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The Arizona BBQ Association would like to take the mystery out of BBQ, so that more people can enjoy its pleasures. You can barbeque on just about anything from a gas grill to a Weber kettle to a professionally made cooker, often referred to as a pit. BBQ pits come in all shapes, sizes and prices, from an inexpensive Brinkman water smoker lovingly referring to as an ECB "El Cheapo Brinkman", to a towable Klose pit that can cost several thousand dollars. Look around at BBQ stores and on-line before making your decision. Although whatever you buy won't likely be your last pit. BBQ enthusiasts seem to collect smokers the way Elizabeth Taylor collected husbands.
Low n' slow is the order of business when it comes to barbecuing. Try to keep your temperature in the 200 to 250 degree range. Since most BBQ is comprised of inexpensive cuts of meat such as beef brisket or pork butt, it takes a while, often overnight, before the collagen in tough cuts breaks down to produce the magic of slow-pit BBQ.
If using a gas grill or a Weber kettle, the secret is to try to cook as indirectly as possible. In other words, avoid direct cooking from the heat source. This is what separates BBQ from grilling. If you have two burners on your gas grill put your meat over the unlit side and put a disposable pie pan with wood chips directly on the lava rock of the lit side. With a kettle-type grill, try and keep your coals off to the side. Weber makes coal racks that keep the heat to each side of the cooker, allowing the center to be free of direct radiant heat.
When starting off, take care not to buy too large a pit for your particular needs. It doesn't make sense to burn down half a forest to cook one chicken. Most pits with a cooking surface of no more than three to four feet wide will suffice unless you have catering aspirations. The best pits are heavy sons of guns, made of plate steel around a quarter-inch thick. Most smokers such as these are known as offset cookers, with a firebox on one side that creates the smoke that flows into your smoke chamber where your meat sits. The firebox should have a damper to regulate the amount of air entering it as well as another between the firebox and the smoke chamber to control the smoke and heat. A smokestack at the far end of your smoker allows you pit to breathe and stay lit.
You can heat your firebox with charcoal briquettes, or better yet, lump charcoal with is basically burnt-down wood chunks. Most folks add additional chunks of various woods to provide a more flavorful smoke. The most plentiful smoking woods here in Arizona are mesquite (which can be overwhelmingly potent) and pecan. Hickory doesn't grow here but you can buy chunks or chips to add that familiar flavor. Fruit woods such as peach, grapevine, apple or citrus work well, too. Avoid evergreens such as pine found in 2x4 construction scraps. They will ruin your 'que and not do your smoker much good either.
Once you have your smoker up to temperature, it's time to put on your meat. Season it to your liking with the rub of your choice. (Poke around for recipes on this website and others.) Just remember, keep your cooking low n' slow. An occasional mopping of something wet and flavorful such as apple juice will help keep things moist. And if you notice a red layer around the outside of your finished product, don't sweat it. It's called a "smoke ring"--a naturally occurring chemical reaction from exposure to the smoke. Most folks find it appetizing.
There you have the basics of barbeque. And like so many things in life, practice makes perfect. Isn't it nice having a hobby where even your mistakes taste pretty darn good?
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