Grilling, as opposed to smoking, produces distinctively different-tasting meat. The difference is apparent in both surface texture and overall taste. Smoking is the primary method to cook larger pieces of meat. These larger pieces consist of briskets, turkeys, roasting chickens or pork roasts. Grilling, on the other hand, utilizes much smaller pieces of meat placed directly over the heat, turned frequently.
For example: Meat Smoking Grilling Beef Brisket Steaks Pork Roast Chops Turkey Whole Breasts Chicken Whole Pieces Fish Whole Filets
Types of Grills
There are many types and sizes of wood and charcoal
grills on the market today. They range from the typical 'backyard grill' which may be
purchased at the grocery or drugstore up to and including the professional grill which
will last many years and is capable of grilling up to 100 or more pounds of meat. The
larger wood grills usually have an adjustable grilling surface which can be raised or
lowered utilizing a pulley system. The classic wood grill is capable |
of handling
approximately 20 to 80 pounds of meat at one time with all of the meat being raised or
lowered at the same time. There are some grills which provide different height cooking
surfaces. The larger the grill, the easier the heat source is to control. Besides, it
offers you large amounts of excellent grilled meat for ultimate consumption. Just think of
all the new friends you will be making. 'Cook it and they will come!Preparing The Grill
Contrary to the method of preparing the grill and fire in 3 seconds, as chef, you
should carefully clean the grill of past burned-on food. This can be accomplished in many
ways. Some prefer to cook or sear it off. This calls for raising the grill's surface
temperature to a level where the food is basically burned throughout. Then a wire brush is
used to scrape off the residue. Conversely, the wire brush may be used to clean the grill
of the past food without raising the surface temperature of the grill. Either way is
acceptable.
Next, make sure the grill
will support the type of meat being grilled. You would not want to try to cook 6 steaks on
a grill which would accommodate only 4. This will ruin the final presentation of the food.
Some of the meat will be cooling off while the other is just beginning to be cooked.
Always make sure the grilled entree is the last thing cooked. Nothing looks better than to
present your accomplishments to guests when they can see and quickly taste the final,
juicy product. When the heat source becomes 'steady' at the desired temperature, take a
cooking brush and coat the grill with any type of cooking oil. This prevents the meat from
sticking to the grill and being torn apart when turned over to be grilled on the other
surface. There is no reason for the entree to appear less than the masterpiece that it is.
Preferred Types of Wood
As with smoking, the flavor of the meat comes from 2 sources. The first is the marinade, rub or other seasoning. The second results from the type of wood utilized. Grilling woods are generally stronger (as in heaving smoking flavor) than those utilized for smoking. The smoke resulting from the burning wood quickly passes by the meat's surface only momentarily. This, in addition to the fact that grilled meat cooks quickly, (fish as quickly as 3 minutes on each side) you can see, requires a stronger flavored smoking wood in order to pick up the desired flavors of the wood. To learn more about the effects of the different types of wood, please see our Specialty Woods page.
Grilling Techniques
To obtain excellent grilled meat, which is crispy on the outside while remaining
moist and tender on the inside, the chief needs to construct a proper fire capable of
dispersing the correct amount of heat for the proper amount of meat being grilled. Begin
by building your fire with a base of charcoal. The charcoal may be soaked in lighter fluid
to begin the burning process. Allow the charcoal to burn a minimum of 30 to 40 minutes to
allow the petroleum products to burn-off before beginning to cook. If your grill will
allow, you may stack larger pieces of the wood of choice on top of the charcoals and allow
them to be come your base of coals, or your heat source.
If your grill is smaller, you may, along with the charcoal, utilize wood/wood chips. In
either event, the heat source should be 300 degrees F to 400 degrees F. This heat is
higher than that used in smoking because grilling needs to occur over less time than
smoking. The primary purpose in grilling is to quickly 'sear' the outside of the meat thus
insuring a more moist center (assuming the meat is not cooked excessively).
Grilling Temperatures
Careful attention needs to be paid to the meat when grilling. Grilling requires
higher cooking temperatures than smoking, because grilling needs to cook the meat quicker
to prevent it from being dried out. Remember the meat is located directly over the heat
sources and as such, has the direct effect of offering large quantities of dry, hot heat
to the entree. Therefore, the possibility of burning is much greater than when
"smoking".
The temperature of the heat sources should be about 350 to 400 degrees F. If your are
utilizing the hand/palm method, you should be able to hold you hand 1inch above the
grill's surface for approximately 4 to 5 seconds. When you have this steady source of
heat, you may then being grilling.
Key Grilling Notes:
- Serve immediately. The meat will continue to cook (and thus dry out) even after being removed from the grill's heat source.
- Baste and turn the meat frequently using marinade to prevent drying out the meat.
- Maintain a careful watch of the meat. It is easy to move from 'perfect' to
'overdone' to 'dead meat' very quickly over a hot heat source.
