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By: Dave Jones Cooking on a BBQ is a fine art, there is as much skill in it as cooking in the kitchen perhaps more. The best way to become proficient is to practise practise practise. Which is no bad thing because it is good fun. There are a few cooking fundamentals that you should be aware of before you start.
Clean Grill
Firstly it is important that you start with a clean grill, there is nothing worse than cooking up a steak and having it taste like rancid fat from the last time you BBQed. The best way is use a BBQ wire brush straight after you have finished cooking whilst everything is still warm. Also brush the grill with a little oil, this will help prevent things sticking next time you cook.
Get the grill hot.
This is most important, get the grill hot before you begin, if using gas preheat it for 10-15 mins before cooking, if you use charcoal use a starter chimney and really get things going before you begin. Also be prepared, gather all your cooking tools, bastes, marinades and anything else you need before hand. Two useful tools are a water spray to put out any flare ups and a cooking thermometer, to know when things are ready.
Marinades.
They are ideal for adding flavour to the meat, you must however marinade the meat for a good length of time. Ideally overnight in the fridge to really get the flavours in to the meat. BBQ sauce is essentially tomatoes, vinegar, onion, mustard, and brown sugar.So it is easy to make you own, experiment with different combinations to achieve unique sauce. Also be aware that there is a fair amount of sugar in sauce so it can burn easily on the grill, so wait until the last stages of cooking if using a sauce with a lot of sugar in it to avoid it burning.
Every grill is different only practise will tell you how the grill behaves, where the hot spot are. If you are using charcoal then there is an art to getting it evenly lit and burning nicely.
How long to cook for?
This is where the trusty thermometer comes in, this by far the best way to decide when meat is cooked and the safest. Stab the thermometer in the meat read the temperature and you have an idea when things are ready. For example, as a general rule, I like to cook a 1 1/2-inch New York Strip steak for a total of ten minutes. I start by grilling for 2 1/2 minutes, then turning it 90 degrees and cooking for another 2 1/2 minutes, flip the steak over to it�s other side and repeat the process thus giving the steak the classic grill marks.
At the same time I test the steak with my finger to feel for various degrees of firmness. Medium cooked feels like touching your cheek, again practise practise practise. The thermometer will give you a much more accurate gauge. Found out lots of free bbq recipes, there are some useful techniques too. Take a look at the www.thebbqsite.net Article Source: www.BiGGooRoo.com
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