It's time to talk about what makes grilling a success. Quality product? Organic coal? There is truth. However, grill and barbecue experts are more inclined to emphasize time, the internal temperature of the food being cooked, and grill heat the importance of control.
Why you need to monitor the time and internal food the temperature? In this way, you will avoid overcooked or undercooked products, and the result will always be juicy and delicious. Controlling the heat requires a little more skill. Why is everyone talking so much about direct and indirect cooking? How are they different, how important are they and how do they fit together?
What best describes traditional grilling? Without a doubt, the direct fire of coal or gas burners directly under the food. It browns the surface of the food, brings out the taste, texture, caramelizes, and cooks the food all the way to the center.
Direct heat is perfect for cooking small cuts that cook in less than 20 minutes: steaks, kebabs, hamburgers, steaks, kebabs, chicken fillets, fish fillets, shellfish, chopped vegetables.
Indirect heat is directed to both or one side of the grill. The food products are then placed on the non-heated part of the grill. Indirect cooking usually takes about 20 minutes or more.
Indirect cooking is most useful when you want to cook and brown large cuts of meat, as well as stews, chicken or duck, fish, fish fillets, turkey or ribs - products or dishes that direct heat would over-steam or burn.
By what principle is indirect heat obtained? The easiest thing to imagine is an oven. When using a grill, a cover is necessary for the indirect heat of the oven, if the grill is gas - a model with at least three burners will work better. The heat then circulates in a circle and thus slowly cooks the food all the way to the center and, unlike in a home electric oven, the food acquires a perfect smoky aroma.
If you have a charcoal grill, you'll create indirect heat by spreading the charcoal around the sides. Place a grease tray in the center, right under the food, to keep it clean.
If you have a kamado type charcoal grill, use the indirect grill plates-deflectors to create indirect heat. It is better to use a set of deflectors made of two crescents: by placing only one crescent, you will create two grill zones, i.e. i.e., at the same time, you will be frying and roasting directly over high heat on one side, and on the other side you can heat or fry food that has been roasted to the required condition in indirect heat.
If you are using a gas grill, you can achieve indirect cooking by turning on the side burners on medium heat. You will not need a middle burner.
You can actually combine direct and indirect heat perfectly! How? Some examples and tips of combined heat:
If you prefer a medium green steak that is thicker than 4 cm, cook it first in direct heat until caramelized and then move it to the indirect heat zone. By the way, it will always be easier to cook a thicker steak than a thinner one - they overcook quickly, so the meat dries out.
If you want to cook a thicker steak accurately, use a thermometer. An instant food thermometer will work, but for the most accurate results, use a food thermometer with a temperature probe that will help you track your inner food the temperature do not overcook during the entire cooking process: for steak, even one degree of overcooking (higher than recommended in the recipe) can be very significant and change the taste, especially the tenderness of the beef!
If you're grilling the kids' favorite skewered chicken pieces over direct heat and some are cooking faster than others, simply switch to the indirect heat zone. This will cook it to the right condition and not get cold!
Dual zone cooking is incredibly flexible: cook several different products at the same time. For example, if you are grilling a rack-mounted whole chicken in the indirect zone, use the direct zone for a side dish: grilling asparagus, corn on the cob, or potatoes.
If you are cooking with a charcoal grill, it is possible that food cooked under direct heat may catch fire. Then you can quickly move the product to the indirect zone - dinner is saved!
