Page 19 - MAY 2020 Barbecue News Magazine

Prevent food from burning
whether it's a sweet slab of pineapple or that one steak that seems to finish cooking before the rest. Just move the food from the direct zone to the indi- rect zone to hold it without burning or overcooking.
Grill Size Matters—So Does A Lid
Two-zone cooking only works with a lid to trap heat from the direct zone and send it over to the indirect zone. With the lid down, your outdoor grill func- tions more like an oven, greatly expanding your cooking options.
You'll need a grill with enough
surface area to create both cook-
ing zones and leave ample space in the indirect zone to cook your food. For gas grills, having at least two burners is ideal—three or four is even better. While gas grills that use infrared technology may be great for searing, it's hard to get two distinct heat zones on them unless the infrared burner is limited to one side of the grill only.
Remember: You never want to crowd a grill. Try to leave at least 1/2 inch space between foods being cooked. As a rule of thumb, a 4-inch burger needs about 25 square inches of grill space. While a typical 22-inch Weber Kettle grill can handle about 15 burgers across the entire surface, with a two-zone setup, it can only han- dle half that, 7 or 8 burgers. Similarly, a whole chicken cut into parts takes up about 144 square inches, but you need a total of 288 square inches to cook the chicken properly with a two-zone setup. When cooking veggies or other sides as well, then you may need more space.
If you're shopping for a new grill, here's how to estimate the total grill space you'll need to accommodate two-zone cooking. Plan on 72 square inches per person—about 9 by 8 inches, or the size of a dinner plate—to cook a whole meal for a single person, then dou- ble that for two-zone cooking. Now with 144 square inches per person, multiply that by how many people you normally cook for, and don’t forget the Fourth of July party. For a family of four, 144 x 4 = 576 square inches of total grill space. Take your total number with you when you go shopping.
Most charcoal and gas grills easily accommodate two-zone cook- ing, but ceramic grills and smokers are not ideal. Their tall, round funnel shape puts the charcoal dead center, so it is not easy to set up two distinct cooking zones. Some of these cookers come with a deflector plate that sits between the coals and the food so you can do indirect cooking (and you will definitely need the deflector for smoking). But then you have to remove the deflector to switch to direct cooking and vice versa. When a ceramic cooker is hot, this maneuver can be tricky. It is not as quick and easy as sliding a steak from side to side as you can on a conventional gas or char- coal grill with a two-zone setup.
If You Have a Kettle, Get a Slow 'N Sear
One of the easiest and most effective ways to do two-zone cook-
ing on a kettle grill is with a Slow 'N Sear. This gizmo fits into the lower half of the kettle and divides it into two distinct heat zones. Hot charcoal goes on one side, wood for smoking goes on top of the charcoal, and water goes in the built-in water trough. A steel plate blocks your meat from direct exposure to the heat, and the water trough adds humidity. You can even place meat on the lower (char- coal) and upper (cooking) grates simultaneously, so it is possible to get eight to ten slabs of ribs smoking in the kettle at once. Put on the lid, adjust the dampers, and go drink a beer. The Slow ’N Sear pumps out aromatic smoke at just the right
low-and-slow temperature for several hours. You can cook just about anything the fancy-schmancy smokers can smoke. I’ve had no trouble keeping the temperature under 250°F on 100°F days.
Master These Two Temperatures
With a two-zone setup and only two target temperatures, you can grill and smoke everything from juicy steaks and amazing ribs to tender brisket and the Thanksgiving turkey. Just fire up your grill or smoker, put the lid down, and adjust the temp to stabilize the indirect zone at one of these two vital temperatures: 225° or 325°F. At 225°F, you can roast low and slow with indirect convec- tion heat, perfect for tough cuts like ribs, brisket, and pork shoul- der. At 325°F, you can crisp chicken and turkey skins and evade the dreaded stall. Once you nail these two target temperatures in the indirect zone, you’ll be able to cook all types of food in your cooker all year round.
Meathead is the barbecue whisperer who founded Amazingribs.com, by far the world's most popular outdoor cooking website. He is the author of "Meathead, The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling," a New York Times Best Seller that was also named one of the "100 Best Cookbooks of All Time" by Southern Living magazine. This article was excerpted and modified from his book. More on his book here: https://amazingribs.com/book. For 3000+ free pages of great barbe- cue and grilling info, visit AmazingRibs.com and take a free 30 day trial membership in the Pitmaster Club.
MAY 2020
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