The secret to juicy, tender BBQ is patience. To make sure you get the most out of your meat, you need to be prepared for this long game. Let’s take a look at some tips that will help you make the barbecue process easier and more successful.
Table of Contents
Marinating
To marinate, you’ll need a zip-lock bag, or a nonreactive container (those made of glass, ceramic and stainless steel) that can be covered. Place the meat in the bag or container and pour in your chosen marinade. Seal the bag/container and refrigerate at least one hour—but eight hours is ideal.
If you’re using an all-purpose liquid marinade like soy sauce, teriyaki sauce or Worcestershire sauce as the base for your BBQ recipe—and not just adding them to it once you’ve cooked your meat—you can skip this step entirely by simply whisking together all of those ingredients with any other seasonings called for in your recipe before pouring them over your seasoned meat.
Reduce heat
- Use a thermometer. If you aren’t using a thermometer, then you shouldn’t be smoking.
- Use wood chips—but not charcoal briquettes or other additives that produce chemicals and gases that can cloud your meat with off flavors. You want to use clean, natural wood chips like oak or hickory or fruitwood like pecan or cherry wood. Read our guide to learning how to smoke if this is all new information for you!
- Use an indirect smoker with water pans and drip pans (or foil pans) between the heat source (charcoal) and the food being cooked so that it doesn’t turn into ash before it reaches its perfect temperature of about 225°F–250°F (110°C–120°C) for tender meats like chicken thighs, butts/ribs, brisket and pork shoulder/butt roasts etc., depending on how long they need to be smoked for).
- A few racks of ribs smoked over indirect heat will yield a fall-off-the-bone tenderness that could make even carnivores crave meat again after years without eating any due to health issues stemming from high fat content found in commercially prepared processed foods sold at supermarkets everywhere!
Dry rubs
Dry rubs can be as simple or complicated as you want them to be. A dry rub is a combination of spices and herbs that are mixed together with salt. This mixture can then be applied directly to the meat before cooking or after cooking, depending on your preference. For example, an easy dry rub for chicken would include salt, pepper and paprika while a more complex dry rub for beef might include garlic powder, chili powder and brown sugar. There are endless possibilities when it comes to creating your own unique spice blends!
Here’s an easy-to-follow recipe for one of my favorite dry rubs:
Salt (or kosher salt) – 1 tablespoon
Pepper – ½ teaspoon (you can use black pepper if you prefer)
Paprika – ¼ teaspoon
Garlic powder – ½ teaspoon
Fire up the smoker
When you’re ready to fire up the smoker, place a chimney starter full of charcoal briquettes in the bottom of your grill. Light them up and let them burn until they are covered with gray ash. This should take about 15 minutes or so.
Once they’re ashed-over, spread them out over half of your grill’s surface area (so that they cover about one-quarter of its total area). Close all vents on your smoker, put down the temperature to 225 degrees Fahrenheit (107 Celsius), and leave it alone for 45 minutes or so while it gets up to temperature. After this initial burnout period, open all vents and let the temperature climb slowly until it hits 225 again—this will take about an hour or so depending on how cold you started with.
Plan ahead
Planning is the key to success. No matter what you’re doing, if you don’t plan ahead, then it’s likely that things won’t go as well as they could have.
A plan is the first step towards a goal and can be used for any type of project or task: from writing a novel to cleaning out your closet or planning a vacation. You may already have some ideas about how you want to cook barbecue, but having a written plan will help organize those thoughts into something concrete and manageable. Whether it’s cooking on an indoor or outdoor grill, knowing the steps in advance will help ensure good results every time.
So before getting started with cooking your next meal outdoors, take some time to write down all of the steps necessary for preparing and cooking barbecue so that nothing gets forgotten during assembly at home (or while eating outdoors).
Tend to temperature
The temperature of your smoker is critical to cooking the meat. If you don’t have a thermometer, it’s best to use a smoker with a built-in digital one (like this one) or get an extra for the outside. Get the temperature between 225 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit for optimal results.
If the temperature is too high, your food will be burnt before it even gets done; if it’s too low, you’ll end up waiting forever for your meat to be done—and that’s no fun at all! For briskets, keep them between 200 and 230 degrees Fahrenheit; chicken breasts/legs should be cooked at temperatures over 275 degrees Fahrenheit; pork butt should cook at 225-250 degrees Fahrenheit; while ribs will need higher temps ranging from 250-275 degrees Fahrenheit depending on how much fat they have around them (the more fat equals higher temperatures).
Don’t peek
Opening the lid too often will cause your food to lose heat, moisture and smoke. Plus, it takes time for all that precious internal cooking goodness to build up again if you open the oven door constantly (and it will take a long time). If you need to check on how things are going inside your smoker or grill, go ahead and lift the lid but do so sparingly—once every 10-15 minutes is enough. Just remember: Slow and steady wins this race!
Keep it covered
Now that you’ve got the right equipment, it’s time to get started. To keep the smoke in, use a smoker cover. The best covers are made of metal—not plastic—with grommets or eyelets around the edges that let air escape while allowing moisture in. They can be purchased at any home improvement store or online and come in many sizes, so make sure to measure your grill first! When you’re ready to cook an amazing meal, simply place your covered grill on a level surface (you may want someone there for support if it’s big). Then get ready for some serious barbecue bliss!
To keep the moisture in and prevent moisture loss from evaporation during smoking or baking foods such as meat and fish: place aluminum foil over all openings of your smoker before starting cooking; this will also help reduce odors as well as insects entering through vents if outdoors
Salt directly before serving
Salt is a flavor enhancer, but it also enhances the look and taste of food by drawing out moisture and making meat more tender. Salt helps to break down connective tissue, which makes for better texture in your dishes.
Know that when you season meat with salt before cooking, the salt draws out water from within the muscle fibers. This can cause some shrinkage in size (in other words, it’s not going to be as big once you cook it). For this reason, when cooking in a slow cooker or oven—which cooks at lower temperatures than grilling—you may want to add less salt than usual when seasoning before throwing on the heat
Slow and steady wins the race when BBQ-ing.
Get the most out of your BBQ-ing by following these simple tips. First, you’ll want to use indirect heat when cooking your meat. That means you’ll need to have a smoker box (or two) going on one side of the grill while keeping the other side cool. This is because, as mentioned above, grilling over direct heat will cause your steaks and birds to burn and dry out quickly.
Second, lower temperatures are key when it comes to smoking meat in order for it not only to retain moisture but also absorb flavor from whatever spices or marinades you’ve used in preparation before getting off work tomorrow night. Thirdly (and this one is pretty obvious), make sure that whatever cut of beef or poultry remains moist throughout its entire cooking process—which may take several hours depending on its size—by using either a meat probe or thermometer so that once it hits an internal temperature between 140°F (60°C) and 160°F (71°C), it’s safe for consumption!
Conclusion
So now you’re ready to take your grilling skills to the next level. You have all the tools, tips and tricks at your disposal, but don’t forget that there are some things that just can’t be rushed. Patience is the key to a perfect charcoal-grilled steak or juicy leg of lamb—don’t be afraid to wait a little longer if it means getting it right in the end!
