Post Memorial Day, Hard Hitting Grilling Analysis

I found the following blog post on Yahoo last week.  My expert analysis appears in red italics.  Enjoy

In honor of Memorial Day, we at Serious Eats got eight hot grilling tips from Adam Perry Lang, a remarkable chef and grill master. Adam opened Daisy May’s BBQ in 2003, which has shocked those who thought outstanding barbecue couldn’t exist in Manhattan. He told us the wrong ways people try to grill and how to make them right.

8 Wrong Ways to Grill From Adam Perry Lang

Using a Flimsy Grill Brush: Invest in the sturdiest one you can; one with heavy tines (the coarse brush hairs) that won’t fall out. In this case, price doesn’t always indicate quality. Just get a sturdy-looking one, not necessarily a fancy one.  I am not sure about this one. When I do baste (which is not often) I prefer either a spritzer or a silicone basting brush, which is much easier to clean and disinfect.  Next time you are barbecuing, try putting some apple juice in a clean spritzer and mist your meat several times.  Beats scraping off your bark. (the crusty, spicy outer coating on your meat)

Using Dull Spices: Don’t ruin a great cut of meat with dull spices. Buy small amounts and buy them fresh (and often). Try anything from Ancho or Hatch chile powder to coarsely ground fresh black pepper, apple juice, or bourbon.  Can’t really argue about this tip, but boy is this hard for the average grilling Joe (or Jill). Keeping fresh spices is difficult and requires much diligence.  Those one and two teaspoons of exotic spices are killer.  When buying quality spices  I still am a big believer in Penzeys, although many cities now have their own spice stores. Buy local when at all possible.

Cooking Meat on the Wrong Heat: Tougher, collagen-rich cuts should be on a relatively lower indirect heat. Collagen is the tough stuff that converts to gelatin when it’s cooked right and gives barbecue that stick-to-your-ribs luscious texture. Meat with a lot of intramuscular fat (the marbling), on the other hand, should cook on direct heat. Lean cuts of chicken are actually best on moderate heat.  He is preaching to the choir here.  A staple of my BBQ classes is the discussion on grilling and BBQ temperatures.  However (and departing from conventional BBQ wisdom) I am finding  I can BBQ at higher temps (275-300 degrees) with great success if I use a little foil.  Speeds things up with little or no loss of quality.

Not Soaking Wood Chips: Often, the wood you’re using will be too dry, which won’t release that beautiful smolder. The water slows down the burn because the water has to cook off before the wood around it ignites. While this is happening, you get just the right amount of smoke.  OK…this is BBQ 101.  Kind of like looking both ways before crossing a road.

Removing Corn From Its Husk: When grilling corn, leave the ear in its husk. This ensures that the corn will stay sweet and juicy throughout the cooking process. A bit random.   Try this technique just to be a contrarian;  remove corn from husk.  Baste corn with Italian dressing, wrap in lightly dampened paper towel.  Wrap in tin foil.  Place on grill (direct- medium/low) for about 25-30 minutes)  Learned this from Mad Dog and Merrill many years ago.

Improperly Extinguishing Flare-Ups: Some chefs are very averse to them but, hey, they’re inevitable, so just embrace them. Whatever you do, don’t try to extinguish them with water. You wouldn’t put out a grease fire with water, right? When you see an unwanted flare-up, don’t panic. Just move your meat to another hot part of the grill. If you’re still getting flare-ups and are afraid that your meat might burn, retreat to the lower-temperature zone. If your grill doesn’t have a lower temp, try stacking any meat that needs a break from the heat on top of one that doesn’t. Pretty good advice.  Although a spritzer of water has extinguished many a small flare up.  Grease fires are nasty though.  One time, after recently coming home from a BBQ Competition with my Hasty Bake, I fired up the unit for a cook only to discover that some of the grease of pork butt had splattered on the side of the grill during it’s bumpy journey home (I forget to empty out the drip tray).  Within minutes, I had black smoke and flames bellowing out of my old Hasty Bake.  The scars remain, even though I have repainted several times. This can happen with any grill, so be careful after long cooks with fatty meats.  Take care of the grease pan.

