Useful tips
Contents:
Cooking on fire
Types of grills
Portable grill
Disposable grill
Stationary grill
What is
grill BBQ grill
Meat on disc
Spring is coming into its own furiously, bringing into our lives, among other things, the desire to spend more time outdoors. And there is nothing reprehensible in the fact that this vacation is often associated with cooking on fire and then eating it!
Have you decided what to use in the new barbecue season? Will it be a grill, grill or barbecue? What are the differences between them, what is better to use and why? Is it even right to use the word “barbecue” in reference to a brazier?
Let's look at the characteristics of these roasters and choose the most optimal option (or even several) for cooking meat on fire.
Cooking on fire
It just so happens that not everyone really knows how the grill, grill and barbecue oven differ from each other (and do they differ at all!). And is it worth bothering if each of these roasters can be used to cook meat on charcoal?
We are often misled by the fact that many people try to make clear distinctions between barbecues, grills and barbecues. This is the main mistake that causes all the confusion!
Now we're going to try to put an end to this confusion once and for all!
Of course, purely visually and offhand, we can distinguish a metal grill from a grill or a grill from a brick grill. At first glance, these braziers owe a lot of their names to cooking methods.
For example, grilling is usually grilling; barbecuing is cooking on hot coals. But in all cases we are talking about using the heat of smoldering coals!
In fact, despite the fact that food is cooked on fire in all three cases, the principle of cooking meat on each of these roasters differs from each other. To understand these differences, it is necessary to understand the difference in cooking methods on each of these devices.
Our mistake is that we combine all these cooking methods, which can be used to cook meat, relatively speaking, in nature, with one brutal phrase — “fry meat”.
There are three of these methods:
– convection;
– conduction;
– radiation.
Convection
The method of cooking, which we call convection, involves cooking meat, for example, through a so-called intermediate medium. Usually we are talking about heated jets (streams) of air.
Conduction
The method of cooking by conduction consists in transferring heat from a solid body heated to a certain temperature (frying pan, disc, grill) to the prepared product.
Radiation
The method of cooking meat and other food through study is to use infrared waves. In other words, we are talking about radiated heat, which brings food to readiness.
Armed with this knowledge, we can begin a more detailed review of the distinctive features that characterize the grill, barbecue oven, grill and disc. Because cooking methods distinguish these braziers from each other no less than their design features.
Types of barbecues
The grill, so to speak, is orthodox, which came to us from the Middle East, has a rounded shape. In fact, this is a separate brazier, which is fixed on the legs before cooking in it.
However, in our latitudes, most people who use the word “grill” imagine a rectangular metal structure with legs that can be of different lengths. This simple device is, in fact, an ordinary container in which a fire is made in order to then cook food on smoldering coals (the same kebab).
Read also: The 10 most delicious kebab sauces that are easy to prepare yourself
Coal (or wood that turns into coal during combustion) is poured to the bottom of the grill, the side walls of which have special holes at the bottom to support combustion. When cooking on a grill over smoldering coals, skewers are most often used, which are inserted into special slots on top of the side walls of the grill.
The method of cooking on the grill
It is easy to understand that when cooking meat on the grill, only one of the above cooking methods is used – infrared radiation. However, this cooking method works, as they say, alone, if the meat is cooked on skewers.
If you use a grill to cook meat on the grill, then the second cooking method, conduction, comes into play. This is obvious, since the solid body (that is, the grill), when heated, transfers heat to the meat (vegetables, etc.) where the product comes into contact with the grill.
It should be noted here that we are talking about an open grill. Since infrared radiation comes from below, from smoldering coals, we have to constantly turn the skewers to ensure uniform roasting and prevent the meat from burning.
You can also find grills with a lid on sale. However, in fact, the grill, if there is a lid, ceases to be… a barbecue, but turns into a grill. We'll talk about the grill a little later, but now we'll take a closer look at what grills we can use for cooking meat and other food.
The entire wide range of barbecues offered, with all the variety of shapes and various devices that facilitate cooking, can be divided into the following types:
– Portable grill.
– Stationary grill.
Portable grill
A portable grill is usually a collapsible brazier. The design of this device is such that it is quite easy to disassemble it to put it in a box or bag in order to go out with it to nature.
The average thickness of the walls of a portable collapsible grill is about one millimeter (plus or minus). The weight of this barbecue is small. But its advantages, by and large, end there.
The main drawback of a portable collapsible grill
When the grill is new, it is easy to disassemble and, most importantly, easy to assemble. If you often use this design for its intended purpose, it will be more and more difficult to assemble it each time.
This is due to the fact that the side walls, bottom and legs, made of thin material, are gradually deformed. Experienced outdoor enthusiasts know very well how difficult it is to combine all the elements of such a reusable barbecue.
The grill is deformed not only from constant heating to a temperature of several hundred degrees. The elements themselves are quite easily deformed when assembling and transporting the brazier, which makes it impossible to use it for a long time.
What should be the perfect portable grill?
– First, its walls should be about three millimeters thick. Yes, this increases its weight, but, provided that the brazier is made of high-quality steel, it prevents the deformation of the walls under the influence of high temperatures.
– Secondly, the height of the barbecue walls should be such that the distance between the smoldering coals and the meat on the skewers should be at least 15 centimeters.
Disposable grill
A disposable grill is a great option for those people who are not ready to constantly struggle with assembling and disassembling a portable barbecue. In addition, many such devices are sold not only with skewers, but even with a ready-made set of coals (this is especially true for so-called mesh barbecues).
Helpful advice!
Whichever portable grill you choose, avoid buying a brazier with aluminum legs! These legs are easily deformed when you try to drive them into the ground. And the grill itself is quite unstable, which can be dangerous for outdoor vacationers themselves.
