This is the year for it!

[wildeyed]

I am finally going to learn to BBQ! I will be tearing out my kitchen in a few weeks, so the barby and my micro will be the only thing I can cook with for a while anyway, so I figure I will have no choice but to learn how to use it.

Unfortunately, my barbecue is one of the cheapest on the market, so even heat is not its forte. Maybe if my BBQ experiments go well, I will consider upgrading in the fall, but for now, I need to work with what I have

I ordered a basic BBQ manual from Amazon, which should come next week, but to start, I am using some recipes I clipped out of the newspaper. Today, Beer Can Chicken. It involves propping a whole chicken up with a beer can stuck up its gullet and steaming/roasting it on the barby. I also have an eggplant, so I thought I would baste that with some olive oil and roast it at the end.

Any other suggestions for easy BBQ recipes?

[NMDemDist2]

1. heavy duty aluminum foil is your friend

you can roast/steam/bake almost anything in foil

you'll have a blast!

it may be worth investing in a fork with a thermometer built in though to get started

keep us posted!

[mike_c]

2. I'm gonna offer some advice that might run counter to the general trend...

...but I'd suggest that you learn basic techniques first, like how to grill a steak to your desired doneness, how to match the grilling technique to the cut of meat, how to cook a chicken on the grill until it's done on the inside without being reduced to smoldering ruin on the outside, etc. Get an instant read meat thermometer if you don't already have one. Be prepared to re-learn the relationships between cooking vegetables and meats. There are a zillion great recipes out there, but if you can't gauge the doneness of a piece of meat, or if you char everything to a uniformly awful carbonaceous crust, you'll be disappointed in nearly every recipe you try.

Get the summer grilling issue of Cook's Illustrated if you can-- it just came out last week and should be in bookstores now. It's FILLED with good, basic info on BBQing.

[bearfan454]

3. Slow is always good.

You can always bbq it a little more, but when the grease starts dripping a flare up can ruin your bbq meal.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

4. Have fun.

I can't give any BBQ tips. DH is the BBQer in our family.

BTW: the beer can chicken recipe? the can is stuck up its tush, not its gullet. :rofl:

[wildeyed]

5. Arggghhhh!!!!

So I seasoned the chicken, stuck the beer can up it's gullet.... I mean arse.... stuck it all in the BBQ, then stuck my digital meat thermometer in the joint between the leg and the carcass, the same place I put it when I roast in the oven. So the thermometer goes off, a little early, but the chicken looks great. Nice and golden brown, not too charred. So I put it aside and go finish watching a movie with some friends. We go to carve, and it is still bloody inside. I don't get it. Same thermometer, same spot. I wiggled it around to be certain that I got the coldest spot before I pulled the bird. Different parts must roast at different rates in the BBQ, cause it was the breast that was still raw with this one. So we carved the bird up and threw it back on the BBQ. Was perfectly edible, but certainly no triumph.

It is at this time each year that I abandon the BBQ. I try something new, it turns out badly, and I think, hmmm, I cook fine with the stove, maybe I should stick with that. But this year I won't be deterred. I will have a BBQ triumph at least once this summer!

[NMDemDist2]

6. you'll have more than one triumph I'm sure

remember the grill doesn't regulate and hold the heat like your oven does so it's a bit different style of cooking

in fact, just forget everything you know about the stove/oven and treat the BBQ like a totally new appliance (which it is) and you'll be onto it in no time

[Stinky The Clown]

7. That beercan chicken is covered in the Barbecue 202 curriculum

You need to take mike_c's advice, above, and go back to the basics first.

I second the notion of that Cook's Illustrated BBQ magazine. It is worth its weight in gold to the new BBQ cook and worth its weight in silver to the more experienced. It really is a good one.

[wildeyed]

8. It would help, too, if I followed the recipe.

I monitored temp the way I usually do int he oven, but in this recipe, the joint is close to the heat source and the breast far away, opposite of the oven. So I should have checked the brest temp like the recipe recommended.

I will get out and look for the Cook's Illustrated in the next few days.

[wryter2000]

11. I never had that problem with the chicken

I use a Weber. Usually, I cook the bird over indirect heat for 1.5 hours.

[politicat]

9. Don't forget to open the can.

Just... trust me on this one.

(Did you know that most southern and midwestern men who die deaths by misadventure have "Hell, I can do that. Here, hold my beer," as their last words?)

[wryter2000]

10. You'll love the bear can chicken

It's delicious.

I recently cooked zucchini on the grill. Sliced lengthwise, brushed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Put on the grill over direct heat for a few minutes per side. It was very good. If you watch it, you can tell when it's cooked but not falling apart.

[wryter2000]

12. LOL -- too late to edit

That should have been beer can chicken. :rofl:

[wildeyed]

13. Mmmm, bear can chicken.

Can't even guess what that would look like :rofl:

[wryter2000]

14. It'd probably be pretty grisly

But you didn't hear that from me.

[wildeyed]

15. Beary punny! n/t

[Tab]

16. As much as I think I do well indoors

I have to say that bbq'ing is my passion.

My four bits of advice:

- Try to get similar sizes of meats. If they are dissimilar, you can put the larger ones on first, but this tends to challenge you to get them all to finish at the same time. If they are the same size to start, you're ahead of the game.

For boneless chicken breasts, I sort of fold them into a consistent shape all around, so you don't have little tails getting overcooked while centers get properly cooked.

- Get an instant read thermometer and learn how to use it. When you get really good, you can tell by feel (the resistance to bending of the meat). I've finally gotten to that point, but it's taken years. Until you're comfortable judging that way, use an instant-read. Remember too to let the meat sit for 5 mins after removing - it lets the juices redistribute and it will usually rise another 5 degrees in the process (continue to cook).

- Keep the lid partially open - prop it up with something. I've found that closed BBQs tend to flare up and overcook, while open BBQs tend to whisk the heat off the meat (at least up here in New England). So I prop mine open about 2 inches and it works great.

- I can't remember my fourth point. However, as a substitute, I offer the suggestion to not put BBQ sauce on until near the end, otherwise it will just burn onto the skin of the chicken or whatever meat you're doing. Spice rubs are okay, but actually for red meat I just use garlic salt - let the meat come up to near room temperature (so it cooks evenly), rub on garlic salt, and let it sit for 5 or 10 mins, and then toss on the grill. Perfection every time (when combined with temperature checking).

[wildeyed]

17. I get what you are saying about the similar sized pieces of meat.

I got the issue of Cook's Illustrated for BBQ, and their recipe for chicken parts was insane! You need a three part fire and some aluminum pans to get it all cooked right. I though, yeah, right, I will be buying the drumstick super-saver pack, doing all the same pieces at the same time.

I can gage the doneness of steaks by feel. Larger pieces are more of a problem. I have both an insta-read thermometer and a digital thermometer for roasts and birds. I am assuming it is ok to use both of those in the BBQ?