Millard Hiner asked:


t of barbequing has risen to a different level in recent years with the revived interest in genuine wood fired cooking. Instead of using the traditional briquette or gas fired grill we are finding much more satisfaction cooking over real wood such as alder, oak, mesquite or whatever good cooking hardwood is available where we live. For centuries bread has been baked in wood fired ovens made out of masonry, stone or steel and the secret to thick crunchy crust is held therein. It is a well known fact that wood fired cooking is and always has been the key to many cooking secrets. It is no wonder that every chateau or manor visited in France has a wood fired cooking system. The flavor, the smoke, and the heat is unsurpassed and those of us who love cooking good food continue to search for a way that will take us back to that quality and simplicity.

For years, in the South, a tradition of luscious smoked meats from Texas beef to Carolina’s pork has been a part of Americana. Could there be a way of combining the essence of smoking with qualities that would allow us to cook bread in the same system? It is indeed the wood fired pizza oven. We have the cooking process outdoors on those warm summer evenings and we can enjoy great pizza, the way we like it, with the crust of Spain and flavor that takes us and our guests to an experience of the old country. And when we want to cook our favorite meat we can do it slowly with a thick smoke surrounding it forming itself into a savory offering for our guests as we work our way through a memorable dinner reminiscent of a night on the Loire River in the midst of France.

Outdoor pizza ovens come in several different forms for the serious follower of old world cooking. The traditional Italian wood fired pizza oven is often built into a deck or patio system as a gathering place and conversation piece around which real quality food can be enjoyed in an intimate setting. This system, because of the need for fairly sophisticated masonry work, can be expensive and many times the average food lover cannot afford such a system. The other choice is a steel, free standing wood fired pizza oven like ours which requires no special masonry work or installment and can be used right from the box.

Using old fashioned convection styled heating, one simply builds a fire in the firebox and waits for the oven to heat to temperature. All the controls of a wood stove are provided with the unit to control and encourage the fire so that it lights easily and heats to temperature safely and trouble free. When the oven has reached the correct cooking temperature it can be used to roast meat, bake pizza, bake bread, and anything imaginable. Our outdoor pizza oven has a method to divert the smoke from the flavored wood to the oven to enhance the taste. At times, such as bread baking time, the wood smoke needs to be channeled out the chimney so as not to affect the essence of the creation. Not only does it make real wood cooking available to the average person but it provides a very attractive addition to your deck or patio as you entertain.

Outdoor pizza ovens bring back the enjoyment of the process of cooking with wood. Having your own personal pizza oven outside on a beautiful summer evening, in your own intimate setting, with good friends or family, will make for a memorable experience that you and your guests will long remember.

Jaden Santon asked:


The best way to find the kind of barbecue cooked the way you wanted is to get yourself stainless steel barbecue grill and tools.

What could be more satisfying than having your own stainless steel barbecue grill? For barbecue enthusiasts, possessing a barbecue grill is a necessity. Why? It is because they love barbecue so much that every time they crave for one, they don’t have to go to any barbecue restaurants that don’t even meet their standards of a mouth-watering, finger-licking, and lip-smacking barbecue. How would you want your barbecue? Have you found the best barbecue you’ve ever tasted and wishing to get one anytime you like? You will get all these things you wanted from a barbecue if you have an outdoor stainless steel barbecue grill. If you have one, you can have freedom and luxury to indulge yourself with a scrumptious barbecue. It’s as easy as that!

Stainless steel barbecue grills come with different brands, sizes, durability, features, functions, and definitely price. There are many brands of stainless steel barbecue grills all claiming to have the best ones in the market, like Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, Viking, Electrolux, and many more. At home portfolio, you can check the various brands and designs of stainless steel barbecue grills. You can visit at their website at www.homeportfolio dot com, or at www.radekey dot com for your additional search of barbecue grills that’s perfect for you.

Stainless steel barbecue grills are perfect for lifetime use. They are designed to last and can withstand to any weather and will not rust even in coastal climates. There’s not much to do in keeping these equipment clean, since they are stainless steel made, no too much cleaning is required. The features of the stainless steel made equipment are what set them apart to the rest of the barbecue grills available in the market. It is so practical to own something that you can make the best out from them for a long time. It’s what you call value for your money. So, if you plan on buying barbecue grill, make it stainless steel barbecue grill.

If you have your stainless steel barbecue grill already whether electric or gas, match it with stainless steel barbecue tools, like tongs, spatula, forks, and scrapers to complete your barbeque equipment set. You can’t ask for more if you are equipped with stainless steel barbecue grill and tools for you can easily throw a barbecue party anytime you want. Weekends will become something to look forward to for families and friends with barbecue grills.

Whether it’s a get-together, birthday celebration, or any other celebrations, barbecuing is going to be more fun than you ever had. It makes a lot of difference if you own a stainless steel barbecue grill. The benefits you can get are too many that it’s worth keeping one close by.. So, wait no more and get yourself a barbecue grill that lasts a lifetime- not any ordinary grill, but a stainless- steel- made. 