Stationary grill
A brick grill is the most expensive representative of a stationary grill, which is usually installed in a gazebo or outdoors. Also, this grill can be made of stone.
Since people often eat right there, near a stationary brick grill, this device for frying meat and cooking other food is equipped with a smoke collector with a chimney. This allows the smoke to be carried away from the place of cooking and resting.
Wind and bad weather do not interfere with cooking meat on a brick grill, since the hearth of the device is reliably protected by brick walls. It is also impossible not to mention another component that a brick grill provides — aesthetics.
Indeed, the brick walls of the brazier can be lined with special heat-resistant tiles or other modern materials can be used to cover and decorate the barbecue.
How does a stationary grill differ from a portable one in terms of cooking?
Let us return to the three methods of preparation mentioned above — convection, conduction and radiation. Unlike a portable grill, a brick grill, in addition to studying (cooking on skewers) and conduction (cooking on a grill), also provides convection to some extent.
For all its undeniable advantages, not every stationary brick grill can provide convection cooking (unlike a grill). What is so remarkable about the grill and why in some cases is this device indispensable for cooking meat and other products?
What is a grill
It should be immediately emphasized that the grill, as one of the types of braziers, has several design features that distinguish it from the barbecue. One such feature is the invariable grille. Actually, from English, grill is a grill.
The second characteristic design feature of the grill is the lid. This design element is also mandatory for grilling, since cooking on this type of brazier uses all three of the above cooking methods (convection, conduction and heat study).
It is clear that the source of radiation is the coals located at the bottom of the structure. The grill on which meat or other food is fried contributes to its preparation by using the conduction method.
Read also: The secrets of cooking healthy grilled dishes
And the lid with which we cover the cooking products ensures that the air inside the grill tank warms up. Actually, the grill is a kind of oven that provides cooking by using another method — the convection method created by heated air.
“Indirect” grilling
It is noteworthy that the grill can cook food without using the radiation method. This is the so-called indirect grilling, a method of frying only with the lid on, when the cooked meat or vegetables are not located directly above the embers.
In fact, we are talking about the fact that the lid makes it possible to cook food by smoking. It is “indirect” grilling that makes it possible to achieve the characteristic delicate taste when grilling poultry, vegetables and other products. At the same time, cooking can be carried out at temperatures from about 100 degrees Celsius to 180 degrees.
Direct grilling
In this case, food takes much longer to cook than with so-called direct grilling, which is similar to cooking meat on the grill. Direct grilling is good for quick cooking meat and fish steaks, just fish and vegetables. If you close the lid, the food will cook even faster.
A significant advantage of grilling over an open grill, also due to the presence of a lid on the first one, is the ability to cook in any weather, even in the rain. Of course, the grill with a lid also provides the same opportunity. However, do not forget that this is essentially not exactly a grill, but the same grill!
So let's make a conclusion!
If you are tired of the usual taste of meat cooked on the grill, then get yourself a grill. Only this roaster, which uses all three cooking methods, can give food such a unique taste, juiciness, spicy crust and special aroma.
BBQ grill
Let's move on to the main misconception, which, in fact, periodically raises the following question: what is the difference between barbecues and other braziers? In fact, a design that can be called a “barbecue” is any brazier that provides the same method of cooking meat or other products.
Thus, the cooking method called “barbecue” refers to the technology of cooking food on charcoal. This is an interpretation of the term in the broad sense of the word. In fact, any of our roasters can provide this cooking method.
BBQ is barbecue, that is, a barbecue, like a picnic with roast meat or a way of cooking meat on a grill.
Speaking from the point of view of deep knowledge of technological culinary nuances, the barbecue method involves slowly baking meat or other food over coals at a temperature, which does not exceed 120 degrees Celsius.
BBQ oven
Some people mistakenly believe that a barbecue is the same grill or even our metal grill. However, the word “barbecue” is often used in relation to an ordinary brick grill, so it would be wrong to blame an ordinary man in the street for this misconception.
The main thing to clearly understand is that when you hear such a thing as a “barbecue oven”, you can rest assured that this is an ordinary stationary grill made of brick or stone. You can read about how this brazier differs from an ordinary metal brazier just above – in the description dedicated to the brick grill.
Meat on the disc
Cooking meat and other food on the disc is accompanied by all the usual chores for this event, such as preparing firewood, lighting a fire, and much more. However, the principle of cooking food in this way differs from cooking it on a grill or grill.
The prototype of this method of cooking meat or other products is the famous wok pan. We are talking about dishes that are traditionally used in Chinese cuisine.
Read also: How to choose a good pan: the truth about which pan is better
It is easy to see that the disc takes full advantage of the cooking principle of conduction. The solid body of this vessel, curved in a certain way, perfectly transfers heat to the products prepared on it.
What are the specifics of cooking on a disc?
The fact is that the food on the disc is prepared using vegetable oil. The oil must be hot – then foods such as potatoes or vegetables are cooked very quickly.
If you cook meat at the same time as vegetables, the vegetables will perfectly absorb its aroma, which gives food cooked on the disc an absolutely unique taste that cannot be achieved when grilling or a grill.
Some look down on the cooking method on the disc. In fact, the disc is the same complete and complete device as a grill or grill. In addition, the disc is considered to be almost the best brazier for cooking fish on it.
You can use a disc with a lid, which will provide another cooking method – by convection.
Disks for cooking meat outdoors can be purchased ready-made, but homemade discs made from a disc harrow are considered the most reliable. These are structural elements of agricultural tools that have the shape of discs and are designed to loosen the soil.