BBQ

Perfect BBQ Every Time with These 3 Steps

BBQ, to a traditionalist, means slow cooking. This usually includes using a smoker or a grill with a tight fitting lid and large surface. You need to position the food a short distance away from the heat. To achieve this, you could trying moving around some briquettes or lighting the fire on one side only. This will give you an area of lower heat that will allow you to get started on infusing, the first of three steps to the perfect BBQ.

The objective of infusing is to allow all the flavor of the meat to penetrate below the surface before it seals up through the cooking process. Sauces, rubs, fat and the meat’s juices intermingle with the heat and smoke to create a symphony of effects within the meat. The exterior and interior fats melt down and mingle on the surface layer. Now the conditions are right for the spread of flavor compounds throughout the meat. Some killer BBQ is right around the corner.

During the second step, the actuall cooking happens, and this usually takes a while. As the interior temperature of the meat climbs, proteins break down and become amino acids. As the sugars break down they lend a sweet flavor throughout. Salt gets ionized and enzymes speed up. The end result of all these processes is a piece of meat that has been transformed into a mouthwatering delicacy.

If you’ve added any wood to the fire, it will impart a smokey flavor to the meat during this stage. The meat seals itself and internal juices are preserved, heated up and altered. The meat will spend most of its cooking time in this phase. The temperature has to be lower than what you’d use indoors to cook.

After the interior temperature of the meat gets to 200F, it’s ready to be taken off the smoker or BBQ grill.

During the third step, your meat finishes cooking. As it cools, the internal heat is still high enough to continue to affect the meat. During this step, the tenderness of the meat will peak, creating a superb texture.

Once the temperature has decreased to less than 165F, it’s time to dish it up. Slice off a bit and notice the color. If you’re cooking beef, it should be dark red; chicken needs to be white, and its juices should be clear. If it’s pork, it should be white with a gray tinge. The flavor should be delicate and the texture easy to chew.

And there you have it: the perfect BBQ.

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