Barbecue seasoning
Frankly, I always dreaded barbeque season as a child — ‘Poulet-noir’ with the inviting sticky red centre. Wry spousal attacks on our father’s prowess with the primal flame. Scorched infant flesh waved angrily back to the house as a listing pyre of culinary arson fanned dangerously close to the heavily Creosoted fencing.
Since then, I’ve married an American and bask in the glow of his gene-level understanding of cooking temperatures, lifting and not piercing meat. Parkas on, backs to the wind, we cook outside year round.
Gas or Charcoal? It’s an age old dilemma, but most buyers have opinionated loyalties for the traditional artistry of cooking over white hot coals or vouch determinedly for the versatile, instant convenience of gas. There are hot deals in good quality units all over the market this year, so let’s take a look at the basics to guide your choice.
Into the Woods: Cooking using charcoal you can grill, bake and even roast to perfection with the additional joy of that seductive, timber deep fragrance of hot fat on wood, that’s hard to replicate synthetically. Some technique is needed and regular disposal of the ash is an inescapable chore. Lighting challenges are now easily overcome with rather pricey but modern instant-light fuels, but unless you enjoy bloody centred charred meats, it’s vital to consistently wait out the 40-45 minutes required for lump-wood coals to glow at a white heat.
Kettles, and barrel/shapes remain popular forms for traditional BBQs and engender the comfort of gathering at a fireplace with the addition of a soul jerking real flame aroma. Despite having less controllable, consistent heat than gas, once understood a quality charcoal kettle from just €50 can cook your food to a mouth watering texture. Adding a lid, allows you to contain heat and moisture to cook food in an oven style environment, and hinged lids can act as a breeze break for the grill. A thermometer allows you to more closely monitor the oven’s performance. Venting from above and below (present in quality units), adds a flow of air to keep the fire hot, while releasing surplus heat.
Regulating your temperature with a charcoal BBQ depends on moving the food closer or further from the coals, so examine how easy the shelf system glides from rack to rack. Look out for one-motion ash disposal. With griddles, every centimetre of space can be used to prop food.
A 36 X 36cm rack is enough to handle up to 4 meals comfortably with meat and additional roasted vegetables. A larger unit for 6-8 will have a cooking surface of at least 50cm by 40cm, and flanked with shelving will discourage dangerous huddles over a naked flame. Luxury features include solid plates, angled griddles to reduce fat and battery powered rotisseries. Look for heavy duty steel or stainless steel construction with porcelain lids, and clean up with a mere wipe.
Hot Deals 2012: The classic Smokey Joe Grill from Weber, a 37cm porcelain enamel table mounted kettle with a lid. €64.99. Woodies DIY (other charcoal brands from €30). Adstock Half Barrel with adjustable grills and folding side-shelf. €98. Which magazine Best Buy 2011. B&Q.
Gas Gorgeous: Gas BBQs range from cheerful two ring basic burner units to commercial style heavy industrial chic from Weber and Outback good enough to grace a top class beach resort. If you want speed, gas will be up to temperature in as little as 10 minutes and with full adjustability is less likely to scorch meat, cooking it evenly and consistently. For sizing, count your rings, 2 being adequate for a small family and 6 rings able to cater to a ravenous party of 8 or more in cycles of cooking and keeping foods warmed up. Flavours are not fully scarified when using gas, as better units include ‘vaporiser bars’, where the meat juices drip onto hot metal bars and radiate back onto the meat, intensifying the experience of outdoor, carnivorous feasting.
Push button ignition is a standard inclusion, and the BBQ will cook using either propane or butane gas, generally from a 13kg tank that will give in the area of 15 hours of cooking for a 4 ring unit. High-end gas barbecues have infrared burners that focus the gas flame onto a dedicated ceramic tile which cooks using infrared heat. A side burner can warm sauces, fry and generally ride shot-gun if your rings are overworked. Lava rocks or ceramic briquettes will require occasional washing in soapy water and replacement annually if the unit is heavily used. Before you finish cooking, pull over the lid and turn the unit up for a few minutes to melt away grease and debris. When smoking stops, let it cool and wipe down immediately before storage. Never use oven cleaner on porcelain enamel surfaces.
Hot Deals 2012: MasterChef stainless steel professional level three ring gas BBQ. With control panel, thermometer, cast iron griddle, and storage space underneath. €380, reduced from €498. Argos. Platinum Burner BBQ range — Homevalue Hardware.
Scorching features. Without a counter about you, it’s easy to find yourself with three instruments, sauces on the simmer, a pan that needs to come off the heat and no lieutenant in screaming distance. Hooks are handy for dangling forks and meat grabs, but sid e shelves in metal or hardwood for ming a wider top give you somewhere to balance condiments, tools, plates and food waiting a grilling. Side burners or plates can keep food warm, allowing you to attend to the immediate drama of food on the fire. Boarding in the open rack formed by the BBQ legs of a waist level unit, is very handy, w hile an integral cupboard with a shelf or two is ideal for stashing plates, cutlery and non spoil ingredients politely out of view.
* BBQs of any kind are intended for outdoor use only. There have been several fatal incidents in the UK alone where hot BBQs have been taken inside tents to provide warmth. This a lethal practice as even unlit toxic fumes from the warm cooker will soon fill an enclosed or inadequately vented space.
* Ensure the supporting surface is solid, and that there is open adequate passing room around a BBQ for adults and children free of overhanging trees, awnings, irregular paving or other obstacles.
* Be wary of breezy days when the flames and smoke can blow back on you.
* Don’t add anything flammable to lit charcoal, such as lighter fluid, paraffin, kerosene, or petrol.
* If you have a gas barbecue, check that the gas bottle is fully connected and that the hose is not cracked or perished at the start of every season.
* Keep the BBQ clean of grease which can ignite and wait until it’s cool to do so.
* Never move a lit BBQ and finally, never, ever leave children unattended anywhere near a lit or hot BBQ.
Right: The six-piece Platinum Burner BBQ with Flame Tamers — now €499.95 down from €699.95. It includes 6 burners and a side burner along with stainless steel lid. Available from HomeValue Hardware.
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