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Grill it Don't Kill it: Gentlemen, Grab Your Meat |
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Written by Brian Joyner
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Be Better Guys knows that most guys
think they can grill. But grilling’s a lot harder than it looks,
since you’re dealing with high heat and the fact that many guys don’t
cook all that often, if ever. For example, what do you know about
picking meat to grill? Not much, probably. Here’s a starter course.
 Select Your Meat
Remember
that fat and bone, things normally shunned in cooking today by the
health food Nazis, are your friends when cooking red meat or pork on an
open flame. Both allow for the meat to take more heat without burning
it to a crisp or becoming shoe leather. The internal and external
layers of fat make the meat tender and tasty. These cuts include:
- Ribs (beef and pork)
- Pork chops (rib chops are preferable)
- Rib steaks
- Rib-eye steak
- Porterhouse steak
- T-Bone steak
- Strip steaks
If you like leaner cuts, you’ll want to let them marinate or sit
with a dry rub longer to better penetrate the meat. These cuts include:
- Round steaks (sirloin and cut used for London Broil)
- Flank steaks (such as skirt steak, used for fajitas)
- Filet mignon
- Pork tenderloin
Chicken
Poultry
should be cooked all the way through. Just like with steaks, less fat
and bone mean more diligence with the cooking and the preparation.
Consider brining (soaking in salt water) or marinating your chicken or
poultry before grilling to give it more flavor. Dark meat is fattier,
but has more flavor than white meat. Turkey has more fat than chicken
and the drumsticks grill up nicely. And I know many guys are trying to
eat healthy, but leave the skin on! That’s where you get the flavor,
even on breast meat.
Seafood
Grilled
fish and other seafood make it possible to eat light even at a summer
barbecue. When grilling fish, stick to thicker and fattier steak fish
like:
- Tuna
- Swordfish
- Halibut
- Bluefish
- Salmon
- Red snapper
- Sea bass
If
you’re grilling shellfish, remember that they cook fast, as in, don’t
go get another beer or you’ll end up with seafood jerky. Shrimp and
scallops do very well as kebabs. Char-grilled squid is really good, but
will cook quickly and can turn to rubber if you’re not careful. Clams,
mussels, oysters, crabs and lobsters can easily be grilled as well –
wrap ‘em in aluminum foil and bake ‘em.
It’s the Flava, it’s the Flava!Every
“grill king” has his ritual – the donning of the apron, the laying out
of the special grill tools, the playing of favorite songs (like Maze
& Frankie Beverly’s “Before I Let You Go” and Will Smith’s
“Summertime.” If you don’t like those songs pick your own, this is my
ritual!). But he might not tell you what sort of rub works best for
ribs. Our friend, the Reluctant Gourmet recommends Jim Tarantino’s book Marinades, Rubs, Brines, Cures, and Glazes. The above-mentioned Grilling and Barbecue has several recipes as well. Pick one you like and add or change a little something to make it your own.
With
most of the foods mentioned you could get away with some oil and salt
and pepper as seasoning, but to get the most flavor, you need to either
use a marinade or a rub. Whichever you choose, your food will taste
better than if you just put some barbecue sauce on at the end, hoping
for the best. You don’t want folks talking about your bland food – like
I would have to do, because I’m a true friend.
- Marinades
are usually made with oil and an acidic liquid like fruit juice, wine,
or vinegar. It gives meat, poultry, or seafood a kick. Some argue that
the acidity helps tenderize tougher cuts of meat and ribs, which have
cartilage and gristle, so that can’t hurt. Allow your food to marinate
for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator, but preferably try to give
it an hour or more. Throw the meat on the grill and then throw out the
marinade; it has bacteria that could make you and all your would-be
fans sick. Remember, you want people talking about how good the food
was and not about their near-death experience.
- Rubs are
nothing more than herbs and spices, but pack a more potent punch. By
massaging the rub into the food, the flavor goes deeper. Just like with
marinades, the longer you let the rub set in the tastier the food will
be. I say at least an hour, but more if you can prep far enough in
advance.
- Brine is simply water and salt, but you can add
sugar and other spices. Dissolve one cup each of kosher salt and sugar
in two quarts of water, and soak the meat for an hour. Be careful when
you grill, though, because the sugar will burn off quickly and cause
the food to caramelize (or burn depending on how you view it).
OK.
We’ve got the grill prepped and ready, we’ve picked out what we’re
eating, but do you know how to cook it? Don’t worry, because Be Better
Guys has you covered with 3 great recipes. |
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