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Celebrity chef Ben O'Donoghue shows us how to smoke meat at home 2:55
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Want to learn how to smoke meat at home? Chef and grill guru Ben O'Donoghue shows us how... and it's easy.
- Courier Mail
- 21 Jan 2015
- Lifestyle/Food
Mastering the barbecue is easy once you know a few simple tips and tricks. Source: ThinkStock
Chef and author Ben O'Donoghue shares his tips for becoming a grill guru this Australia Day. Photo: Anthony Weate Source: News Limited
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Ben O’Donoghue recommends cooking chorizo on the grill to achieve maximum caramelisation and a smoky flavour Source: ThinkStock
The countdown to Australia Day is on, which means backyard battles for barbecue supremacy are heating up.
From how many times to turn the meat to what temperature to cook it at, the debate around how to master the iconic Aussie cooking instrument is more fiery than an unexpected flare-up.
But if your steaks turn out blacker than the coals you’re cooking them over and your snags end up more shrivelled than your toes after a day in the pool, we’ve got you covered.
Ben O’Donoghue, author of
Ben’s BBQ Bible and owner of Brisbane cafe Billy Kart Kitchen, and barbie salesman and the bloke behind The Lazy Man’s Guide to Spit-Roasting, Michael Muller, give us tips to turn you from sausage assassin to grill guru.
MUST-HAVE TOOLS
THE FUEL
“Fuel is important,” O’Donoghue says. “I think with charcoal you get better flavour than gas, but you can always use smoked wood chips if you use gas. Apple wood, cherry wood and hickory have a nice sweet smoke and are a great way of adding extra flavour.”
To add smoke to your barbie, Muller recommends investing in a smoking box for less than $20 at most barbecue stores. They also stock the chips that come in a variety of flavours from cabernet to Jack Daniel’s.
But Muller says red meats take
on a smoky taste far quicker than poultry or pork, so it’s important to monitor your meat unless you want a strong flavour.
BEFORE YOU START
“Make sure you’ve got enough gas or charcoal, depending on what you’re using,” O’Donoghue says.
“And if you’re barbecuing on charcoal, it’s a good idea to have a charcoal chimney that you can
have some hot coals ready on standby – for when you’re slow-cooking something like brisket or ribs or leg of lamb – if the barbecue starts to get a bit cold.”
Having all your preparation done before you start cooking is also key, the chef says.
“Make sure you’ve got everything marinated. Marinades or rubs are really good with your favourite spices.
“Depending on what you’re marinating, generally longer is better if it’s meat, whereas seafood is quick ... about 30 minutes.
“For a steak rub, rub it all over
your steak about half an hour
before cooking.”
O’Donoghue says it’s also important to get your meat out of the fridge half an hour before cooking so it can come to room temperature, which will help stop the meat from becoming tough when cooking.
“And if you’ve got sauces you’re going to put on your meats, have them ready at hand so you can brush them on while you’re cooking. Have everything ready to go.”
SAFETY
A safety gas fuse is a must, Muller says. “It has an automatic shut-off, which will turn off your gas if something is wrong. It also tells you how much gas is left in the barbecue.”
WHAT TO COOK
“My thing is keep it simple. Go for gold with one thing,” O’Donoghue says. “If it’s prawns, do a load of them, if it’s fish, do a whole fish; if it’s ribs, take your time and do a really long cook. Make it the best rather than doing a lot of things half-heartedly.”
Meanwhile, Muller says there’s no going past smoked chicken.
“You just can’t beat a chicken spinning around on a rotisserie with different types of timber in a smoker box adding flavour,” he says.
“Rump steak in a cage is also
great and you can’t beat a sausage
in a cage spinning around for that crispy crunchy snag.”
WHAT TEMPERATURE
TO COOK IT AT
“In general you want to taper your barbecue from a hot section to a cooler section,” O’Donoghue says.
“If you cook sausages too high they just pop, so do them over a low to medium heat. And with meats, seal them on high and then move them down to the cooler part (of the barbecue) to cook through.”
And when trying to find the perfect temperature, Muller says you can’t rely on the arrow on the knob.
He says the difference between having your barbecue on low or high is just a 6mm turn of the knob, rather than the 30mm or so it looks like according to the markings on the dial. So if you think your barbie is on medium heat, it could be on high. He recommends watching the flame and trying to get to know your barbecue and where the different temperatures sit. A medium flame should be yellow with a slight orange tip.
“That’s where most people fail. You’ve got to learn knob control,” Muller says.
CHOOSING A COOKING SURFACE
Whether you cook on the flat plate
or grill is a matter of preference for
the most part, O’Donoghue says,
but some choices will make your
life easier.
“Chorizo is good on the grill because it gets more of that caramelisation and more of that smoky flavour,” he says. “Burgers are better on the flat plate so they don’t fall apart and you get the textural difference between the crunch on the exterior and the soft and juicy inside.
“For fish, it’s easier to manage on the flat plate because of the sticking factor. But you can cook it on the grill, just put down some of that silicone paper first and it won’t stick. The silicone paper is also good if you’re cooking for vegetarians as you can put your vegies on the paper and they won’t be contaminated by meat juice.”
For scallops and prawns, the flat plate is also best, the master says, while steaks work equally well on the grill or flat plate.
Muller’s hot tip for mastering the perfect dish is using the warming rack.
“A lot of people don’t realise the true potential of the rack,” he says.
“For a large piece of meat, you can sear it on the grill for about two minutes either side and then put it on the rack with the lid closed and cook for 15-20 minutes. Put a digital probe (thermometer) in and you can track exactly what is happening.”
The rack is also brilliant for sausages, says Muller, as is a barbecue cage on a rotisserie as it reduces the chance of burning the snags. If using the rack, he recommends having the heat turned up on just one side and putting the sausages on the rack on the opposite side to the heat and closing the lid. Chicken breast works equally well with this method.
HOW TO COOK IT
“Try not to fool around with your food too much,” O’Donoghue says.
“If you’re grilling things, don’t try to move them too much. Make sure they’re nicely sealed before you try to turn them or they’ll end up breaking up. I think you should seal it well on one side and then turn it over and cook it for about half the time on the other side.”
When it comes to smoking on the barbecue, O’Donoghue says “if you’re looking you’re not cooking”, meaning don’t constantly open the barbie lid to check on the food as you’ll be letting all the smoke escape. “Make sure there’s a nice steady stream of smoke coming out of your barbecue and long and slow is the way to go.”
He says brisket should take
8 hours, ribs 3-4 hours and a leg of lamb, 2-3 hours.
RESTING
O’Donoghue says it’s crucial to let meat rest for half the time it’s cooked for. For smaller pieces of meat, he recommends covering them loosely with foil on a tray; while larger pieces can be rested on the rack with the barbecue turned off and lid down.
“If (the meat) cools down too much, just whack it back on the barbecue for a flash and then it’s ready to go,” O’Donoghue says.
CLEAN UP
To get your barbie clean in under a minute, Muller suggests creating a
kit with Fat Soak – white pellets that soak up fat, canola oil, degreaser, steam clean pads and a
triangle-shaped steel wire brush, plus buying a barbecue cover.
“While the barbecue is still hot, dip the brush into oil and grease remover diluted with water and clean the barbecue,” Muller says.
Then a quick skim over with an
oil-coated steam pad will finish it off.
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