Being from the south, grilling is a way of life here. It is not just a weekend thing – we grill all the time. Food just tastes better prepared on the grill. Practically anything can be made on a grill if you know how. Using a variety of heat sources including charcoal, lava rock and wood will preserve and accentuate the flavor of the meat depending on what you are grilling.
One of my favorites is steaks on the grill. Grilling is different from barbecuing in that grilling is done at high temperatures while barbeque refers to slower cooking and charcoal and wood for fuel and favor. Grilled steak should be started at high heat using charcoal to get the best flavor and then turned for the remaining cooking time until just a small section through the middle remains pink. Accompanying the steaks in aluminum foil are onions and mushrooms smothered in seasoning salt and Worcestershire. With a baked potato and a salad this is a favorite meal for just about anyone.
Another favorite best grilled over high heat is lamb. This is a favorite of many people although some do not know quite how to cook the lamb. Grilling time depends on the thickness. If your lamb is a thin cut it will not take long for it to grill. It only needs to be turned one time to allow the other side to cook.
The temperatures can reach over 500 degrees when grilling over a direct heat charcoal fire. Intense heat locks in the flavor and the moisture so grilled food just tastes better and does not get dry. Some grills, depending on what is used for the heat source, can actually cook at 800 to 1000 degrees, which is the best way to taste the difference in grilled food.
Only pork chops that are least an inch thick should be grilled over high heat. The thinner cuts will brown on the outside but the insides will be very dry. One of the ways of making pork chops tastier when grilling is to allow them to marinate in a choice of seasonings. One is a salt, sugar and water combination that can be enhanced even more with a dry rub after removing them from the liquid and placing them on the grill.
Some of the rubs are milder than others but the spices are present. Often Cajun or Creole spices are either a liquid type that can be brushed on the meat or a dry rub that can be put on before grilling. Creole seasoning is a combination of garlic, salt, pepper, onion, cayenne pepper, turmeric and paprika. The cayenne is sometimes adjusted for a hotter taste. It can be used on just about any type of meat from fish to beef.
Just about anything goes when it comes to seasonings for the grill. Onions, garlic, season salt and jalapeno peppers are popular for a variety of foods and they can be sprinkled on or mixed in – usually in home-made hamburgers – and the taste is great when wood smoke flavor is added. Cajun seasoning is a mixture of salt, garlic, chili, onion and bay powder paprika, basil and cayenne pepper. The taste is terrific, but if you are not used to spicy foods, you may want to adjust the hotter spices to suit your taste.
Another great dry rub is a Chipotle Dry Rub. This consists of a teaspoon each of cumin, dry orange peel and onion powder, one bay leaf, a tablespoon of dried cilantro leaves, two tablespoons of oregano, three tablespoons of black pepper and two dried chipotle peppers. Of course you can add extra peppers if you want the rub a little warmer. This can be used on any type of meat you want to grill.
The grills used for cooking all of this wonderful food are small, medium, large, smokers, propane, and top of the line to a barrel that has been cut in half and mounted on a frame. Newer infrared grills are perfect for high-heat grilling because the heat is instantaneous and there is nothing to conduct heat because it is radiant. Grilling is a way of life in the south and it seems not to matter what kind of grill you are using as long as you have the food and the seasonings. And of course, someone to take charge of the grill is a must.
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