The best way to find the kind of barbecue cooked the way you wanted is to get yourself stainless steel barbecue grill and tools.

What could be more satisfying than having your own stainless steel barbecue grill? For barbecue enthusiasts, possessing a barbecue grill is a necessity. Why? It is because they love barbecue so much that every time they crave for one, they don’t have to go to any barbecue restaurants that don’t even meet their standards of a mouth-watering, finger-licking, and lip-smacking barbecue. How would you want your barbecue? Have you found the best barbecue you’ve ever tasted and wishing to get one anytime you like? You will get all these things you wanted from a barbecue if you have an outdoor stainless steel barbecue grill. If you have one, you can have freedom and luxury to indulge yourself with a scrumptious barbecue. It’s as easy as that!

Stainless steel barbecue grills come with different brands, sizes, durability, features, functions, and definitely price. There are many brands of stainless steel barbecue grills all claiming to have the best ones in the market, like Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, Viking, Electrolux, and many more. At home portfolio, you can check the various brands and designs of stainless steel barbecue grills. You can visit at their website at www.homeportfolio dot com, or at www.radekey dot com for your additional search of barbecue grills that’s perfect for you.

Stainless steel barbecue grills are perfect for lifetime use. They are designed to last and can withstand to any weather and will not rust even in coastal climates. There’s not much to do in keeping these equipment clean, since they are stainless steel made, no too much cleaning is required. The features of the stainless steel made equipment are what set them apart to the rest of the barbecue grills available in the market. It is so practical to own something that you can make the best out from them for a long time. It’s what you call value for your money. So, if you plan on buying barbecue grill, make it stainless steel barbecue grill.

If you have your stainless steel barbecue grill already whether electric or gas, match it with stainless steel barbecue tools, like tongs, spatula, forks, and scrapers to complete your barbeque equipment set. You can’t ask for more if you are equipped with stainless steel barbecue grill and tools for you can easily throw a barbecue party anytime you want. Weekends will become something to look forward to for families and friends with barbecue grills.

Whether it’s a get-together, birthday celebration, or any other celebrations, barbecuing is going to be more fun than you ever had. It makes a lot of difference if you own a stainless steel barbecue grill. The benefits you can get are too many that it’s worth keeping one close by.. So, wait no more and get yourself a barbecue grill that lasts a lifetime- not any ordinary grill, but a stainless- steel- made.

The technique of indirect cooking is essentially a slow roasting process which guarantees a tender result. When you think about it it’s pretty logical. The definition of indirect cooking is where the heat is not directly applied to the turkey as opposed to a grill where the turkey is seared directly over the charcoal barbecue grill.

In my house it’s always down to me to cook the turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas and every year I read a bucket load of recipe books and everyone says something different. My biggest complaint is that most of the voices of authority for traditional cooking out there always overdo it and the ****** is dry however there is a way to keep the turkey moist and this is why I go for indirect cooking on a barbecue smoker. If a direct barbecue grill is however your thing then you’ll be better going for turkey grill recipes and choose some sliced ******.

Don’t be tempted to go overboard looking for additional flavourings, the smoker will impart all the flavour you need so there’s not much more to add than the basic seasoning, the real challenge is to keep the turkey moist through the cooking process. If you, go for a relatively small bird around 9 – 12 lbs (5 or 6kg) you’ll make life easier for yourself, after that, try my two tips:-

Melt 100g / 4 oz of butter in a pot and add a tablespoon of oil – this baste will give all the flavour of the butter without burning it. In addition I like to part the skin from the flesh by gently sliding my hand up from the neck and smear some butter up there but if you do fancy trying this, do be gentle so that you don’t break the skin.

The second technique I use is to inject the turkey with the butter / oil mix. Use a meat injector (essentially a syringe with a metal capillary attached – as opposed to a needle), gently **** up the butter oil mix and then inject it carefully into the ******. Then it’s just a matter of seasoning with salt and pepper and basting and then place ****** side up on the BBQ smoker.

You may be able to get away with a large kettle barbecue but essentially an offset smoker or a kamado barbecue such as a Big Green Egg is ideal. After that is just medium coals and indirect heat @ 225°F or 110°C, a drip tray in the bottom with a couple of tablespoons of water and you’re well on the way. It may be necessary to use foil to shield the sides but that really depends on your barbecue. Just cover and baste every 30 minutes or so with the butter / oil mix and 3½ hours later you should have the perfect Thanksgiving barbecue turkey.

The best test for me is not how long it’s been cooked but a skewer test for clear running juice in the ****** and legs or a thermometer and look for an internal temperature of 165 °F. If it’s not quite ready just give it another 30 minutes and a baste and try again.

Mary asked:


Barbecue. The secrets of the Greek way !

I have taste grilled meats around the world. Before i will guide you to the various technologies (gas barbecues, charcoal barbecues, Mongolian, sauces, recipes ) i will tell you about the Greek way. We Greeks like good food so i will start from the meat. Whatever the technology, the recipe and the sauce, if the meat is from a producer which feeds his animals the traditional way the taste will be superb. Period.

