Gas or Coals - Which is the Better Barbecue

By Patrick Tang

When you invite your friends over for a Sunday afternoon barbecue, you want to get it just right, so how do you make sure that your barbecue will be the rave around town? This leads us to the eternal question - gas or coals - which is better for that backyard barbecue?

It is difficult to get a straight answer by asking your friends. Those who have gas will swear that their method is the new and improved version, with less mess, less fuss and more exact cooking. Those who have charcoal (or alternate solid fuel such as heat beats) barbecues will scoff in the face of those who don’t and question what the point of a barbecue is without the taste of the smoke on the food (and the fun of the fire). So what do you choose if you are buying your first Barbecue?

If you prefer the idea of the outdoors experience, the thrill of the fire or the macho sport of making a fire and then cooking over it, solid fuel based may be the way for you. It does require more attention - if you don’t catch it when its right, your perfectly grilled pork chop, could end up looking like a burnt chop.

If, however, you prefer the idea of simple and less stressful cooking with more predictable results, go for gas. The grill is ready when you are - you just turn the nob. You don’t have to light the fire and there are no ashes to chuck out afterwards.

Interestingly, there is not much else to choose between in terms of the gas versus charcoal issue. Tests done on the cooked results of both barbecue types, have revealed that there is no significant difference in the flavours of food cooked on gas or solid fuel based barbecues. This is mostly true for hamburgers or chicken. Items such as a roast, however, which require longer cooking time, thus allowing more time for the smoke to penetrate the food, have been said to taste better on the on solid fuel based grill.

The majority of barbecue owners own a gas grill and love it. They have more features than you would ever use. This can be a negative selling point as well. Solid fuel based grills are cheaper, although they are being developed with more and more features. Charcoal grill owners find a certain satisfaction out of conquering the barbecue and being the big macho man of the party. And let’s face it, what barbecue cook-off contestant would ever be caught dead using a gas grill!

If you are environmentally aware, gas barbecues may be the better option for you. They use natural products - propane or natural gas and are only mildly noxious. Solid fuel based grills on the other hand, produce noxious fumes and lots of smoke.

Recipe of the Day - Barbecue Ribs

In this recipe, the type of rib is based on what is referred as the American Barbecue Rib, which is mainly available in our supermarket. If you required ribs with more meat, you might need to see your local butcher for a special cut.

The serving quantity will depend on what else you will be serving and what you expect yourself and your guests to consume.

This recipe also required that your barbecue store has a cover such as a weber.

Ingredients

1. 1 kg of American Barbecue Rib
2. 1 cup of Gourmet Barbecue Sauce
3. Salt & Pepper to taste
4. 1 packet of Hickory wood chip

Method
1. Mix the rib and gourmet barbecue sauce in tray; add salt & pepper to taste. Cover the tray and refrigerate it overnight.

2. Soak half of the wood chip in water for at least an hour prior to cooking. Mix the soaked and dried wood chip and bag them using aluminium foil. May sure it is not too thin. Use a thin sharp knife to poke holes into one side of the bag. Prepare this only when the store as described in Step 3 below is ready.

3. Once your barbecue store is read, preferably after the flame has reached pass its peak to allow a slow cooking process, place the bag of the wood chip right onto of the heat beats or charcoal (if solid fuel barbecue stove is used) otherwise place it on the side but on top of a gas burner, make sure not to smother the flame.

4. Rub the marinating sauce all over the ribs again and brush them with some cooking oil. Place it on the barbecue stove and close the cover. Adjust the air hole/gas mark to low to allow an hour of slow cooking.

5. After 30 minutes, turn the rib over but do not leave the lid uncover for too long.

6. Once it is cooked, cut them into bite size pieces and serve it as appetizer or as main meal with some more barbecue sauce.

If you couldn’t find any gourmet barbecue sauce, here is a good recipe. Mix the following together:

1. 1/2 cup of worcestershire sauce
2. 1/2 cup of honey
3. Blend a slice of ginger, 3 small onions and 2 garlic cloves
4. Add 6 macadamia nuts into the blending
5. 1 tspn of horseradish

Patrick Tang is the author of this article. His passion for good quality gourmet food and gifts has driven him to setup Fabulously Gourmet (http://www.fabulouslygourmet.com.au) for the Australian Community.

