COALS AND COILS: GRILLING AND BROILING

Loosely speaking, the terms grilling and broiling are almost interchangeable. In grilling, which is done on a barbecue grill, the heat source is below; in oven broiling, it’s above. Because both methods involve intense heat, they’re best reserved for relatively thin pieces of meat, poultry, and vegetables — thick cuts of meat can burn on the outside before cooking sufficiently in the middle. The advantage of grilling and broiling is that the surface of the food develops that characteristic browned, crispy, flavorful “grilled” quality.

Broiling is usually done 4 to 6 inches from the heating coil. It is always best to put the food on a broiler pan with sides and a grated top that allows juices to fall into the pan. And watch out for flare-ups, either in the oven or on the grill. Flare-ups not only pose a fire danger, but they also can burn meat and give it an acrid flavor. Use the oven door or grill’s cover to extinguish flames, and keep a spray bottle of water on hand.

The grilled recipes in this chapter work for broiling as well. Because you can’t see food that is broiling as readily as food on a grill, check it more often until you get used to the timing. Keep in mind that broilers are typically hotter than charcoal, so food usually cooks faster.

Mastering Your Grill

If you’re in the market for a grill, your choices range from a small hibachi to a “grilling unit” that is roughly the size of a Fiat and sports everything from gas burners and cutting boards to rotisseries and satellite TV (just kidding . . . we think). High-end grills can run into the thousands of dollars. Are the pricey models worth it? Or are you good to go with the hibachi? Look more closely at your grill options before you shell out the big bucks.

Obviously, the grill you choose is a matter of personal preference. But after you make your decision, you need to know how to master your heat source. This section covers the fundamentals you need to know if you’re using a charcoal, gas, or electric grill.

Charcoal grilling

Many hard-core barbecue experts prefer charcoal grilling over any other type because of the flavor it imparts to meat and vegetables. Charcoal grills can be short or tall, large or small, but they all have one thing in common: Instead of turning a switch or lighting a gas flame, you actually light briquettes or wood and cook your food over this sometimes temperamental heat source.

Charcoal grilling does produce a unique flavor you can’t get from a gas or electric grill, and charcoal grills are usually much less expensive than gas or electric grills. Some double as smokers. Moreover, you don’t have to worry about buying and/or refilling a propane tank; for charcoal grilling, you can use charcoal briquettes or real wood briquettes (which are dense chunks of wood). Some briquettes are pretreated with lighter fluid so they are easy to light; we prefer real wood briquettes and/or special woods like mesquite, hickory, apple and others.

If you add wood chips to your grill to increase the smoke flavor of your meat, soak them first in water for about 15 minutes. Doing so makes them smolder and smoke rather than burn up in a flash.

The key to successful charcoal grilling is the same as for stovetop cooking: an even source of heat. Probably the most common failing of amateur cooks is cooking with a charcoal fire that is too hot. This could result from having too many briquettes, or positioning the grate too close to the fire. Here are more tips for having the perfect charcoal grilling experience:

✓ As a rule, 30 charcoal briquettes can cook about 1 pound of meat. If you’re cooking 2 pounds of meat, you need around 45 briquettes. Don’t overload your grill with charcoal — too hot a fire will char food before it is fully cooked.

✓ Spread the coals in a solid layer about 4 to 6 inches below the food grate.

✓ Never light cooking fires with kerosene, gasoline, or other chemicals unless you have a terrific home insurance plan.

How do you light the grill? Dry newspaper and a little patience work wonders. Or use the plug — an electric rod that you place in the center of a charcoal pile until it ignites. Using lighter fluid (or charcoal presoaked in lighter fluid) remains the most popular way of starting a fire.

Perhaps the best lighting technique is using a stovepipe starter, which looks like a piece of stovepipe with a handle. All you do is crumple some newspaper in the center of the empty grill and place the pipe over it. Then fill the top with briquettes. When you ignite the paper, the heat intensifies and shoots straight up, quickly lighting the coals. When the coals are mostly white, reverse the pipe and spread them over the bottom of the grill. (If you need extra briquettes just place them over the hot ones.)

