky taste to the food by using hickory wood chips on your grill. The secret to this is soaking the chips the night before in cold water so they smoke rather than burn on the grill.
Be imaginative with your veggie BBQ dishes such as a Warm Grilled Salad of Mediterranean vegetables tossed in a balsamic & olive oil dressing
To get butter all over your corn on the cob do this
Spread a slice of bread generously with butter lay the cooked ear of corn on the bread.
Wrap the bread around the corn leaving the root end exposed then roll the corn inside
Spread a slice of bread generously with butter lay the cooked ear of corn on the bread.
Wrap the bread around the corn leaving the root end exposed then roll the corn inside
the bread wrapper........ so simple.
For people who have only recently joined this blog please take a couple of minutes to read the other articles www.wannabetvchef.blog.co.uk that tell you how to set the charcoal up to create proper heat zones. Controling the heat is the key to good results.
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