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The Best Way to Barbecue Fish - By Patrick Tang

By Patrick Tang

When coming to barbecue fish, there is a general fear that all the fish will end at the bottom of your barbecue stove as opposed to the well presented pictures in any recipe book; more importantly, remaining as on whole piece at the end of the process. So how does one get that delicious barbequed fish, just right? How do you prevent your fish from sticking to the grill and falling apart?

The primary reason why food sticks to the barbecue grill and falls apart is that the grill is not hot enough when the food is placed on it. You need to get the grill hot enough to not only produce the aromatic sizzling sound but also will continue to do so during the whole cooking process.

Secondly, you need to ensure that your grill is clean. Often food particles get stuck on the surface of the grill and these are areas that your fish may stick to. Keeping a clean grill will reduce the chances of your fish sticking.

Fish normally do not take a look time to cook and it is very important to be very aware of this a barbecue setting. People tend to over cooked it causing it to dry out rather than the deliciously juicy flesh. To ensure that you don’t over cook your fish, make sure it is not frozen and it is at a cool temperature but not cold. Try not to use frozen fish at all if you can help it as fish loose its subtle texture and taste when frozen. These qualities also deteriorate rapidly if fish are kept in room temperature for an extended period presenting health risk.

Flipping your fish is like cooking a good piece of steak, you flip it only once. The tendency is not only to flip it more than once but trying to lift it up to see whether it is cook or not; these actions are sure recipe for disaster. The best way from avoiding this rather uncontrollable tendency is to use a timer. Invest in one, put the fish on, set it to the right duration, go away, come back and flip it when the alarms go off. The other trick is to always place the skin side face down first (if the skin is retained and this the recommended way of cooking fish in a barbecue as it helps to hold the flesh together). Furthermore, it adds the crispy texture to the whole dish.

So far, cooking time has been mentioned a number of times but how long is that, unfortunately this one of those ‘how long is a piece of string’ question - it all depends on the thickness, temperature of your stove and your cooking technique. However, fish in general take much shorter time to cook than meat, a lot shorter. If it is a whole fish you are cooking, slice diagonally across the middle section of the fish (the thickness part of the fish), make a few slices of about 2cm apart. This will allow the heat to get through evenly.

Another way to prevent sticking is to wrap the fish in foil. This way, you can also add flavorings, such as lemon juice and butter. Often you will find that this is the easiest way to keep your fish moist. It is much more difficult to prevent drying out when the fish is placed directly on the grill. However, keep in mind that this will prevent some of the taste of the barbecue from penetrating the fish.

A good invention has been that of the fish basket. You can place your whole fish inside one of these and place them on the barbecue grill. The advantages of these are that you can flip the entire basket, instead of attempting to flip the fish without it breaking. It will also prevent pieces of fish from falling through the bars of the grill.

Recipe of the Day - Barbecue Snapper with Chutney and Parsley

Serve
1. 2 People

Ingredients
1. 1 x 3/4 kg of Snapper whole
2. 1 Cup of freshly chopped Parsley
3. 2 Tspn Apricot & Date Chutney
4. Juice from half a lemon
5. 4 Tspn of Macadamia Oil
6. Salt & Pepper to taste
7. Aluminum foil for wrapping

Method
1. Ask the fishmonger to scale and clean the fish for you but keep it whole instead of fillet it. Make sure it is wiped dry using paper towels.

2. Make diagonal slice cut across the mid-section of the fish but do not cut through the bones and seasoned the whole fish with salt and pepper.

3. In another bowl, mix the chopped parsley, macadamia oil, apricot & date chutney and lemon juice together, add a bit more salt and pepper.

4. Spoon some of this mixture into the stomach of the fish and rub the rest throughout the fish. Wrap the fish using the foil and let it stand in a cool place for 30 minutes.

