Part I
Getting Ready to Show the Grill Whoâs Boss
In this part . . .
Grilling has its own jargon, equipment, and strategies â all of which are completely different from traditional cooking. This part introduces you to the grilling basics: from a quick tutorial on Grill-Speak to guidelines on shopping for a grill and from tips for cleaning up those nasty bits of food and grease to sound advice for building a perfect charcoal fire â with or without wood chips. We also share a list of grilling gadgets and accessories that range from must-haves to nice-to-haves â many of them make perfect gifts for that special someone who lives to flip burgers on the weekends (as we do!).
Chapter 1
Mastering Grill-Speak
In This Chapter
Grilling directly and indirectly
Understanding the finer points of barbecuing
Looking into the process of smoking
Getting to know grilling terms and guidelines
Nothing â not roasting, not frying, not sautĂ©ing, and certainly not poaching â gives such wonderful, smoky flavor to food as grilling does. And because itâs done outdoors, grilling is the most social of cooking techniques. For as long as man has known how great foods can taste when cooked over an open fire, grilling outdoors has been a social event that invites people to participate.
By some strange twist of fate, men seem to take to grilling like ducks to water. (Perhaps women have just let men think that theyâre better at it!) But we find that no matter whoâs doing the grilling, everyone has fun. Grilling brings the kitchen outdoors and often gathers friends, neighbors, and family members around the grill to share stories, watch the fire, and trade recipes.
Grilling over a charcoal fire is perhaps the most interactive of all cooking techniques. It demands that you respond like an athlete to the changes of a live fire. This intense interaction is one of the aspects of grilling that makes it so much fun. You have to play with and master the elements of fire, smoke, and heat â and this book shows you how (as well as how to use a gas grill).
But first, in this chapter, we start off with some translation for you â from Grill-Speak into everyday language.
Two Key Terms: Direct Grilling and Indirect Grilling
In your introduction to the language of grilling, we start you off with the two basic methods of grilling â direct and indirect.
Searing food with direct, no-frills grilling
Direct grilling means that the food is placed on the grill directly over the full force of the heat source, whether itâs charcoal, hardwood, or gas. (See Figure 1-1.) Just about every food, from meats to vegetables, can be grilled directly over fire. Some foods, however, are better cooked over indirect heat, a great grilling technique thatâs introduced in the following section. Foods that are often grilled directly over the heat include hamburgers, hot dogs, pork chops, lamb chops, boneless chicken breasts, beef tenderloins, and all types of fish and shellfish.
Grilling over direct, intense heat sears the food, coating its exterior with a tasty brown crust thatâs loaded with flavor. Steamed or boiled foods donât have this flavor advantage, nor do foods that are stir-fried or microwaved. The techniques of sautĂ©ing, deep-frying, roasting, and broiling create this crusty effect, but grilling rewards you with a seared crust and the extra benefit of smoky flavoring that comes from the charcoal, wood chips, or hardwood chunks. And unlike sautĂ©ing and deep frying, grilling doesnât cook food in a layer of hot fat to produce this sear â you get all the benefits of a rich, brown crust with fewer calories.
Figure 1-1: The placement of coals depends on the type of grilling youâre doing.
Direct grilling â the primary focus of this book â is a fast cooking technique that doesnât require elaborate finishing sauces. Simple marinades (covered in Chapter 5), salsas (discussed in Chapter 6), and condiments (also in Chapter 6) are all you need to complement directly grilled meat.
The primary difficulty with direct grilling is that you must watch your food closely to prevent it from burning.
On a charcoal grill, the coals should be spread in a solid layer that extends about 1 to 2 inches beyond the edges of the food. In all our recipes, the grill grid â the metal latticework you place the food on â is placed 4 to 6 inches from the heat.
We find that most foods are best grilled over medium heat because you have more control and end up with a nice brown crust without any nasty charring. However, fire temperatures vary according to whatâs being cooked. For example:
You can sear 11/2-to 2-inch-thick steaks first over medium-high (or even high) heat and then finish cooking them over medium heat to end up with a crispy, brown crust and a rare to medium-rare center.
Pork and chicken require moderate heat to give the interior a chance to cook completely. However, these foods can be started on a higher temperature, which gives them a nice crust, and then moved to grill slowly over an indirect fire to finish cooking through.
Direct grilling can be done with or without the grill cover. The recipes in this book always tell you when to cover the food. Covering the grill instantly traps and raises the heat and tends to increase the smoky flavor, especially if youâre using wood chunks or chips. However, covering food also can increase the chance that youâll burn or overcook it, simply because you canât see the food. When direct grilling, sometimes it just makes sense to use the grill cover. We find that thick bone-in pork chops, for example, grill more evenly and better retain their succulence when grilled with the cover down.
When grilling directly in a covered grill, the vents â if you have them on your grill â are usually left open. Opening the vents allows more oxygen to enter the grill and increases the temperature of the coals. Closing the vents partially or totally has the opposite effect. So, if your fire is too hot and is browning food too quickly, either remove the cover or try closing the top grill vents.
Staying away from the heat: Indirect grilling
Indirect grilling grills foods slowly, off to one side of the heat source, usually over a drip pan in a covered grill (see Figure 1-1). If you want to use this technique, hereâs what you do:
In a charcoal grill, place the food on the grill grid so that itâs away from or to the side of the full force of the heat or fire. Arrange the lit coals around the drip pan or bank them to one side of the pan.
In a gas grill with two burners, you ignite only one burner and place the food over the unlit burner. If your gas grill has only one burner, place the food in an aluminum foil pan or on several layers of foil and grill over very low heat. Always preheat your gas grill with all burners on high and the lid down for about 15 minutes; then turn one of the burners off before cooking indirectly.
Whether youâre using a gas or charcoal grill, place a drip pan directly under the food. Often you fill the pan with water or another liquid, such as broth or apple juice, to add moisture and keep the slow-cooking food from drying out.
Close the gr...
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