Happy Father's Day to all the father's taking care of business! Hope you have a great day and I'm sure you're going get the grill going to do some bbq :)
So check out my blog on Steak and my blog on Steaks and The Four-Finger Thermometer ENJOY!
Showing posts with label temperature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label temperature. Show all posts
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
WHAT IS BARBECUE?
Barbecue is a long, slow, indirect, low-heat method of cooking that uses smoldering logs, wood chunks, or charcoal to smoke-cook food. Cooking meat until it's tender and juicy.
Temperature around 225
use wood to add another layer of flavor
Meats are often rubbed with seasonings and/or marinated before cooking
Temperature around 225
use wood to add another layer of flavor
Meats are often rubbed with seasonings and/or marinated before cooking
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
BBQ - Minion Method
The concept behind the Minion method is simple. Place a small number of lit coals on top of a pile of unlit briquettes and control your temperature by adjusting your vent(s). The lit coals will ignite the unlit coals slowly, allowing you to cook for long periods of time without having to add new coals as well as controlling your temperature since it is easier to bring a fire up to a certain temperature rather than try to bring it down. You really only want to use this method for slow and low cooking (225-300 degrees), not for 325-350 degree cooks.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
BBQ - When purchasing a gas or charcoal grill .....
Gas Grills
Gas grills come in many flavors, big, small, stainless, ones with side burners for pots, and many more. They are very easy to light, usually by the push of a button, and controlling heat on them is not a problem at all. With the simple turn of a dial, and you can cook food anywhere from 200 to 500 degrees. They use propane to fuel them, and a typical, full propane tank will supply enough fuel to cook many meals. The prices of gas grills typically range from $150.00 to $500.00, and even well up into the $1,000.00 dollar range.
When purchasing a gas grill, make sure that it has at least two burners so you can cook with indirect heat on one side of the grill if you choose to do so. Many seafood items, such as fish, require a low and slow method of cooking for certain recipes, and being able to light one side of the grill and cook on the other side will make it much easier on you to achieve the desired cooking temperature you are looking for.
Tips for Purchasing a Gas Grill
1. Make sure it has 2 burners
2. Sturdy Construction- When you lift the lid, the pit seems sturdy and not shaky
3. Know your price range, and know what you want to accomplish with the grill. Will you be cooking for lots of people, or will you be cooking for a few?
4. Top brands do produce very good pits, but shop around. Many cheaper brands produce very good quality grills too.
5. What kind of warranty does the pit have? Does the company pay for shipping if something breaks on the pit and you have to send it off to get it repaired, or even receive a new part?
Charcoal Grills
Charcoal grills are fueled by lump charcoal or charcoal briquettes. They grills are usually in the shape of a round kettle, but many other shapes of pits, such as squares and rectangles exist. Many people will only use charcoal grills because they believe a better taste is produced by using charcoal instead of gas. I will talk more about this later.
Charcoal grills can be priced anywhere from the small, $20 dollar Hibachi, to a typical $50.00 Weber, to an expensive, $450.00 kettle, which is usually pretty large. Normally, the $50.00 Weber grill is the best way to go because it has the surface area to cook lots of food, and Weber's usually last a very long time. I have used one for 4 years now, cooking 4-5 times a month on it, and it has not let me down yet.
When using a charcoal grill, the best and easiest way to light the grill is to use a charcoal starter. This will cut your pit heating time down by 15 minutes or so because the coals will be already be lit when you put them into the pit. I don't use lighter fluid anymore.
Adjusting the heat on a charcoal grill can be a bit of a challenge until you get used to your pit. After a while, you will understand the exact combination of closing dampers and adjusting the lid to produce the heat you want from your grill.
Tips for Purchasing a Charcoal Grill
1. What are your intentions for the grill? Are you cooking for many people, or a few?
2. Is the pit easy to move around?
3. How easy is it to clean?
4. What is your price range? Do some research on the internet to find out what grills are priced at now
What I've found is most store bought grills need adjustments or modifications.
Like I bought a water smoker and the charcoal pan didn't have holes in it so the charcoal would eventually smother. So I drilled some holes in the charcoal pan and it does a lot better
Gas grills come in many flavors, big, small, stainless, ones with side burners for pots, and many more. They are very easy to light, usually by the push of a button, and controlling heat on them is not a problem at all. With the simple turn of a dial, and you can cook food anywhere from 200 to 500 degrees. They use propane to fuel them, and a typical, full propane tank will supply enough fuel to cook many meals. The prices of gas grills typically range from $150.00 to $500.00, and even well up into the $1,000.00 dollar range.
When purchasing a gas grill, make sure that it has at least two burners so you can cook with indirect heat on one side of the grill if you choose to do so. Many seafood items, such as fish, require a low and slow method of cooking for certain recipes, and being able to light one side of the grill and cook on the other side will make it much easier on you to achieve the desired cooking temperature you are looking for.
Tips for Purchasing a Gas Grill
1. Make sure it has 2 burners
2. Sturdy Construction- When you lift the lid, the pit seems sturdy and not shaky
3. Know your price range, and know what you want to accomplish with the grill. Will you be cooking for lots of people, or will you be cooking for a few?
4. Top brands do produce very good pits, but shop around. Many cheaper brands produce very good quality grills too.
5. What kind of warranty does the pit have? Does the company pay for shipping if something breaks on the pit and you have to send it off to get it repaired, or even receive a new part?
Charcoal Grills
Charcoal grills are fueled by lump charcoal or charcoal briquettes. They grills are usually in the shape of a round kettle, but many other shapes of pits, such as squares and rectangles exist. Many people will only use charcoal grills because they believe a better taste is produced by using charcoal instead of gas. I will talk more about this later.
Charcoal grills can be priced anywhere from the small, $20 dollar Hibachi, to a typical $50.00 Weber, to an expensive, $450.00 kettle, which is usually pretty large. Normally, the $50.00 Weber grill is the best way to go because it has the surface area to cook lots of food, and Weber's usually last a very long time. I have used one for 4 years now, cooking 4-5 times a month on it, and it has not let me down yet.
When using a charcoal grill, the best and easiest way to light the grill is to use a charcoal starter. This will cut your pit heating time down by 15 minutes or so because the coals will be already be lit when you put them into the pit. I don't use lighter fluid anymore.
Adjusting the heat on a charcoal grill can be a bit of a challenge until you get used to your pit. After a while, you will understand the exact combination of closing dampers and adjusting the lid to produce the heat you want from your grill.
Tips for Purchasing a Charcoal Grill
1. What are your intentions for the grill? Are you cooking for many people, or a few?
2. Is the pit easy to move around?
3. How easy is it to clean?
4. What is your price range? Do some research on the internet to find out what grills are priced at now
What I've found is most store bought grills need adjustments or modifications.
Like I bought a water smoker and the charcoal pan didn't have holes in it so the charcoal would eventually smother. So I drilled some holes in the charcoal pan and it does a lot better
Friday, April 22, 2011
BBQ - Steaks
When grilling steaks, ensure the meat is at room temperature before you put it on the grill. If you grill a cold steak it won't cook evenly and you could end up burning the outside and having no-heat in the center of your meat.
When grilling steaks you should, only turn the steak once. Over turning meat will lead to meat that is tough and chewy
*check out the blog archives on the right and some of the products, don't cost you nothing, thanks
When grilling steaks you should, only turn the steak once. Over turning meat will lead to meat that is tough and chewy
*check out the blog archives on the right and some of the products, don't cost you nothing, thanks
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