Forgetting the Post-Grill Marination: Instead of taking meat from the cooker and putting it on a dry cutting board, I paint a layer of glaze or barbecue sauce on the board. I drizzle on oil and add salt, pepper, herbs, and things like green apple, garlic, jalapeno, lemon zest grated on the Microplane.  What the heck is a microplane?  Oh well, marinate if you like.  Whatever.   I do like a little olive oil on steaks.  For my BBQ meats (ribs, brisket, pork butts) I use a heavy yellow mustard slather. I never use BBQ Sauce though.  That sugar burns brother!  I finish with BBQ sauce…never start with BBQ sauce.

Running Out of Fuel: Be prepared with more than you think is enough! The last thing you want is to be caught with half a tank of propane or too little charcoal.  I find that propane is easier to run out than charcoal.  I see my bags of charcoal.  For propane I rely on the weight gauges or other type of gauges.  Good advice- there is nothing worse than unfinished business at the grill.

Memphis in May 2009

My wife’s birthday surprise was a trip to Memphis for the famous Memphis in May Barbecue Competition.  I love my wife!!

Never been there, always wanted to go, didn’t see it coming.

Now that I have been there and done it, here are my observations:

1. It is truly an extravaganza. As far as the eye could see, lining Lee Park on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, were tents, people and smoke.  The team’s booths were unbelievable.  Nothing like the KCBS tournaments I cook in.  I could of imagine  $5,000 – $20,000 (easily!!) to develop these “booths”.  Over the top crazy. The event appeared to be very well organized and promoted.  The city was great and very welcoming to barbecue enthusiasts.  No small feat!  Memphis hospitality was awesome and it is certainly one of the historically funkiest cities I have ever been in. (Sun Studio, Stax Studio, Beale St., South Main, Gibson Guitar, BB King Blues Bar, etc, etc.)

2.  Although billed as a “World Championship”, the vast majority of teams were based in Tennessee.  Don’t know the percentage, but I would guess 65% (+/-), with another 20-30% being from Arkansas or other surrounding states.  Very few Carolina, Texas, Florida, California or midwestern teams.   Oh well, good marketing and good for them.  But “world championship?” (there was a Danish team with at least 20 Weber’s bullets and kettles lined up with European precision)

3. The concession barbecue (unless you were a member or friend of a team) was the only place to try any of the “Q”.  I am being generous to say it was mediocre.   Dry bun and flavorless pork.  As a spectator, I was expecting to be able to try GREAT “Q”.  Not to be.  There was a “Taste of Competition” tent set up, where for $4.00 you could sample team’s “que”, but on Friday, they ran out early and for some reason, they decided not to do it on Saturday.

4.  I am very glad I went. The event was cool. I can say I did it.  However I don’t think I would return, unless I was cooking.  Perhaps it is because I cook in a few KCBS events every year, that I don’t really get too excited about the different smokers being used anymore.  But there wasn’t a whole lot of unique things for “spectators”.   It would of been nice to have bands playing throughout the day (bands played at night but you could not bring in a chair…)  maybe a beer tent or area with picnic tables to chill out after walking and walking and walking.

What’s next?

I’ve attended the Royal but my next event on my life list is The Jack (but the only way I would go is if I get the invite!!!!)

New Barbecue Sauce Concoction

Thanks to my friend Brent at Beanilla Trading Company, I am experimenting with a vanilla-based barbecue sauce, *possibly for use in the 2009 State of Michigan Competition (for use on my pulled pork)

Here is the basic recipe- adapted from a Steve Raichlen book, Raichlen on Ribs: (recipe discovered via RecipeZar)

Ingredients

• 1 cup tomatoe sauce
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
• 2 tablespoons mustard (prepared- Dijon or spicy brown)
• 1-2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 Madagascar Vanilla Beans
  
• Kosher salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Combine tomato sauce, molasses, vinegar, Worsestershire sauce, sugar, mustard, cayenne, vanilla beans (split the beans and scrape out the inside “guts”) and 1/4 teaspoons each of salt and pepper in a non-reactive saucepan and slowly bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium and let sauce simmer gently until dark, thick, richly flavored and slightly reduced, 6-10 minutes.  Taste, add more seasonings (salt, pepper, cayenne for test)
3. Let sauce cool to room temperature before serving. Keep in a well sealed container in refrigerator for up to several weeks. Makes enough for 4 lbs. ribs.

As a brethern of the barbecue, Brent and Beanilla Trading Company are certainly worthy of being certified 100% Grilladelic.

* possibly, but my experience is that simplicity and classic barbecue ingredients are what judges prefer in competition.   Many a gourmet has went down in flames in these competitions.  Tenderness, taste and appearance gets the call outs.