My Top 5 Grilling/Smoking Tips
I come from a place of expressed bias on this topic, since I am exclusively a charcoal griller. Some of these tips listed below though, may be applicable to your gas and pellet grilling habits. These tips I share are not gospel. In the holy place of BBQ none of these practices are written stone. These are my best tips that I practice every time I show up for a grilling or smoking session.
- Cook To Temp: My top 5 Grilling
I would advise every cooker to take advantage of the modern cheat codes such as a digital meat thermometer. These can be used to monitor internal temperatures of meats for the desired doneness. For long cooks, I use my digital thermometer that stays in the meat while it cooks. Since I have a bit of experience now, if I am smoking a Boston Butt, I don’t usually monitor the temp for all of 10 hours. I can estimate that due to my cooking temp, my meat should need a certain amount of time before it reaches a stall. I usually start monitoring after about 3 hours and then through the stall. After those moments, I have a general idea of how long it might take for my pulled pork to be ready. This saves my battery on my thermometers as well help me learn my smokers. For steaks, wings or other short cooks, I check periodically with an instant read thermometer.
- Know Your Charcoal
Since I am 100% a charcoal guy, it is really important for me to understand charcoal. Types, origin, density and value of course. Like any other product on the market, there are levels to the charcoal game. And yes, you do get what you pay for. The cooking experience of having your charcoal briquettes after six hours on a 10 hour cook is no fun. Therefore, when I find charcoal that can give good mileage on long cooks, I pony up. At the end of the day, the flavor and ease of use in any product or gadget are paramount.
- Embrace Indirect Heat
Grilling and smoking require a bit of patience. You can’t rush perfection. Indirect cooking whether it’s smoking a brisket or making some jerk chicken, saves a lot of missteps on the grill. Indirect cooking ensures that you reduce the risk of serving dried out or overcooked meats to your family or guests. We can all agree that’s a NO NO. A tip to execute with excellence by the fire is to take it slow.
- Prepare
Plan your cooks. Get your ducks in a row so you are only executing by the grill and not running around with your hair on fire. Nothing worse than your burgers sizzling but you forgot your spatula; now you have to leave for a minute and let me tell you. A whole lot can change on the grill with a live fire in a minute. Being prepared and following your own designed routine will create a better BBQ experience, especially as a beginner.
- Try New Things
In the art of BBQ, and cooking in general, there are many disciplines. Don’t be afraid to try various styles and ideas to see what works best for your taste. One of my favorite sayings is “Don’t be a slave to what you are good at.” Make traditional recipes your own by tweaking quantities, removing ingredients and so forth. Twist and change the originals and grow in your cooking experience and become your own backyard BBQ wizard.
Ultimately, there are very few absolutes with BBQ results. What you can and should do is find different methods and create different habits that you will practice throughout your cooking. Once you practice these things you will be able to narrow down the ways in which you BBQ. Get on that grill and throw down. Your BBQ body ain’t gonna build itself.
3 Comments