5. When your barbecue stove is ready, place the wrapped fish on the center of the stove. Let it cooked on one side for 5 minutes and turn it over (once only) for another 5 minutes. Note that depending on the thickness, you might need to vary this cooking time a bit.

6. Once it is cooked, unwrapped the foil but be careful of the steam in the wrapping, transfer it to the serving dish and serve hot. Make sure you transfer all the juice in the wrapping to the serving dish as well.

Patrick Tang is the author of this article. His passion for good quality gourmet food and gifts has driven him to setup Fabulously Gourmet (http://www.fabulouslygourmet.com.au) for the Australian Community.

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7 Simple Steps To A Perfect Pork Barbeque - By Jonathan T. Teng

By Jonathan T. Teng

Grilling is a very important step in preparing a Barbeque. You can grill over hot live fire made from real wood or charcoal. Gas flames or briquettes can also be used but they are only substitutes and are less ideal for this case.

There are 2 types of heating; direct and indirect. I recommend indirect heating in cases where you do not need intense heating.

Just to be sure that you get the flavor right, you can add wood chips to the gas grill. It is extremely easy to control the temperature of a gas grill. To be sure that the gas grill lasts during the preparation, fill your propane canister adequately.

Are you still wondering what is the best way to cook pork? I usually put the pork in a gas grill, take a nap or go out and do some shopping and come back within three hours. Just be assured that the pork would be cooked, just the way you wanted it.

I have learn this recipe from the book “Thrill of the Grill”. The co-author, Chef Chris Schlesinger showed an interesting spice rub which has proven very handy to me.

With the recipe producing a lightly smoky piece of meat which retains its flavors, the dry and the mix ingredients of the rub make this dish taste awesome. I also add some sugar, cumin, paprika and chili powder which I admit is not entirely conventional.

Once cooking is done, you can start serving the pork. Please note some instructions while you serve the pork.

Squeeze few drops of lime and Tabasco or add some chutney to the pork shoulder and serve it straight of the grill.

If you do not like it this way, you can also shred the pork in a vinegar-based red sauce.

Needless to say, this Carolina Style Barbeque will just be delicious.

If you wish to make pork steaks that are ridiculously good, refrigerate after cooking. Then slice the pork and put it back on the grill.

– Smoked Pork Barbecue –

~ 1 pork shoulder, about 5 or 6 pounds

~ 1 tablespoon sugar

~ 2 teaspoons black pepper

~ 2 teaspoons cumin

~ 2 teaspoons mild chili powder, like ancho or New Mexico

~ 2 teaspoons paprika

~ 2 teaspoons salt

1. Start gas grill, using burners only on one side to achieve a heat of 250 to 300 degrees.

2.Put a couple of handfuls of wood chips in a tinfoil pan, and set it over working burners.

3.While grill heats, mix together dry ingredients, and rub them all over pork, including under skin as best you can and in any crevices.

4. Put pork on cool side of grill and cover. Check about 15 minutes later to make sure chips are smoking and heat is below 300F.

5. Check every hour or so in case heat escalates too much or chips need replenishing.

6. Pork is done when it reaches an internal temperature of about 190 degrees, about 4 hours later.

7. Meat will be very tender. If you like, raise heat and grill meat to crisp it up a bit.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate overnight, slice and grill (or pan-grill) individual slices.

Jonathan writes for a famous online cooking newsletter “Quick Easy Recipes Secrets”. If you need delicious recipes and up to date cooking tips just visit: http://www.easy-recipes-secrets.com

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Cooking Methods - Braising

Braising is a cooking method that utilizes heat and moisture to break down the tough connective tissues of meats. If you have a rather tough piece of meat that you would like to cook to tender perfection, then braising is an ideal cooking technique.

First the meat or poultry is usually browned to achieve a nice texture. Vegetables are sometimes added along with the meat to add another level of flavor. The liquid used is usually acidic in nature which helps to tenderize the meat. The mixture is cooked over a fairly low flame for some time until the desired level of tenderness is achieved.

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