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Barbeque (did i spell that right?)

post #1 of 14
6/27/04 at 10:35pm
Thread Starter 
Howdy: As we are into the season already I was kind of wondering what everyone does to get it right. What I do is baste the items and leave a low flame on one side and close the grill and let the food slow cook on the other so that there is no direct flame at all but they are just getting the heat and the flavor from the flame burning on the side.  This way the slow cooking process doesnt dry out the food.  Also it does not need any maintenance except for periodic basting. (No flipping required) Works for all foods (Meats, chicken Burgers, etc.)  Also go easy on the BBQ Sauce. Downside is that it take about an hour+ so you have to have the time. Anybody care to contribute to the thread whilst the season is yet young? JJF
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post #2 of 14
6/27/04 at 10:52pm
Try marinading your fish in a little balsamic vinegar and a lot of olive oil, with a little garlic and parsley for flavor and color, respectively. You can also throw some orange-slices/peppers/cucumber/whatever on there, wrap it up in a package of wax paper, and let it sit in the grill for about 10 minutes. Works best w/salmon. Delicious looking and tasting. And never underestimate the power of bacon. Wrap everything in it and package it up in foil. If you're using exotic meat, try marinading it in tomato chunks/juice overnight. We do this all the time w/our deer harvest so it tastes less gamey for the ladies of the crowd.
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post #3 of 14
6/27/04 at 11:35pm
I love to grill. Here are some of my favorites: Beef, pork, ribs: I start the meat in the oven first. Rub them with some olive oil; then rub them with just a bit of sage, cayenne pepper, salt, garlic, brown sugar. Cook them in the oven on low heat (about 275 or so) for 2-3 hours. (I've tried this first step on a grill too, but unless you constantly are watching the temperature, it usually goes too high.) While the meat is cooking, soak wood chips in water. As the meat is getting ready to come out of the oven, crank up the grill. Add the wood chips, and use high heat to generate some good smoke. After the meat comes out of the oven, baste it with barbeque sauce, then turn the grill down low, toss on the meat, and let it cook/smoke slowly for another 45 minutes or so. You're done. For salmon, we've been using cedar planks for the past couple of years. Soak the cedar plank in water. Prepare the salmon, and cook it right on the plank. The fish stays more moist, and absorbs some of the cedar flavour. Make sure you use unprocessed cedar, without lumber preservative chemicals.
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post #4 of 14
6/27/04 at 11:54pm
This topic is so much more appetizing than all the wheatgrass stuff going on elsewhere. Any advice on gas vs charcoal grills?
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post #5 of 14
6/27/04 at 11:56pm
Quote:
I love to grill. Here are some of my favorites: Beef, pork, ribs:   I start the meat in the oven first.  Rub them with some olive oil; then rub them with just a bit of sage, cayenne pepper, salt, garlic, brown sugar.  Cook them in the oven on low heat (about 275 or so) for 2-3 hours.  (I've tried this first step on a grill too, but unless you constantly are watching the temperature, it usually goes too high.)  While the meat is cooking, soak wood chips in water.     As the meat is getting ready to come out of the oven, crank up the grill.  Add the wood chips, and use high heat to generate some good smoke.   After the meat comes out of the oven, baste it with barbeque sauce, then turn the grill down low, toss on the meat, and let it cook/smoke slowly for another 45 minutes or so.   You're done. For salmon, we've been using cedar planks for the past couple of years.  Soak the cedar plank in water.  Prepare the salmon, and cook it right on the plank.  The fish stays more moist, and absorbs some of the cedar flavour.  Make sure you use unprocessed cedar, without lumber preservative chemicals.
That sounds so delicious. I want to try your procedures (for both the meat and for the fish) this summer. Do you find the first procedure works better with charcoal or gas grills? Oh, good point about using non-treated wood. You wouldn't want your guests to sit down to a nice plate of arsenic-infused salmon at the next dinner party.
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post #6 of 14
6/28/04 at 1:55pm
I've used a gas grill for some time now.  We got a giant built-in Viking gas grill installed several years ago, and I haven't used charcoal since.  The gas grill is just so easy to use, that I find myself grilling a lot more.  The smoker feature is great, as it allows you to have the benefit of grilling with wood chips, without all the hassle.   In general, temperature control is a bit easier to manage with gas.  I'm sure that will a bit more work you could get similar (or superior) results from charcoal. Here's a review of the grill I've got from epinions: http://www.epinions.com/pr-Viking_VG...splay_~reviews
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post #7 of 14
6/28/04 at 2:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
I've used a gas grill for some time now.  We got a giant built-in Viking gas grill installed several years ago, and I haven't used charcoal since.  The gas grill is just so easy to use, that I find myself grilling a lot more.  The smoker feature is great, as it allows you to have the benefit of grilling with wood chips, without all the hassle.   In general, temperature control is a bit easier to manage with gas.  I'm sure that will a bit more work you could get similar (or superior) results from charcoal. Here's a review of the grill I've got from epinions: http://www.epinions.com/pr-Viking_VG...splay_~reviews
Kai: Nice review on the gril, l although I must confess that I got the most pertinent info from the last line. 3500. That was just a wee bit more than my most recent car... . (which wasnt really a shock for me as I know that a Viking Kitchen oven can run in the 12K+ range.) In any event I wouldnt go back to charcoal for pretty much the same reason. Good even temperatures with no hassle. Kai: What do you think about a convertable Grill where you could just close off a section and drop a door so as to avoid the problems of size and overkill etc. So when you are cooking for 30 you open it up and when you are cooking for you and the wife and kids you can close it off and reduce the size. Is that doable? (if so why hasnt anyone done that?) JJF
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post #8 of 14
6/28/04 at 3:12pm
Are we talking about grilling or barbecuing, because there are major differences. As I understand it (and there are people who understand it much better than I), grilling is using high heat, over an open, direct flame. Think burgers and hot dogs. BBQ is long and slow, using indirect heat - mostly from smoke.
