When you attend a party, gathering, or any social event, you may notice that barbequed foods are always served anytime of the day. One reason for this is that barbeque is a versatile way of cooking your food and the taste is always delectable, given that the person really knows how to cook it. You may barbeque fish, meat, poultry, vegetables, and a lot more.
You may want to try this cooking technique but you are having second thoughts because you think it is difficult to do. In addition, you may even be convinced that this is dangerous because the fire may get out of hand and burn you. Contrary to what other people think, barbecuing is an easy way to cook your food. All you need is a good fire, grill, and your food. Of course, some tips also come in handy to make sure that your food will not be burned and the taste will be maximized. As such, here are some useful barbecuing tips to help you in cooking your food.
Fire Up the Barbeque
The first key to a yummy barbeque of any kind is a great fire. Do not use gas, alcohol, or any fluids of these kinds when you start a fire. Aside from giving your food a disgusting taste, it may even poison you because of its hazardous components. Just stick to charcoal lighter fluid when making a fire.
When you are choosing your grilling place, stay as far away from any house, patio, camper, or any structure. Also, make sure that your fire is nowhere near grasses, bushes, or anything that burns easily. This is just a safety precaution to avoid big fires that can result to great damages.
Working with Briquettes
If you have a charcoal grill, you have to decide the right coals to use. As much as possible, do not buy those that light up easily. These coals burn really fast so you will just waste your money buying more of these. In addition, these also do not settle on a good cooking temperature for your barbeque. As such, your food may get really burned or will still be half-cooked.
The best coals to use in barbecuing are called briquettes. Even though these might take you at least one hour before reaching your cooking temperature, these can burn longer. Unlike fast coals, these also settle on a decent temperature needed to cook your food. Even if you have already finished your first batch of barbeques, you will still have enough heat to cook more food.
To hasten the heating time, one trick is to line up the sides of your grills with tin foil. These will reflect the heat from the fire and will even double your cooking time. However, make sure that you put some holes in the foil to let air pass.
Be Smart About Your Fire
When you are grilling, make sure that your fire has enough ventilation. This is to prevent dangerous carbon monoxide, which is caused by the fire, from contaminating your food.
While you are barbecuing your food, it is important to note that flare ups are common occurrences. It just means that your fire becomes big and uncontrollable. As a result, you will burn the food you are grilling. To be on the safe side, always make sure that you have a water sprayer beside you. However, use this only as your last resort. Remember that water sprays will cause the ashes to rise up and stick to your food, making it inedible. If you can still manage a flare up, do not spray it with water. But if it has become unmanageable, forget the food and do not hesitate to kill the fire. After all, your life is more important than the food you are cooking.
To maintain fires at a minimum, do not put so many coals on it or make it too big. Try to keep it near 375 degrees Celsius. When you are checking for the temperature, you do not need a thermometer. You can just use your palms to test the heat. It is above 375 if you can hold your palm near the fire for two to three seconds, above 300 you can hold it four seconds, above 200 if five to six seconds. These temperatures are considered as hot, medium, and low. If the heat is too low, push the charcoals together; but if it is too hot, spread them out or raise the cooking grill.
In order to avoid flare ups, it is vital to know the foods that may cause it. Among these are greasy foods. When your meat or pork barbeques have too much oil on it, it may drip and cause the fire to become bigger. To prevent this from happening, you can lessen the grease you spread on the food. In most cases, you can just put the food on a foil or raise the cooking rack away from the fire. When a flare up occurs, remove your food first before you spray it with water.
Now Go Out And Cook!
Now that you know how to start and maintain a fire, you can start learning the basic recipes for barbecuing different types of food. When you use a grill with a lid, you can use it like a makeshift oven to cook patties, sausages, monkfish, etc. These can be easily bought in grocery stores and are already ready to cook. If you want to mix your own food, you can check out the internet or recipe books for ways to barbeque these.
With all the knowledge you have acquired, you can now start barbecuing whatever food you have inside your house and serve it to family and friends.