Ahhh!
Al fresco dining. What could be better than a warm summer's day, having the friends
round, and queuing up
to get a mouth watering meal from the delights grilling
on
the barbie?
In fact barbies have
now become fun, trendy and sophisticated, with people experimenting with
new flavours such as Caribbean, South African or Australian.
But
wait, don't be a 'BBQ Barry', charcoaling the chicken legs into something resembling
fossil fuel and then sticking it in a limp bap and smothering with ketchup is
just not BBQ! Good barbecuing should be a sophisticated cooking event. The 'BBQ
Barry' philosophy of 'if it ain't burnt, it ain't barbie' is definitely not the
route to Better BBQ!
Top BBQ GrillMaster
Brian George offers some simple BBQ tips and advice that should help.
Plan
your barbecue well in advance. BBQ's can be spontaneous but a little planning
works wonders.
Prepare food well in advance
and store in the fridge, most meats and poultry benefit from an overnight soak
in a suitable marinade.
Do not believe
in quick solutions - 5-minute marinades really do not work as meat, fish or poultry
needs time to absorb flavour! A simple tip that will speed up the marinating time
by around half, is to place meat, fish, poultry in a plastic bag with a suitable
marinade, seal and massage-in marinade for a few minutes then place in coldest
part of fridge for around 30 minutes.
Vegetables,
even fruit can also be marinated and go great on the grill!
When
using wooden skewers always soak well in water before use.
Fish
generally is better barbecued whole, although 'meaty' fish such as Tuna, Swordfish
or Shark can be barbecued as steaks. Use a variety of marinades and sauces to
achieve a balanced menu and cater for a mixed flavour profile of mild, medium,
spicy and hot!
Ensure grill bars are well
oiled and continue to lightly oil with a heavy duty grill brush or cloth to prevent
sticking.
Remember to also regularly remove
any burnt food residue from grill bars.
Do
not burn the sausages, or indeed anything! - Burnt food on the barbecue is a real
'no no'. However do ensure that all food, particularly poultry, sausages and burgers
are cooked through!
Apart from an initial
sear, don't cook on too high a heat, grill slowly, turn two or three times at
most. Baste often.