✓ Allow 30 to 35 minutes for the coals to burn to medium (they should be about 75 percent white). To gauge the temperature, place the palm of your hand just above the grill’s grid. If you can hold your hand in that position for 2 seconds, the coals are hot; a 3-second hold tells you the coals are medium-hot; 4 seconds is medium; and 5 indicates it’s time to think about the microwave.

✓ If you’re cooking a large quantity of food and the fire begins to fade before you finish, add a small amount of fresh charcoal.

Gas grilling

Gas grills can get pretty fancy ... and pretty expensive! But they look impressive on the patio. Thankfully gas-powered grills have become increasingly popular and more affordable in recent years. And they have several advantages
over charcoal grills:

✓ They heat up quickly.
✓ The heat is adjustable and consistent.
✓ They are easy to clean and maintain.
✓ You won’t throw your back out lugging 17-pound bags of charcoal.

Some gas grills use lava rocks to simulate charcoal, which works exceedingly well. The cooking technique is the same as for charcoal grills, but the flavor is not as pronounced.

One major difference between a gas and a charcoal grill is that gas grills run off a propane tank. That means you need to buy propane, attach it to your grill, and refill it when it runs out — usually when the steak is barely seared. Some people shy away from propane, but if you follow the directions for your grill, propane is safe.

Electric grilling

The electric grill is easy to operate. Some models are designed for indoor use, such as the George Foreman Grill, and others are made for either indoor or outdoor use. Electric grills are essentially like portable electric stoves, and some contain smokers. The main advantage of an electric grill is that you can use it indoors if you want but can simulate the effect of an outdoor grill.

Marinating for Flavor

A common misperception is that marinades tenderize meat. They don’t. A marinade barely penetrates the outer 1⁄8 inch of the surface of meat, poultry, or game. What a marinade can do is add flavor to the surface.

We could write a book about marinades. Suffice it to say that most marinades involve an acidic ingredient (vinegar, lemon, or some kinds of wine), oil, herbs, and perhaps a base flavor ingredient (beef or chicken stock, for example). You want to end up with a marinade that is well balanced and flavorful.

Consider this example: You have a chuck shoulder steak. Ask yourself whether you want to add a hot, medium, or sweet flavor. Your answer depends largely on the main ingredient. You may not want a sweet flavor on fish, for example. With pork, though, you may.

Say for now that you want a hot marinade for the steak; you want to give the steak some zip. Start with red chile flakes (carefully!). Then what? You need a liquid that goes with beef as well as chiles. You can use beef stock (homemade or canned beef broth) or red wine. Suppose that you choose red wine. So you have the foundation of your hot marinade, which you can now jazz up. What goes well with hot things? Minced garlic and black peppercorns maybe. Chopped cilantro adds flavor, too. (As you begin to cook, you’ll discover more about ingredients in the supermarket and how to blend them.) Depending on your taste, you may want to add a little dried cumin or coriander seed. Then, at the end, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of good olive oil, salt, and black pepper.

So there you have your basic hot marinade for steak, which you can vary as you go along to make it hotter, milder, or whatever. Now you try!

Put your meat into a Ziploc bag or shallow pan and cover it with the marinade. Turn it once to coat the meat, and let it soak up the flavor for at least one hour — or even overnight in the refrigerator. Remove it from the marinade, pat it dry, and grill as you like.

Be sure to marinate meats, fish, poultry, and vegetables in the refrigerator. Bacteria forms on the surface of room-temperature food very quickly. And don’t reuse marinade from pieces of raw chicken or fish.

Perfecting Your Grilling Technique

Before you fire up the grill, keep in mind the following tips:

✓ Clean the grill grate well with a wire brush between uses. A dirty grate can affect the taste of your food — and it looks gross.

✓ Before igniting the fire, brush some vegetable oil over the grates to prevent sticking.

