Barbecue cooking
When you decide to buy a barbecue or a wood-fired oven, it's important to master the different cooking techniques. This type of equipment allows you to choose from several cooking methods, so you can vary your meals and, of course, the number of dishes you can prepare. If you're new to this, this guide will certainly be helpful in finding a cooking method that meets your needs and desires!
Contents:
Understanding what indirect cooking is
How to successfully cook on the barbecue?
The different cooking methods
- The papillotes
- Barbecue marinade
- Barbecued roast
- The barbecue
- Smoking
What is the best type of cooking for a barbecue?
How to cook on a barbecue without burning?
How to cook on a barbecue with a lid?
Understanding what indirect cooking is
When discussing barbecue cooking techniques, it's important to know that we're most often talking about what's calledindirect cooking . If you're wondering what indirect cooking is, you'll soon find out more.
Indirect cooking on a barbecue is a method where the food or dish doesn't come into direct contact with the heat source. For example, on a charcoal barbecue, the skewers are placed directly on the grill, practically in contact with the coals. Here, the cooking method relies on convection, similar to a traditional oven found in many kitchens. The cooking chamber, at the right temperature, allows the food to cook while avoiding flames that could burn it.
To learn how to cook directly on a barbecue, you'll need a charcoal, gas, or wood-fired barbecue specifically designed for this cooking method. The internal temperature is perfectly controlled, making it much easier to cook food successfully!
How to successfully cook on the barbecue?
The success of a barbecue depends first and foremost on the cooking techniques used, but also on the quality of the setup. Indeed, a high-quality barbecue will allow for good temperature control and perfect cooking. Therefore, when choosing your barbecue model, you should ensure you select a high-quality model that will allow you to achieve successful results.
At My Barbecue, we pride ourselves on offering models that will allow you to successfully cook on the barbecue and enjoy cooking meat, vegetables or fish according to your preference.
The different cooking methods
As mentioned earlier, there are several cooking techniques that can be chosen according to your preferences and desires. Depending on the cooking time that suits you best, as well as the dish you want to prepare, some cooking techniques will be more suitable than others. In any case, it's worthwhile to consider them all in order to master your recipes, but also to discover new ones!
The papillotes
Cooking en papillote is a barbecue technique that can be used in conventional oven cooking, but it's also very popular on the barbecue. It allows for even and gentle cooking, perfect for fish and vegetables. To do this, you'll need aluminum foil. The food is placed in the center of the foil, which is then folded to completely enclose the food. The foil packets can then be placed in the barbecue cooking area. They are removed once the cooking time is up.
The advantage is that they can be set aside for a few minutes while the other dishes finish cooking, and the aluminum foil will retain the heat. Then all you have to do is unwrap everything onto your plate!
Barbecue marinade
Marinating is one of the most popular cooking techniques when barbecuing. It's more of a recipe than a cooking method, really. The idea is to coat the meat (chicken, beef, veal, pork, or even fish) with a marinade and then let it soak for a while. Typically, the meat is prepared the day before or in the morning for cooking in the evening so the marinade penetrates well.
The marinade (depending on the ingredients chosen) will infuse the meat with its flavor, completely transforming its taste to the delight of your taste buds. There are also numerous marinade recipes to keep things interesting, such as:
- The sweet and sour marinade
- Barbecue sauce
- Pineapple marinade
- Honey-lemon marinade
- Lebanese marinade
- Cajun marinade
Barbecued roast
Just like with an oven, it's perfectly possible to cook a roast on a wood-fired barbecue . You can also use a marinade if you want to enhance the recipe. Placed in its roasting pan (and perhaps with vegetables), the roast is then put directly into the barbecue for the required time. This is a great way to enjoy a delicious roast that's perfectly cooked, along with that unmistakable barbecue flavor.
You can then choose to prepare a roast of veal, pork, beef, or lamb, depending on your preference. This is one of the most suitable barbecue cooking techniques when you have guests.
The barbecue
Barbecues are among the most common and popular cooking methods. They give food a delicious and unique flavor that only this type of cooking can provide, evoking the aroma of summer evenings. Just as with direct grilling, you'll need a grill on which to place your skewers, pieces of meat, or vegetables. The grill is then placed in the oven to take advantage of the heat from the fire for perfect cooking.
Smoking
Smoking is a method that uses the smoke from the barbecue to give meat a smoky flavor. Highly prized, this method offers a completely different way to enjoy delicious grilled meat. Smoking is suitable for cooking pork, beef, poultry, and even some fish. If you're looking for inspiration to tantalize your taste buds, don't hesitate to discover and try this method!
What is the best way to cook a barbecue?
The best way to cook on a barbecue depends first and foremost on your preferences. As we've seen, there are many barbecue cooking techniques, so there's plenty of room to vary your cooking throughout the warmer months.
If you enjoy the distinctive taste of classic barbecue cooking but don't want your food directly exposed to flames, indirect grilling is a perfect option. It's a great way to enjoy vegetables, as well as meat and fish, with a delicious grilled flavor and quick cooking time.
If you enjoy trying new flavors with every recipe, try a marinade! A simple chicken cutlet can take on a thousand different flavors all summer long simply by changing the ingredients in your marinade. It's a great opportunity to discover the taste of spices and add color to your dishes.
For a family meal to bring your loved ones together, roasting is undoubtedly one of the most suitable barbecue cooking methods. Choose beef if you like your meat rare and prefer quick cooking, or opt for pork, lamb, or veal if you want to take your time.
For fresh, low-fat cooking, cooking in parchment paper will undoubtedly be your best friend. This barbecue technique is perfect for fish, enhances the flavor of vegetables, and requires only a few herbs to be delicious. It's a fantastic way to add variety to grilled meats and surprise your friends and family with new barbecue techniques.
How to cook on a barbecue without burning?
It's not always easy to appreciate the different barbecue techniques when you tend to burn your food. To avoid the dreaded raw inside and burnt outside, indirect cooking seems to be the secret! Indeed, meat in direct contact with the coals is more difficult to cook, because the intense heat prevents gradual cooking throughout. While direct cooking can certainly be mastered after a while, indirect cooking helps minimize the risk of burning.
This prevents your food from burning and also avoids exposure to smoke (many barbecues have a chimney), making the cooking experience much more enjoyable for you and your guests. Enjoy perfectly cooked meats to delight your family and friends!
Discover here the quantity of meat (per person) for a barbecue so as not to waste anything and to satisfy all your guests.
In short, there are many barbecue cooking techniques such as marinating, cooking in foil, grilling, roasting, and others that are a great way to add variety to your meals. Don't hesitate to experiment with them all using your wood-fired oven and keep trying out new recipes!