2017 Spring Home & Garden
Video Magazine

Cooking tips for the perfect BBQ
By Jan Youngquist

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[May 10, 2017]  The outdoor season is here and maybe you'd like to spend a little more of it outside. Grilling is a great way cook for entertaining and it's typically less mess in the kitchen and more time for visiting or playing.

Below are some basics whether you are smoking or grilling.

Michael 'Medium Rare' O'Donnell with Cave Tools: Michael offers five tips you should use every time you barbecue when grilling.

5 Barbecue Tips You Should Always Remember When Grilling

1 - Cleanliness - Wash every thing that comes in contact with raw meat. Do not reuse the raw meat plate.

2 - Experiment - Try different cuts of meats, spices and flavors, grills and smokers, and different styles of food preparation.

3 - Prepare the grills cooking surface - Clean with a grill wire brush, rub fresh cooking oil, or as one grill master suggested, he likes to rub with a piece of beef fat over the grill surface. It keeps food from sticking and adds flavor.

4 - Wait to season meats with salt - Salt draws moisture out of meat, so wait till near the end of cooking.

5 - Keep a mist bottle near by - A spritz of water over coals can help control flare-ups by cooling down hot coals. This is not for gas grills.

Top 10 grilling tips from Summer Kitchen TV

10 - Food safety - Handle raw meats separate from other ingredients - wash your hands after handling raw meats - don't let uncooked meats stand at room temperature more than an hour. If you marinade for longer than 30 minutes, put meat back in the refrigerator and do not reuse dish later.

9 - Use a marinade or rub - These add flavor and tenderize. Vinegar and fruit juice marinades contain acids that reduce marinade time.

8  -Tools - Invest in some long-handled tools: spatula, tongs, basting brush. Use tongs to flip meats to keep juices from escaping.

7 - Use high heat - Preheat a gas grill 10 min on high. If using charcoal, coals should have a coating of white ash before you put meats on the grill.

6 - Use both direct and indirect heat - Begin by searing each side of meat over high heat, it may cause some flare-up, but that adds to the searing process; move to indirect heat for internal cooking to continue.

5 - Control flare-ups - Trim excess fat to one-quarter-inch, reduce the amount of oil in marinade, move meats to indirect heat when a flare-up occurs, or lower the lid to dampen flame; if using charcoal a mist of water can be used to cool down coals.

4 - Use wood chips for smoke flavors - fruit and other wood chips placed in a metal box or aluminum foil add flavor. Herbs such as rosemary and garlic also enhance flavors.

3 - Don't crowd the grill - Dry heat needs to circulate around each piece of meat to cook.

2 - Know when it's done - You want a nice browned crust. One-inch steaks and chops take 5 - 7 minutes per side. Use an instant meat thermometer - medium rare steaks should have a temperature of 145 degrees F, chicken 160 - 170. After taking off the grill, cover all meats with foil and let rest five to 10 minutes.

The # 1 tip to becoming a grill master - Grill your vegetables. Sugars caramelize on the grill for deeper richer flavors.

The following short video is offers five barbecue tips from the Pit Masters

5 Barbecue Tips from the Masters | Potluck Video

1 - Cooking styles - Referencing great barbecue through smoking, Garry Roark of Ubon's Barbecue, MS, gets right to heart of it, "I would say slow and low on the smoke."

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Jean-Paul Bourgeois of Blue Smoke, a New York City master further defines barbecuing, "It takes time and it's different from grilling; grilling is short and sweet and hot. Barbecue is low and slow.

Mike Mills of the 17th Street Bar and Grill, Murphysboro offers his biggest tip,
"Don't keep turning your meat, don't flip it" It dries out the meat.

2 - Buy high quality meat - Scott Roberts of Salt Lick, Bar-B-Que says always start with a high quality piece of meat. He suggests brisket, which has a little more fat. Fat keeps it from drying out and takes the smoke better.

Patrick Martin of Martin Bar-B-Que Joint, Nashville, TN firmly agrees, "Take the time and spend the money for the right cut of meats without question, because it does make that much of a difference."

3 - Use wood - Different woods have different characteristics - cherry, apple, oak, pecan - all have different nuances smoke."

4 - Use a rub - Patrick Martin identifies that the base for rub is salt, sugar and pepper. This simple base of three ingredients makes a great 'bark' all by itself. From there you may also consider other ingredients "to match the flavor profile you are looking for," he says and offers these few ideas, "cinnamon, cayenne, chili and garlic powder; it's what ever you want to taste."

5 - Use a whole animal - Rodney Scott of Scott's Bar-B-Que, Hemmingway, SC enthusiastically recommends trying it. His only advice, "be careful how you cook it, so all parts get done. Have fun with it and don't be afraid to try anything."

It may seem simple, but there is an art to grilling a burger that will give you consistently good results. Head Chef Karl Engel of the award winning barbecue team "Pigcasso" gets you started with grilling basics in the series The Art of Grilling: How to grill a burger

Fifty-five burger recipes

You won't believe this, or maybe you will. Potato Bombs by the BBQ Pit Boys
is loads of fun to watch, and no doubt the potatoes taste great with your preferred choice of ingredients. Caution: Watching this group's entertaining videos may be addictive and their recipe will not be found in any 'diet' books. They are fun, creative, and their zest for simple pleasures in food and life shine through.

If you run through these or want more variety, you will easily find many more recipes on YouTube and the web to inspire your grilling this season. Try some new things and have a great time this season and always!

 

Read all the articles in our new
2017 Spring Home& Garden Video Magazine

Title
CLICK ON TITLES TO GO TO PAGES
Page
Welcome to the 2017 Spring Hone and Garden VIDEO Magazine - "It's Spring and Summer is coming!" 4
Designing to socialize indoors 5
Creating a great outdoor entertaining space 9
Bringing the outdoors inside with light and airy colors 14
Choosing a grill to suit your tastes 19
Cooking tips for the perfect BBQ 22
The ultimate home design saver - The Mudroom 27
The benefits of growing your own vegetables 31

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