In a new book about traveling through texas exploring various barbecuing a guy named daniel vaughn has written about many of the misconceptions associated with barbecuing, grilling and smoking that we have written about here.
Great barbecue does not need sauce. Like ketchup — often a main ingredient — bbq sauce is good for covering up the flavor of poorly cooked meats. I have a friend who owns a rib shack. His ribs are practically addictive. He makes a fabulous mustard based sauce that is incredible. However without the sauce his ribs are tough and chewy and do not taste good. The sauce makes the flavor stimulating and i do not even notice the ribs do not taste good.
The rib shack also reminds me of another misconception. Ribs that are barbecued or smoked properly do not “fall off the bone”. Vaughn writes beautifully: “When rib meat flops onto the plate while you’re trying to lift a rib bone to your mouth it’s an insult to the pig.”
Ribs are not barbecued well when they are soft and mushy.
Another mistake many of us have made is using the terms barbecuing and grilling as synonyms. Grilling is cooking with very high heat. Restaurant quality searing is considered to be 800 degrees and higher. American made infrared grills like Alfresco, Solaire, AOG, and others can commonly grill at temperatures above 1000 degrees and heat in minutes.
Barbecuing is cooking with lower heat and using the fuel — charcoal, wood, air — to add flavor. Very low heat and lots of wet wood is smoking and BBQ is not that extreme but barbecuing is lower heat and specific flavor infusion.
Another “myth” dispelled in the book is that fat is evil. Today most people who eat and most people who cook care about fat, calories, carbohydrates, etc. fat has become a bad word for most people. However fat is the best part of the meat for absorbing flavor. Well marbled meats always taste better because of the fat absorbing flavor. Although i do not eat the fat that can be separated from the meat like the side of a NY Strip It is not a good idea to cut the fat off the meat before grilling or barbecuing or smoking. The fat holds and spreads flavor. I’ll cut it away after but cooking with the fat adds flavor and moisture.
Vaughn calls himself a “BBQ snob” but i am not. Cooking should be fun and should be tasty. Dispelling myths about cooking is about becoming a better cook and eating better.
majestic grill parts can be reached at:
954-2-GRILL-2
http://www.grill-repair.com
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