It's Not Just the Sauce: The Secret to a Perfectly Cooked Barbeque

People always love a good barbecue, no matter the season. Barbecues add a unique flavour to almost any food. However, before you start inviting the neighbours, you must consider a lot of things to have the perfect outdoor barbecue. It is not just about the meat or the seasonings you add to create the perfectly barbecued meat or chicken. It is also about the materials you use to cook.

The following are a few simple tips to bring out the best flavour in all of your barbecued foods.

Use High-Quality Meat

Of course! You have to think about the meat you choose. Forget about using mediocre cuts you find on sale. Find fresh, quality meat as it makes a world of difference to the flavour of your barbecue meal.

Choosing the Meat

It is important to understand different cuts and how they will taste. To do this, you need to understand the role fat and collage play in the meat. Muscles that don't move all that much have less collagen and are more tender. These are known as the prime cuts. Cheaper meat usually has more connective tissue and can be tougher.

To make tougher meat softer, you need to cook the meat at a lower heat that heats evenly. This slow cooking gives the fire time to break down the soft gelatine of the collagen and moisten the meat, so it is softer. So cheap cuts are more suited to slow cooking or smoking. Prime cuts can be cooked faster and use a higher fire.

The Fuel You Use

What is it that makes a barbecue so special? Why is the flavour of the food different from the food you cook on the stove? The truth is that barbecue adds the alchemy of wood and smoke and whatever food you are cooking. So the type of wood or charcoal you use will affect the final flavour of the food you grill. If you use the chemical-filled charcoal from the grocery store, the food you place on the grill will acquire the flavour of those chemicals. On the other hand, if you use lump wood charcoal made of quality hardwoods with no chemicals, you get a distinct and delicious flavour from the foods you cook.
Lumpwood charcoal is made of different hardwood pieces, and each hardwood will affect the flavour in a different way, which is why you can choose to add different hardwoods to your charcoal to get different flavours. The types of hardwood to add are oak, apple, cherry, and many others. You can get these hardwoods here or at a good garden centre, in their section for outdoor barbecues and smoking.

Whatever you do, stay away from charcoal as it smells and tastes like petrol - its main ingredient. Avoid those compressed briquettes as well. They are made of charcoal dust and glue, burning too hot and making the food taste like glue.

Preparing the Grill

To cook on a grill, it should be hot but not too hot - if you cannot stand close to it without feeling overwhelmed by the heat - it is too hot. Light your grill early so the flames can die down almost to embers. The charcoal should look like white ash when it is time to cook your food.

Seasoning

Some people choose to marinate the food before putting it on the grill. Sometimes the food is marinated in the refrigerator for a few hours before being placed on the grill. Other people choose to season the meat and vegetables just before they place them on the grill, and still, others prefer to add seasoning once the meat is grilling or after it has been cooked. Seasoning is a very personal choice, so you'll need to experiment to find the best way you like your food seasoned when barbecuing.

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