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post #9 of 14
6/28/04 at 3:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Are we talking about grilling or barbecuing, because there are major differences. As I understand it (and there are people who understand it much better than I), grilling is using high heat, over an open, direct flame.  Think burgers and hot dogs.  BBQ is long and slow, using indirect heat - mostly from smoke.
You are absolutely correct that BBQ done the BBQ way is smoke curing the food, however I meant what we commonly reffer to as BBQing which is actually grilling. SO for clarification. Getting the food stuff from Raw to Edible, however you get there. JJF
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post #10 of 14
6/28/04 at 3:31pm
Quote:
Quote:
(Kai @ 28 June 2004, 12:55) I've used a gas grill for some time now.  We got a giant built-in Viking gas grill installed several years ago, and I haven't used charcoal since.  The gas grill is just so easy to use, that I find myself grilling a lot more.  The smoker feature is great, as it allows you to have the benefit of grilling with wood chips, without all the hassle.   In general, temperature control is a bit easier to manage with gas.  I'm sure that will a bit more work you could get similar (or superior) results from charcoal. Here's a review of the grill I've got from epinions: http://www.epinions.com/pr-Viking_VG...splay_~reviews
Kai: Nice review on the gril, l although I must confess that I got the most pertinent info from the last line.  3500.  That was just a wee bit more than my most recent car... . (which wasnt really a shock for me as I know that a Viking Kitchen oven can run in the 12K+ range.) In any event I wouldnt go back to charcoal for pretty much the same reason.  Good even temperatures with no hassle. Kai: What do you think about a convertable Grill where you could just close off a section and drop a door so as to avoid the problems of size and overkill etc.  So when you are cooking for 30 you open it up and when you are cooking for you and the wife and kids you can close it off and reduce the size. Is that doable? (if so why hasnt anyone done that?) JJF
Your idea about the partitioned grill makes a lot of sense. I haven't seen one like it, however. There is no doubt that you can pick up a good gas grill for a lot less than $3500. The Viking is nice, but it is probably over-priced and is certainly overkill for most situations. It's sort of a "Tim the Tool Man" choice for grilling. A good cart grill can be had for less money I'm sure, particularly if grilling for 50 people at a time isn't on your agenda.
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post #11 of 14
6/28/04 at 6:42pm
Both Ken and Kai's suggestions are perfect. I grew up in south eastern Ontario, where grilling or barbequeing (we use the words interchangeably, although they are actually different processes) are a summer way of life - at least 3 times a week from May to September. Then I spend most of my adult life so far in SoCal, where we grill year round. Wrapping meats in foil with bacon is great - you get the crispiness without losing moisture. And salmon or tuna steaks or stuffed cod wrapped in wax paper over the barbeque are amazing, To prepare a fresh whitefish, put it in the wax paper (and then wrap the whote thing in foil) with a half cup of water, some scallions and ginger, cooked oil and soy sauce, and steam/barbeque for several minutes. The result is a steamed fish (like those in a Chinese restaurant) with a slight grill flavor. Terrific for a summer dinner with a good dry white wine.
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post #12 of 14
6/29/04 at 4:10pm
I usually start by tipping over my gas tank accidentally, which makes a mean hissing sound while I turn the handle the wrong way and scream at the girls to get back in the house. Then I reconnect the hoses, hit the ignite switch way too hard, wait until the excess gas clears and the kind gas company men have come and gone after replying to neighborhood calls of errant gas, and then I crank the heat too high. I make sure to lean on the grill cover at some point whilie cooking, just to check my reflexes, and to see if burn ointments really work. Make sure to slip hot dogs or brats horizontally on to the grill so that they fall between the rack's bars down into the ashes below, coating them with a flavorful marinade of last summer's fiascos. Fishing them out can be a great test of dexterity and sheer bravery, providing endless entertainment for the wife and kids. Finally, make sure to close the gas handle so tight as to require a plumber's wrench to get it open again (kicking the tank, though it makes a pleasantly resonant peal, is not generally advised). I can't say as I agree with any of the advice given yet on this topic, as their sheer effectiveness would take away from me the manly rituals to which I have become so accustomed.
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post #13 of 14
6/29/04 at 4:18pm
Quote:
Barbeque (did I spell that right?)
Barbecue. But who cares? The word has been spelled in a thousand variations, and the Antillean Tainos from whom the word came originally (barbacoa) went extinct under the Spanish in the 16th century anyway. They got the real grilling.  
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post #14 of 14
6/29/04 at 4:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
I usually start by tipping over my gas tank accidentally, which makes a mean hissing sound while I turn the handle the wrong way and scream at the girls to get back in the house. Then I reconnect the hoses, hit the ignite switch way too hard, wait until the excess gas clears and the kind gas company men have come and gone after replying to neighborhood calls of errant gas, and then I crank the heat too high. I make sure to lean on the grill cover at some point whilie cooking, just to check my reflexes, and to see if burn ointments really work. Make sure to slip hot dogs or brats horizontally on to the grill so that they fall between the rack's bars down into the ashes below, coating them with a flavorful marinade of last summer's fiascos. Fishing them out can be a great test of dexterity and sheer bravery, providing endless entertainment for the wife and kids. Finally, make sure to close the gas handle so tight as to require a plumber's wrench to get it open again (kicking the tank, though it makes a pleasantly resonant peal, is not generally advised). I can't say as I agree with any of the advice given yet on this topic, as their sheer effectiveness would take away from me the manly rituals to which I have become so accustomed.          
This was excellent. And you had this down too pat for me to believe that you were making it up. JJF
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