Page 18 - MAY 2020 Barbecue News Magazine

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Meathead, AmazingRibs.com
Temperature control is the most im- portant skill you can learn. Why? Be- cause the compounds in foods react differently to different levels of heat. For example, meats are composed of protein, water, fat, collagen, some sug- ars, and minerals, and each component changes drastically at different tem- peratures. Fats render at one temp, water evaporates at another, collagens melt at another, sugar caramelizes at another, the Maillard reaction (a.k.a. browning) occurs at another, and car- bonization (a.k.a. charring or burning) occurs at yet another temp. To cook the most delicious food, you need to control your cooking temp to match what you are cooking.
That’s why I recommend a two-zone
setup in almost every situation. The most common grilling mis- take is spreading coals across the bottom of the entire grill or turning on all the gas burners. That forces you to work quickly, flipping burgers and losing track of which went on first, rolling blackened hot dogs around, trying to tame flare-ups with a squirt gun, and sheepishly serving charred hockey pucks that are raw in the center.
Whether you're cooking on an El Cheapo Charcoal Grill from Wally World, a Super Stratoliner Stainless Steel Gas Grill from Williams of Napa, or a Texas Tinkermann Iron Tube Competitor
BarbecueNews.com - 18
MAY 2020
TWO-ZONE
HABIT
mounted on a trailer, most outdoor cooking works best with a two-zone setup. This method makes temperature control a breeze. One side of the grill is hot and produces radiant heat, while the other side produces no heat. The hot side is the direct heat zone, and the other side is the indirect heat zone, which remains cooler. Food placed on the cooler side cooks by convection heat wafting over from the hot side.
Using A Two-Zone Setup, You Can . .
Control the heat by keeping food in the indirect zone, where it is bathed in gentle convection heat, warming it slowly and evenly inside. You can also sear the heck out of it in the direct zone when we want a golden brown
and delicious crust. That’s how you win the day on the Fourth of July.
Gently smoke a big turkey or whole brisket in the indirect zone, evenly cooking the entire thing to juicy, tender perfection, and be the hero of Thanksgiving or Memorial Day.
Slowly bring a prime rib to medium-rare with no gray meat, get a perfectly crunchy crust, and become your mom’s favorite on Mother’s Day.
Start chickens over the indirect zone at a low temperature, cook them evenly throughout until they are almost done, then move them to the direct zone to crisp the skin, and bask in the glory at the church picnic.
Manage several foods at once when the thickness and water content of each is significantly different, causing them to cook at different rates. Put baking potatoes in the indirect zone for an hour, add lobster for the last 20 minutes, and then, 10 minutes before dinner, sear asparagus over the direct zone for an incredi- ble picnic on the beach.
You can cook the most tender ribs with a sweet dry rub in the indirect zone, and then move the ribs to the direct zone to
caramelize the sauce to finger-licking goodness and prove to Dad you turned out all right.