1. First things first
A good BBQ starts with preparation. Marinate your meat, fish, and vegetables beforehand to give them extra flavor. Especially with lean meats, marinade not only adds flavor but also makes your piece of meat tender and juicy. Are you making skewers or satay sticks with wooden skewers? Then soak the skewers in water overnight. This prevents them from burning quickly or catching fire.
2. Flame in the pan
Now it's time for the real work: lighting the BBQ. For a kamado, you use charcoal, as this is the best way to control the temperature. For a kettle BBQ, you can also opt for briquettes. These stay at temperature for a long time and are ideal for slow cooking and indirect grilling. In both cases, it is important that you choose 100% natural, good quality coals. To easily start your BBQ, you can use firelighters or wood wool. Place these between the coals and light them. The hotter, the better. So, wait patiently until your coals are white or gray.
Where there's a grill, there's a way!3. Beer and BBQ
The ideal combination. A delicious beer in hand, but did you know that beer is also ideal for marinating your meat? In a large bowl, mix one glass of beer with some salt, honey, and lemon juice. Stir well until the salt and honey are dissolved. First, rub your meat, for example spareribs, with a dry rub and then place them in the beer bath. Have another beer yourself and let the beer marinade soak in for half an hour. After that, your ribs are ready for the BBQ!
4. Rub it in
No time to marinate your meat beforehand? Go for a dry rub. This flavors your meat immediately. A dry rub is a mixture of dried herbs and spices. The base consists of the following components: sweet, salty, and red spices. The sugar caramelizes, which creates a crispy crust, and the salt extracts moisture in which the herbs then dissolve. To this base, you can add various other herbs for surprising flavor combinations.
5. Time to grill
Make sure your meat is at room temperature. Marinating or oiling your meat, fish, and vegetables prevents them from burning as quickly. You can also grease the grill grate of your BBQ with a paper towel. Be careful not to drip oil onto your coals. Instead of oil, you can also rub half a lemon over your grate. This is always handy to do when you are grilling meat after fish, and vice versa.
6. Hot, hotter, hottest
The best temperature for your meat, fish, and vegetables is between 175 and 230 degrees Celsius. Since not every product needs to cook for the same amount of time, it's good to have different zones. Directly above your glowing coals, you create a hot zone with direct heat. Here you place everything that needs no longer than 20 minutes to cook. In addition, you create a cold zone with indirect heat. You do this with a raised grate or over an area without coals underneath. Products that need longer can (further) cook here.
7. Every BBQ has a lid
When you close the lid of your BBQ, the hot air circulates. This makes your BBQ act like an oven and the heat is evenly distributed. You can then regulate the temperature with air vents. The more air, the more oxygen, the hotter your BBQ. If you close the air vent completely, your BBQ will go out.
8. Smoking is cool
Are you an experienced barbecuer? Then it's time for the next step: smoking with your BBQ. Smoking gives your pulled pork, spare ribs, beer can chicken or salmon fillet extra flavor. All you need for this is a charcoal BBQ with a lid and smoking wood. Go for low & slow and make sure your BBQ isn't too hot (90 -130 degrees Celsius). Distribute some smoking wood among your coals and start smoking.
9. All good things come to an end
Leftover meat after a successful evening? Cook it and then store it in the refrigerator. Raw meat that has been left in the sun, unfortunately, has to be thrown away. Clean your BBQ while it's still warm, as this makes it easier for dirt to come off. First, rub half a lemon over the grate and then remove the residue with a wire brush. This way, you can start next time with a clean BBQ!
Do you have any tips that are missing from this list? Please let us know. Happy grilling! 😎
