Inspired grilling techniques

» Summer 2008, Food 101

Barbecue season is upon us. If you are yearning to embrace techniques that will increase your grilling repertoire, here are some you've just got to try.

Planking

Cooking on wood planks adds incredible colour, aroma and flavour to foods from the wood and its smoke! Makes for a great presentation too.

Untreated maple, cedar, oak, apple and hickory all work well. The plank should be between ½" (1 cm) and 1" (2.5 cm) thick, and the width should accommodate the food you want to cook yet still leave some space around the edge.

Sobeys stores carry maple and cedar planks in the seafood departments.

Get Ready for Smoke

Soak plank in water, weighed down with stones for 3 to 4 hours.

Preheat barbecue to high. Place soaked plank on grill, close the lid and wait until you see smoke and hear crackling, 3 to 5 minutes. Quickly and carefully place prepared fish, chicken, vegetables, meats, whole potatoes on plank, close the lid and cook. Resist the urge to do a lot of peaking and stay by the barbecue during cooking.

For safety's sake, keep a spray bottle of water handy to quell any flames if they start to sneak up around the edges of the plank. Have a bucket of water to drop the used plank into once cooking is finished. If serving food on the plank, have a heatproof surface - a bed of stones, tiles or trivets - on your table. Or have ¼-inch (5 mm) of water in a large baking tray ready to set plank into, to extinguish any flames or smoking before serving.

Smoking

Smoking is an easy way to infuse foods with the aroma and flavours of fire and wood.

Smoking Pouch

Soak wood smoking chips in water for 20 minutes and preheat barbecue to high. Layer two pieces of foil or use a smoker box. Drain chips and combine with an equal amount of dry chips. Tightly seal up package. Pierce top and bottom of pouch with a fork to create holes for smoke. This works well for chicken, ribs, roasts and foods that will take 20 minutes or more to cook. If you are cooking a large roast, make a few smoke pouches that can be switched out during cooking. For quick cooking items like steak and fish, make smoke pouches with dry chips only to maximize smoke factor.

On the Grill

Lift up metal grill on one side of barbecue, place smoke pouch on top of the coals or burner and set grill back in place. Close lid, adjust heat and wait for smoke. When you see smoke, put food on the grill and close lid. Don't lift the lid too often as you'll lose smoke.

Time and Temperature

Lower temperatures and longer cooking times are good for less-tender or larger cuts of meat, such as ribs and roasts. Adding a pan of water to the grill helps to keep the temperature down and adds moisture.

Indirect Heat Cooking

Transforming your barbecue into an oven that produces tender ribs, moist roasts and golden birds is quite easy to do.

The Four Elements

Moisture Pan: Half fill a pan with wine, juice, beer, water, herbs and spices to help keep the heat under control and foods moist and flavourful.
Drip Pan: Set a drip pan under food to catch drippings and make clean up easier.
Food: Less tender cuts of meat - brisket, ribs, and pork butt benefit from this slow flavourful cooking method, tenderizing them until they nearly fall off the bone. Whole birds and roasts also benefit and stay moist and tender.
Temperature Control: Invest in an oven thermometer, even if your barbecue has a built-in thermometer (they are not always reliable).

When You're Ready

Preheat barbecue. Turn off one burner of a two-burner barbecue. Place drip pan under the grill on the side of your BBQ without heat and set the moisture pan on the grill over the heat on the other side. Place food on grill over the drip pan. Place oven thermometer beside food, close the lid and cook.

Pouches and Wraps

Foods that are a little too delicate, fidgety or small are ideally suited to foil pouches. Corn on the cob, cut vegetables, potatoes, onions, seafood - even a complete meal can be perfectly prepared in a foil pouch. Layer a large double thickness of foil and lightly oil. Place food in centre, season and add a splash of water, wine, beer, juice, water or vinegar. Seal tightly. Place on grill in preheated barbecue and cook until done.