✓ Get yourself organized. Set up a small table next to the grill with all your ingredients, utensils, serving platters, and so on. What utensils do you need? It depends on what you’re making. Common examples include a long-handled metal spatula, fork, and tongs.

✓ Trim meat of excess fat to avoid grease flare-ups that blacken the meat and give it a burned flavor.

After you place your meat, chicken, or veggies on the grill, take these tips to heart:

✓ Cooking times for outdoor grill recipes are approximate, so don’t throw the meat on and jump in the pool for 15 minutes. Many variables affect cooking time: wind, intensity of coals, thickness of meat, and your fondness for dancing every time a Supremes song comes on.

✓ Use the grill lid. Many barbecue grills come with lids, which, when secured, create an oven that can exceed 450 degrees. Certain foods that take a relatively long time to cook — chicken legs, thicker slices of steak, and so on — grill faster and better with the lid on. Essentially, you’re grilling and roasting at the same time. A lid traps much of the heat, directing it into the food rather than allowing it to blow away. The lid also can create a smoky effect that infuses the food with delicious aromas and flavors (especially if you grill over woods like apple, hickory, and mesquite). But be sure to lift the lid frequently to check on the food.

✓ Do not apply sweet barbecue sauces to meat until the last 10 minutes of cooking or the sugar in them may burn.

Be sure to shut off the valve of your gas grill when finished. On a charcoal grill, close the lid to extinguish the hot coals.

Making Each Dish Delicious

In this section, we offer a few words of advice for how to create some outdoor masterpieces.

Burgers

If you want the perfect hamburger — juicy and meaty, moist and not fatty — you have to start with the right meat. The best all-around meat for hamburgers is ground chuck, which has about 15 to 20 percent fat, just enough to keep it moist. (Supermarkets usually list the percentage of fat on the label.) Also look for coarsely ground meat, which yields a looser patty. Many people think that if they buy the “best” meat, like ground sirloin or ground round, they’ll have a superior burger. The flavor may be good, but those cuts are so lean that they tend to be dry.

Hamburgers for the grill should be plump and well seasoned. The ingredients and flavors you can add are limitless. Consider minced onions, minced garlic, minced basil, and chopped thyme or rosemary; soy sauce, seasoned breadcrumbs, and a beaten egg; Worcestershire sauce; minced bell peppers; or Tabasco sauce if you like it hot. And you don’t even have to stick to beef: Lamb and turkey burgers, or blends of all three, are super, too.

You may enjoy getting your hands (washed, please!) into a mound of rosy ground meat and playing sculptor. But if you get too aggressive when forming your hamburger patties and mold them too firmly, they’ll tighten up on the grill. And nobody wants a tight hamburger! To get the most tender burger, keep it loose and don’t overwork the meat.

How long should you cook a burger? What constitutes “done” is a question of taste, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests an internal temperature of 160 degrees for safety; the inside of the burger should not show any pink. When you’re grilling, make a small incision in each patty to determine doneness — they should be just cooked through and still juicy in the center.

Chicken

Barbecued chicken has a smoky, sweet, tangy flavor that can come from a broiler but that we think tastes even better off the grill. Just be sure the chicken is cooked all the way. Prick the chicken with a fork. If the juices run clear, the chicken is done, but to be really accurate, use a meat thermometer. The internal temperature of chicken parts on the bone should be 180 degrees. (Be sure the thermometer isn’t touching a bone, which can give a false high reading.)

Remember, grill times in recipes are approximate, depending on the heat of your grill and the size of the chicken pieces. To shorten cooking time, you can microwave chicken pieces for about 3 minutes per pound before grilling.

Vegetables

Charcoal imparts a pleasing texture and a smoky essence to vegetables. Moreover, preparation is easy and quick. Here are some examples:

✓ Corn: Pull back the husks to remove the silk, but leave the husks attached to the base of the ear. Wrap the husks back around the corn and tie at the top with string or a strip of husk. Grill 20 minutes or until tender, turning frequently. Serve with melted butter flavored with herbs and fresh lemon juice.

