It is hard to find anyone who does not love hot meat fresh off a barbeque. Food that has prepared by way of a grill is extremely delicious, for nothing can come close to matching the smoky flavor that is unique to charcoal grill made meat.
The best way to add fun to summer and have a great time with your kids is to arrange a nice day of barbecue in your garden. You could have a great time by inviting friends and family over to your place. It is a well-known fact that charcoal barbeques leave a bit of a mess behind post the cooking session, and it might seem a bit outdated when you compare it with all the fancy grills that are available now, like the gas grills, electric grills and the latest entry in grilling technology, infrared powered grills! However, charcoal based grills are the most traditional way of grilling and they are a lot of fun. No other grill can come close to matching the taste of a charcoal grilled meat.
Charcoal Based Grills
Charcoal based grills, seeing how they have been around for a really long time; come in several different forms, with types ranging from classically designed grills that retain the quality of being old fashion to expensive grills that incorporate the latest innovation that modern technology has to offer. In terms of convenience you have grills that are designed with portability in mind and you also have large, mostly stationary grills that can be used for grilling next to the pool and in the garden.
With a charcoal based grill you not only smoke fish but also roast meat. There are two ways of cooking, one is direct cooking and the other goes by an equally simple title, indirect cooking. In direct cooking, you would be covering the grill from the bottom till it’s full of charcoal briquettes. On ignition, the coal would become white at which point they would be spread over the bottom of the grill. On top of this, the cooking grate is positioned and that is when the actual cooking would start. The direct method of cooking is ideal for cooking food items such as baked potatoes, steaks or hamburgers.
Contrast this with the indirect method of cooking, where charcoal briquettes in equal measure are placed on both sides of the bottom of the grill, lit and allowed to burn till there are white hot. Obviously, waiting for the briquettes to turn white is common for any kind of cooking, as you might have gathered by now. Once the white color is achieved, place the grate on top of the hot briquettes and start cooking. This is an indirect method of cooking in charcoal barbeques. If you are thinking of preparing lobster tail delicacies or chicken or steak, then indirect method is what you should be using. The reason for that is the way the heat is retained inside the grill, in the case of indirect cooking.
Tips For Better Cooking
There are a few things that you could do to make your entire cooking experience better. We share a few of them now.
- Every grill, irrespective of what manufacturer it was from, will have an instruction booklet bundled with it. These booklets might not pass for entertaining reading material, but it is worth your time to read them and understand the various features they have incorporated in the grill you own.
- No matter what delicacy you are thinking of preparing on your grill, it is important that you know the optimum temperature at which it needs to be cooked. Fish, for instance, is best cooked at medium temperature while heavy handed items like chicken and pork come out better when they are cooked at temperatures ranging from medium to high. If you are adding vegetables to the mix, then it is better that you do so after covering it with an aluminum foil. You may add spices for better taste. In terms of cooking time, an hour is the recommended cooking time for baked potatoes and half an hour for making sweet corn.
- You may have noticed that sometimes the food will end up getting stuck to the grill. This can be avoided if you oil the grill before cooking. An alternative for this is using foil made of aluminum on the grill.
- This is definitely a no brainer but remember to store the briquettes in a warm and dry place, preferably in a storage shed.
- Starting the grill fire can be tricky and you could get assistance by way of a starter, electric or chimney. Post cooking, wait for the briquettes to cool down and then empty all the ash.
- Lastly, when done with your cooking, simply closing the lid ensures that the fire dies. Once the fire is gone, remember to use long tongs to transfer the contents to a container to avoid getting burnt hands.
Try the above tips, and be the master chef, for your family and friends.
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