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Eight Essentials for Better Barbecuing

Articles / Outdoor Living
Garden Articles
If your garden lacks a little character or needs a bit of a make-over, this article from leading garden designer Creative Landscape Co will give you plenty of inspiration. Find out how particular plants, strategically placed, can change the entire atmosphere in your garden.

Eight Essentials for better barbecuing











1. Lighter fluid – No way! There is no reason, except maybe pyromania (and that’s not a good one), to use lighter fluid anymore. Chimney starters and ligher cubes are much cleaner and more effective.

2. Preheat the Barbecue. Preheating your barbecue with the lid closed for 10-15 minutes prepares the grate. With all the coals glowing red, or all the gas burners on high, the temperature under the lid should reach 260 degrees centigrade. The heat loosens any bits and pieces hanging onto the grate, making it easy to brush them off. A hot grate is also crucial for searing food properly.

3. Keep it clean. When bits of food have stuck to your stainless steel or porcelain enameled cooking grate and the grate is hot, clean it with a brass bristle brush. This step is not only for cleanliness, it also prevents sticking. Note: use a steel brush if you have a cast-iron cooking grate.

4. Oil the food, not the grate. Oil prevents sticking. It adds flavour and moisture, too. Lightly brushing or spraying the food with oil works better than brushing the grate. You won’t waste oil and you will avoid a potentially dangerous situation.

5. Know when to be direct. Direct heat (when the fire is directly below the food) is best for relatively small, tender pieces of food that cook in 25 minutes or less. Indirect heat (when the fire is on either side of the food) is best for larger, tougher foods that require more than 25 minutes of cooking.

6. Keep the air flowing.A charcoal fire needs air. The lid should be closed as much as possible, but keep the vents on the lid and below the charcoal grate open. Remove the old ashes on the bottom of the barbecue regularly to prevent them from blocking the vents. A gas fire needs air too, which it gets from opening below the barbecue.

7. Put a lid on it. For four important reasons, the lid should be closed as much as possible:
- It keeps the grates hot enough to sear the food
- It speeds up the cooking time and prevents the food from drying out.
- It traps the smokiness that develops when fat and juices vaporize in the barbecue.
- It prevents flare-ups by limiting oxygen.

8. Caramelisation. One of the biggest reasons for the popularity of grilled food is its seared taste. To develop this taste for maximum effect, use the right level of heat and resist the temptation to turn food too often. Your patience will allow for caramelisation, or browning. That creates literally hundreds of flavours and aromas. As a general rule, turn food only once.

For great barbecue equipment and accessories that will help you make the most of your outdoor cooking, see our range of barbecues and accessories.

Reproduced with kind permission of Weber-Stephen Co and Jamie Purviance.
Copyright © Godfreys 2006