Catch a Fire!

    I grill all the time.  Rain, sleet, or snow, it doesn't matter, I will be grilling.  There's something so rewarding to me to cook food over an open flame.  It's man's fascination with fire that brings out a primal nature that is the driving force behind standing in front of a grill in the most adverse of conditions.  Now there are many schools of thought on grilling:  Gas vs. charcoal, hot and fast vs. slow and low. Some call it "barbeque-ing", or simply "cooking out".  Whatever you call it or however you do it, as long as you are doing it, (wink) is important.  Here's my basic stance on the whole shebang.

     1.  I prefer charcoal.  There's just something about it that takes me back to simpler time, but without the overcooked meat.  I insist on using a "chimney", one of those metal cylinders that you put newspaper in the bottom and the coals on top.  This eliminates the need for lighter fluid, which is terrible, dangerous stuff that can make your food taste awful.  Once you light it up, it takes maybe 25 or so minutes until you have workable coals.  It seems that many folks are under the misconception that charcoal takes a really long time,  it doesn't if you do it right.  When the coals are ready, I only spread them out over half of the space because I like to have a cool (or not blazing hot) spot to move food onto in case of flare ups and as a place for indirect heat. (More on that later.)  Now, I've cooked on a gas grill many, many times and I will say that they are great and convenient, but for me it's the process involved in charcoal that keeps me coming back for more.  I can cook a great burger in my kitchen, which is really convenient, so why would I care about convenience when I'm cooking outside?  Again, it's the process.  The only thing that's stopping me from digging a hole in the ground and cooking out of that is my HOA and maybe the Nashville fire codes.  If you prefer to cook on a gas grill, I would suggest that you get a "smoker box".  It's a metal box that you can put wet wood chips in to create smoke, which will really enhance the flavor of what you are grilling.

    2. Nothing needs to cook on high heat.  In fact, very few things benefit from really high heat.  There are two kind of heat: Direct and Indirect. Direct heat is like cooking on the burners of your stove and indirect heat is like cooking in an oven.  Direct heat doesn't have to be blazing.  Steaks, burgers, seafood, chicken, and veggies can handle direct heat, but you still have to pay close attention. That's one of the reasons I like to use a combination of both by building a "hotspot".  When you build a "hotspot" on one side of the grill, you have a place to put a good sear on your meat, then also a place to move it to so it can cook properly.  I like to be able to put the lid on and let things cook without always having to monitor it.  This allows me to grab another beer, hang out and chat, squeeze my honey, etc. without the fear of everything burning to ash.  Nothing like having a piece of meat burnt on the outside and raw on the inside.  These are the things we try to avoid.  Indirect heat is the key to cooking larger pieces of meat such as whole chickens, roasts, pork shoulders, and ribs.  When I cook these, the meat rarely, if ever, touches direct heat.  A good thermometer is great thing to have.  I have one from a gas grill that I drilled into the lid of my Weber.
    *A tip to avoid burning things up, don't use too much fuel.  While the chimney is a pretty good size, it doesn't mean you have to fill the whole thing up with coals.  Since I'm mostly cooking for only 2-4 people, I rarely go over half, but then again, it depends on what I'm cooking.

    3.  Get a good pair of tongs, a grill pan for veggies, and some heatproof gloves, like welders gloves.  I use tongs all the time.  It's like an extension of my hand.  I have more control over what I'm doing.  A good metal spatula comes in handy for flipping burgers, but that's about it.  If you have a grilling tool set, thrown that stupid fork away.  I can't think of a use for it, because the last thing I'm gonna do is pierce the meat and let all the juices run out.  The grill pan is awesome because you don't have to worry about food falling through the grill grate.  I chop veggies into their serving size, toss with a little oil, and season appropriately, and then just thrown them in the pan.   It's also great for cooking shrimp and scallops.  You can cook your whole meal on the grill.  The heatproof gloves come in handy when it's time to take the pan off the fire.  Plus, if your fire is too hot, use the gloves along with your tongs.  

    There are many reasons to grill, the best one is that it's fun, plus there are less pans to clean.  I find it very theraputic after a long day to go outside and fire that bad boy up.  It really calms me down.  I try to maximize the grilling experience by grilling everything I can.  If I have meat or veggies in the fridge that I'm going to use in the next day or so, I'll grill them while I've got the fire going to eliminate a step and to enhance the flavors of the next recipe.  These are my thoughts for now.  Let me know what you think.

Ciao down,

Penn