Grilling—The Essentials For Success!
BBQ Preparation
Ensure your BBQ is clean and working efficiently. Once a year, go over your BBQ giving it a basic maintenance check: tighten screws, change drip trays, and check gas bottle connections. Make sure that the burner holes are clear of blockages and are delivering maximum heat and power to your cooking surfaces.
Check your fuel supply. We find that having two gas bottles eliminates any chance of running out - you will always have a full bottle as backup. (That’s if you have remembered to get the last one filled up when it ran out last time!)
Set up a work table next to your BBQ. This can have numerous uses.... a place to store the product you are about to grill, chopping boards, assorted platters and bowls for serving. Even the beverage bar if you have room.
Lock and load your Grillslinger...salt and pepper grinders topped up, oil dispenser full, all your Grillslinger implements present and accounted for.
BBQ Organisation
Quite often a BBQ can be a spur of the moment impromptu gathering, so it pays to have on hand a good range of products, either in your pantry or refrigerator. Include such products as vinaigrettes for dressing salads, mustards, mayonnaise, pestos, BBQ sauces, marinades, chutneys and relishes.
If on the other hand you are planning a BBQ, say a few days or even a couple of weeks ahead, it’s very like having a dinner party and a bit of thought and organisation prior to the event can pay huge dividends and show off your entertaining skills.
With BBQ technology advancing at such a rate, it’s time to think outside the square when it comes to cooking. Gone are the days of charred over cooked franks and dried out pieces of burnt meat or worse still, chicken that is charred on the outside and raw on the inside which can have serious health issues! Today, especially with gas BBQs, you have so much more heat control which opens up many more cooking options and styles to suit everyone. As well as steaks, burgers, and sausages, think appetizers off the grill, fresh shellfish, grilled vegetables, tropical fruit kebabs, use flour tortillas, naan or pita bread for wraps. Click here for some of our favourite BBQ ideas and recipes.
When you’ve decided on what you are going to prepare you then have to prioritise and plan what is the best way to cook and serve. Have different heat areas on your cooking surfaces. Firstly an area that is extremely hot to sear products like big pieces of beef or to quickly cook something that only needs a minute on either side, prawns perhaps. Next have area that is medium heat; this will be ideal for finishing cooking things such as chicken breasts or steaks after they have been seared. This area is also an ideal place to cook things such as vegetables and products that require longer cooking times. Lastly reserve an area that has a relatively low heat. This is to finish cooking large pieces of meat such as tri-tips or things such as whole boned out legs of lamb etc that have been seared first for color and then require long slow cooking to penetrate right into the centre of the product without burning the outside. REMEMBER...don’t turn the food all the time; it won’t cook in the air!
People love the Fun Factor and informality of outdoor cooking and entertaining. When barbecuing, everyone enjoys participating, so delegate out some of the jobs. As a Grillslinger you’ll be taking care of the cooking side of things, however jobs such handing around platters of canapés, making and dressing the salad, pouring drinks, setting the table, peeling garlic and of course doing the dishes can be volunteered out to your guests if so inclined!
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