The BBQ Site

Simple BBQ Marinade

Dave — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:50:53 +0000

Marinating meat before you BBQ it is an excellent way to add extra flavour. To do the job properly the meat needs to sit in the marinade for a good length of time preferably over night to really get the flavour in.

Here is a recipe I found for a simple steak style marinade.

* 1 Small Onion (Minced)
* 5 tbsp Soy Sauce
* 4 tbsp Olive Oil
* 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
* 2 tbsp Vinegar
* 1-2 tsp Liquid Smoke
* 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

How much liquid smoke you use depends on how smoky you want the flavour of the food. 1 tsp for a mild taste and 2 for a more smoky flavour. Mix all the ingredients in a pan boil for 5 mins. Once the marinade is cool, place the meat in a sealed contain or food bag pour over the marinade and place in the fridge. Allow a good few hours to allow the flavours to get in to the meat.

Light the BBQ, cook and enjoy.

BBQ pulled pork.

Dave — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:45:56 +0000

Pulled pork is essentially a piece of pork smoked for a long time. It is the purist form of BBQing, the origins are are from the southern states of america, where a whole hogs was cooked in pits, sometimes for days, the pork is then shredded by hand and served on plain white bread.

First off you need to get the BBQ going, we are really smoking the pork so the temperature doesn’t need to be that hot. Ideally we are looking for a temp of around 105-110C. Once the BBQ is away and running, add your wood chips for smoking. Place your chips in a little tin to prevent them burning up. Place your piece of pork on the grill, put the lid on and wait. You are looking at a cooking time of around 5-6 hours. As the cooking time is so long you will need to keep checking the coals. You are trying to grill running at a steady temperature.

Toward the end of the cooking period you can start basting the pork.

Delicious BBQ ribs

Dave — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:54:11 +0000

The best way to cook up BBQ ribs is to use a smoker or using kettle BBQ setup for indirect heat. The secret to cooking great BBQ ribs is to they need to be cooked at a low temp typically 105C that around 225F. For a long period of time.

Whatever you do do not par boil them first, this destroys the flavour from the ribs, we are not making soup after all.

Firstly you need to apply a dry rub to the ribs the night before cooking, then wrap in clingfilm or glad wrap and refridgerate over night. If you wish to add a sauce this is done later. Most sauces contain sugar and this will burn on the BBQ.

Take the ribs out of the fridge about 1 hour before you plan to cook.

Now you need to get the BBQ going, you could even use charcoal briquettes here as you need a cooler temp around 100C in the BBQ. I then put a aluminium tray with some water in the BBQ next to the coals.Place the ribs bone side down onto the grill and put the lid on the BBQ. Put your smoking chips into your little can and place this on the coals, this should generate some nice smoke. Don’t turn the ribs, as this allows the fat to travel through the meat leaving behind the flavour.

To test for doneness, watch for the meat to pull back from the ends of the bones or insert a toothpick between the bones and if it goes through easily they are done.

Finally, apply any sauces you like 20 minutes or less before eating. You do it now to prevent them turning black and burning.

You should now have delicious smoke BBQ ribs, the entire process should take around 3-4 hours. Perfect ribs every time.

Whisky smoked chicken.

Dave — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:09:00 +0000

Over the weekend, I thought I’d try something a little different. Instead of the usual burgers and sausages on the BBQ. I thought I try a sunday roast. What I came up with was a whisky smoked chicken.

This is simplicity itself, get the BBQ lit and set it up for indirect heat. I actually got some wood chips that are already soaked in whisky, these came from the local supermarket. I soaked these for around 30 mins in water, it makes them last longer on the coals, these are placed inside a small food can on top of the coals.

As I wanted the chicken exposed thoughout the cooking process I placed a small tray of water, next to the coals, throughout the cooking process this gave off steam which stopped the chicken from drying out.

Place the chicken on the grill, put the lid on the BBQ and wait. I use a cooking thermometer to check the temp of both the chicken and the temp of the BBQ. I poked the end of the thermometer through one of the vents to ensure the BBQ is still running at a good temp ( 150 - 190 C).

It then takes about 2 hours to cook the chicken, make sure you turn it a few times to make sure it is cooking evenly. You may need to add a few more coals if it starts to cool, if it does cool, try moving the coals back together and leaving the lid off for a minute or two to allow more air to the coals.

As you get close to the 2 hours mark check the internal temp of the chicken.

Once done you are left with a delicious smoky flavoured chicken that should still be nice and moist. Couple this with some roast veg and you have the ideal sunday lunch.

Classic BBQ sauce

Dave — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:52:36 +0000

Here is a recipe I’ve found for a Classic BBQ sauce.

10 LB firm ripe tomatoes cored, peeled, and chopped
2 lrg onions finely chopped
3 x garlic cloves minced
1 tbl. Crushed red pepper
1 tbl. Celery seed
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbl. Dry mustard
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. mace
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup vinegar, 5% acidity
1/3 cup lemon

Combine tomatoes, onions, garlic, red pepper
and celery seed in a large sauce-pot. Simmer,
covered, until vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes.
Press tomato mixture through a fine sieve or food
mill; discard seeds.

Return tomato mixture to the sauce-pot and add
the remaining ingredients. Cook over low heat
until mixture thickens, about 30 minutes. As
mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.

Carefully ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving
1/4-inch head-space. Wipe jar rim clean. Place
lid on jar with sealing compound next to glass.
Screw band down evenly and firmly just until a
point of resistance is met - fingertip tight.

This makes about three pints of barbecue sauce.

This and many more recipes are available in BBQ Secrets

Smoking on a BBQ

Dave — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:49:49 +0000

Recently I had a go at smoking some sausages on the ole BBQ. Wow!! what a difference is makes, now this was still early in my BBQing career so they were a little burnt, but you could really taste the difference between just grilling them and smoking them. I’ve tried smoking chicken, kebabs and burgers since with good results.

The method I’ve settle and seems to work well for me is this. Set up the charcoal for indirect cooking, I use a kettle BBQ. Soak the wood chips for at least 30 mins in water. I might try beer or another liquid but for now I just use water.

When I first tried smoking I just threw the chips onto the coals, they produced smoke, but it didn’t last longer and the wet chips damped the fire down. So no I get a small tin can, the ones you get tuna in, put the wood in that the place that amongst the coals. The result is lots of smoke and it doesn’t put your coals out.

So next time you are BBQing try a little smoking whilst you are there.

For some great BBQ techniques and recipes Click Here!

Lighting a BBQ the easy way

Dave — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:32:04 +0000

Are you like me and love the whole BBQing process, you can’t beat it on a summers evening. There can however be times when you are tearing your hair out in frustration.

I guess I’m fairly new to the whole BBQing process, the other week the family were round and I was trying to cook up some burgers and kebabs. 2.5 hours later the charcoal was just about ready to cook on. Call me proud but that didn’t look professional. Still we had fun.

So after this little embarassment a better way was needed. So I did some digging on the internet. An found the answer.

A chimney starter, available from most garden centres and hardware stores, basically it is a steel tube with holes around the bottom, a mesh part way up the tube and a handle. Fill the top of the tube with charcoal and light a fire in the bottom courtesy of some rolled up newspaper, or a couple of firestarter cubes.

In about 20 mins the coals should be about ready. The heat rises through the chimney lighting all the coals. The beauty of using a chimney is that all the coals lit giving an even heat in the grill.

Pick a good size chimney as you can always part fill it, getting one that is too small and you have to use it 2-3 times to fill your BBQ.

For some great BBQ techniques and recipes Click Here!