Oak, salt water and grease. How to cook BBQ
Tips for cooking meat on the coals from a Michelin starred restaurant.
When the kebabs are boring, we remember about the BBQ. Americans favorite char-grilled meat. And the BBQ sauce to it, of course.
About how to choose, roasting and marinating meat for the barbecue, “AIF-Kitchen” said brad take farmery, brand chef of the restaurant Saxon+Parole. By the way, a new York restaurant chef — PUBLIC — not for the first year confirms the status of a Michelin star. So the Maestro is worth listening to.
BBQ traditionally is a very long smoke meat, it was done in a special oven. And the process of its preparation was quite long and time-consuming. I must say that there is no one classic recipe American barbecue meat in Texas is very different from that in Carolina. Each state has its own traditions, recipes, sauces, and so on. But now traditional BBQ, no one is preparing. This word is called simply charcoal-grilled meat with tomato sauce. This, in my opinion, a dish that we associate with the word “barbecue.”
Choice of meat
I love beef. If you buy a really good piece of meat, then don’t even bother, just fried. One of the overlooked cuts, in my opinion, is the diaphragm. This meat is cheap, much cheaper than premium steaks, he’s got a great texture, rich flavor.
I also like pork ribs, they are nice fat. And if they hold the coals longer, they become crunchy. If we talk about the flesh, it is best the pulp with the back legs.
Wood
I use solid wood. Best of all — the oak in second place is Apple, you can still take the cherry. When you buy coal, see that they were not industrially processed, because the smell of the chemicals will be transferred to the meat. And that would spoil everything.
Preparation of meat
If you are cooking pork or chicken, before cooking the meat should be soaked in salt water. Water should be taste like the sea. The meat is soaked in this solution for 3-4 hours, and then fried. This procedure will help to maintain the juiciness of the meat. By the way, with beef too, so you can do, but it’s not necessary. In saline you can also put spices, herbs, pepper and so on.
Fat
Meat is better to buy with fat. Fat is a conductor of taste, besides it protects the meat, gives it juice. Therefore, in any case, do not trim fat. If you do not like fat, better cut this strip the fat after cooking.
Spices
In the chicken I usually add a Bay leaf, lemon zest, garlic, thyme and hold for 3-4 hours.
Beef is best podmenivali in olive oil, salt and pepper. You can add herbes de Provence or a bit of fresh thyme. To withstand long it is not necessary, you can start to fry after 10-15 minutes.
Sauces
Best tomato. The fact that the tomato is endowed with as acidity and natural sweetness. And the grill gives the meat a slightly bitter taste. When you eat meat with tomato sauce, you restore the balance of tastes: sour, sweet and bitter.
To determine the readiness
There are many ways. If you are a chef, you need only to touch a piece of meat and you can tell what he’s got cooking. But easier and safer to take the thermometer. On the American thermometers, even the back is written, what is the temperature which corresponds to the degree of doneness.
I have here a thermometer like this (pulls out a thin metal needle), this probe can also be used to determine the readiness of meat.
If you cook the fish, simply insert the probe into it. If you feel resistance, then you’re not ready, if included easy — ready. When cooking chicken this thermometer should be stuck in the thickest place. Take it out and hold to the lips: if it’s hot, so the chicken is fully cooked. And we remember that chicken needs to cook to the end, without any degrees of doneness, it’s a question of your safety.
For beef a “thermometer” works too. Put it in the steak, take out: if cool, so the lamb is rare, if warm — medium rare, if the hot — well done or overcooked.
Tips chef:
- For marinating beef, you can grind all the dry ingredients, add oil and stir. And this paste meat spread.
- If you marinate the meat, after seasoning as it should wipe it clean and to jail got a clean piece. If the marinade on the meat will remain, it will not turn crisp
- Also leave a little bit of this mixture on the roasting process. When you flip the steak, I often smeared it with oil with herbs, it helps the scent to spread throughout the meat.
- I use the vinegar at the very end of cooking meat. You need to take a brush and smear a thin layer of vinegar on meat. It will give a special crust.
- After meat is browned, he needs to rest. The optimal time of rest — a quarter of the time spent on cooking. If the steaks were cooked 20 minutes, 5 minutes to rest. Then the juice is absorbed into the meat, will not flow out when cut.
- When you have just cooked the steak, you need to put a piece of butter. This will give additional flavor to the meat, will bring the aroma of spices. In particular, it works with beef and chicken.
Recipe from the chef. BBQ chicken
For the summer season, I recommend chicken meat, particularly the thigh without a bone. For this there are 2 main reasons:
- chicken meat is the least fatty. What you need for the summer period.
- it is quite simple to prepare.
1 kg meat (chicken thigh).
450 ml yogurt (not drinkable without adding any flavors).
30 ml of milk.
10 ml of lemon juice.
1 tbsp cilantro stems, finely chopped (use the leaves for salad from fresh vegetables, for example).
1 tsp curry.
100 ml of olive oil.
salt to taste.
Step 1. Mix all the liquid ingredients.
Step 2. Mix them with the meat. Stir very carefully to keep the meat from absorbing the liquid from the marinade.
Step 3. Then add the chopped stems of cilantro, curry, olive oil. Mix thoroughly. At the end add salt.
Step 4. You can also add a few of your favorite spices. The main thing that they did not interrupt the delicate flavor of the chicken.