✓ Eggplant and zucchini: Cut them lengthwise into 1-inch-thick slices. Brush with oil, season to taste, and grill, turning occasionally, for 5 to 8 minutes or until golden brown and tender. For additional flavor, marinate in a 3-to-1 oil/vinegar mixture with salt and pepper and maybe Dijon-style mustard for about 15 minutes before grilling.

✓ Potatoes, carrots, onion, and turnips: Peel and slice into uniform pieces and precook in boiling water until almost tender. Rinse in cold water to stop the cooking and drain well. Wrap in aluminum foil with seasonings such as olive oil, lemon juice, fresh herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Grill for 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. (You can also thread them onto skewers before grilling.)

✓ Tomatoes: Slice firm, ripe tomatoes into 1-inch-thick pieces. Brush with olive oil; sprinkle with dried basil or parsley and salt and pepper. Grill until heated through, about 5 minutes total, turning once.

Porous vegetables, such as mushrooms and sliced eggplant, need not be marinated before grilling. You simply brush them with a flavorful liquid. 

If you’re going to grill mushrooms, you need to know how to clean, trim, and slice them. First, wipe them clean with a damp paper towel to gently brush off any dirt. Don’t rinse them, as they become water-logged and quickly lose their flavor and meaty texture.

Steak

Steak on the grill may be one of summer’s nicest luxuries, as long as you cook the steak the right way! A dry, tough steak is disappointing, so don’t overcook. Medium or medium-rare yields a more tender steak than well-done. You can also add flavor with a good marinade.

Pork

Grilling a pork tenderloin couldn’t be easier, and the results are simply delicious. Grits, which are the perfect accompaniment to the grilled pork. No, the grits aren’t grilled, but we think you’ll forgive us for straying from the topic when you taste them!

Seafood

Shrimp require minimal cooking time. It takes only a few minutes before they turn pink and succulent. Be sure not to overcook them, or they could become rubbery.

To prepare shrimp for grilling, you may want to remove the bitter black vein that runs along the outside. Some cooks do, some don’t. In grilling, the vein likely burns off. You can leave the tails on, or pull them off. You want to double-thread the shrimp onto skewers so that the skewer pierces both ends of the shrimp (which prevents them from sliding off). If you use wooden skewers, soak them for 30 minutes in cold water and cover the tips with foil to prevent burning. (Note: Don’t pack the shrimp too tightly on the skewers; allow a little space between each piece so the heat can circulate and to ensure even cooking.)

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Axioms of outdoor grilling

When it comes to grilling, you can count on the following:

✓ The fire is always at its peak 15 minutes after you finish cooking the food.

✓ If you overhear the cook say, “No problem, I’ll just dust it off,” it’s time to visit the salad bowl.

✓ The chances of getting good food at a home barbecue are in inverse proportion to the silliness of the chef’s apron. If the apron is plain and solid in color, you have reason for hope; if it says, “Who Needs Mom?” or “Kiss the Cook,” hit the onion dip fast.

✓ Barbecues benefit from the “Hot dogs taste better at the ballpark” syndrome. That is, the very nature of having a barbecue somehow makes all the food taste better

Barbecuing doesn’t equal grilling

The terms barbecuing and grilling are often incorrectly interchanged. Grilling, like broiling, is a quick technique that cooks relatively small, tender pieces of food (such as chicken breasts, pork kebabs, or skewered shrimp) directly over a heat source. Barbecuing is more like oven roasting. With barbecuing, larger cuts of meat (such as spare ribs, pork butts, or whole turkeys) are slowly roasted over an indirect fire, in a covered grill, sometimes for hours, until the food is very tender and succulent. To make an indirect fire, the coals are moved to one side of the grill in the fire box. (On a gas grill, only one side of the grill is heated.) The food is cooked opposite the fire and covered, to trap the heat and smoke.

Written by Bryan Miller, Marie Rama and Eve Adamson in "Cooking Basics for Dummies", Wiley Publishing, USA, 2011, excerpts pp.139-147. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.