There is no equivalent of a natural rosen meat of beef ,lamp or pork. The taste is magic ! If you come for holidays in Greece you will see in the morning or in the afternoon the old lady with the two or three cows , or goats. These animals will be served in the local taverna. For this meat i am talking about. If we talk about the islands where the goats are drinking sea water and eating the local wild weeds we are talking about a superior quality meat almost presalted.

If you ever go in CRETE taste it, you will remember my words. In case you will visit northern Greece try local Veal stake. You can locate the good food where you will see no foreigners at all.

So lets move around Athens and check the best ones. One of the best barbecue tavern in Athens area is Telis in Evripidou Str.

Telis is the master of pork chops. This is his specialty. If you order for a plate you will notice about four to five pieces above fried potatoes. He is all day open and very economical also. Its a kind of fast pork steak food. It is a must taste since you visit Athens. Another must taste is Thanasis kebab souvlaki in Thision. It is mixed lamp and veal chopped meat over charcoals. You may eat a plate of four of them , with grilled tomatoes, or you might taste the traditional way in a pita. Any way its very difficult to eat only one. If you like hot papers ask them.

One more must eat souvlaki in Athens is LEIBADIA in kANIGOS SQUARE. There you can have the traditional pork souvlaki with all the village bread you can eat. They produce all day long so whenever you will be there you will taste it straight from the charcoals.

All around Greece we like to barbecue on charcoals. The device we choose must be proven in producing our favorite taste. Our meat are premarinated with olive oil, salt, pepper, origanon. During grill we add a little of olive oil-salt-origanon mix in order to produce the tasty smell, which gives this delicious aromatic taste to the meat.

The fire must be strong but not so strong to provoke fires under the meat. For this purpose we have a bottle of vinegar to extinguish it in case of. We add fresh lemon just before we consume them. We don’t take out the fat before we grill our meat because we like the taste of the smoked meat.

One more famous place for barbecue souvlaki is the Corinth bridge. This is the bridge which you enter Peloponnesus. Do not pass the bridge and miss the taste of this souvlaki. Thousands of people stop every day to taste this local delicacy.

For more informations about barbecue ,sauces, tecnichs around the world check our site www.barbecue.info-24hour.com

and “KALI OREXI” meaning have a nice apetite in Greeks.

Mary

I’ve seen many lists about wood chips and what meats best accompany them and it’s always struck me that this is approaching the problem for the wrong side. The wood chip is choosing the food and in my book it should be the food choosing the wood chip! So when you scroll down to view my list it’s written in a way that hopefully will allow you to decide on your barbecue recipes first and let the flavouring follow. To be honest, hickory takes a lot of beating (especially on ribs) but there’s an incredible variety of wood chips to choose from these days so it’s worth experimenting a little.

The idea behind smoking is that wood burns when heated but by reducing the oxygen available to the fire, the wood smokes rather than burns so by adding wood chips to your barbecue smoker, a beautiful range of flavours can be imparted to meat or fish. The best wood to use is “green wood” ie. wood that’s not fully dried out because green wood burns at a higher temperature, it makes more smoke than aged wood and it lasts a long time. When buying wood chips in a bag it’s important to soak the wood for 30 minutes to get moisture into it before popping it on the coals.

One last tip from me before the list:-

If you have a BBQ grill rather than a smoker, try wrapping some wood chips in aluminum foil and then puncture the foil a few times with a fork or the point of a skewer. Pop the foil pack in hot coals and see what you think but do try with one of the stronger smokes otherwise you’re unlikely to notice any difference.

The following chips are good with all kinds of meat so it’s good have some in stock:-

Acacia – a strong smoke

Almond – sweet and nutty (as you’d expect)

Apricot – mild and sweet and an interesting alternative to Hickory (just a little milder)

Cherry – sweet & fruity

Cottonwood – a very subtle flavour, worth a try but not my favorite

Grape Vine – beautifully aromatic and sweet if you can get hold of it

Nectarine – again similar to hickory but sweeter and quite mild just like the Apricot

Peach – slightly sweet flavour

Pecan – strong smoke similar to oak but just a little more gentle

Plum – similar to hickory but milder and sweeter

For red meat try the following:-

Grapefruit – a good medium smoke with a fruity note

Lemon – again medium smoke with a light fruit aroma

Mesquite – strong and earthy so try it with beef

Mulberry – beautifully sweet apple flavour

Oak – really heavy smoke so definitely one for beef

Orange – another fruity one with medium smoke

Lamb of course is a red meat so any all in the above category can be used but I’ve got one recommendation dedicated to lamb:-

Lilac – it’s light and subtle with a floral hint

Pork:-

Alder – supremely sweet

Apple – sweet with dense fruity smoke

Birch – strong and earthy

Grapefruit – medium smoke with a fruity hint

Hickory – the original pungent smoky bacon flavour ready for your ribs

Lemon – medium smoke with a light fruit aroma

Maple – strong and earthy

Mulberry – beautifully sweet apple flavour, pork and apple goes so well together

Nectarine – similar to hickory but sweeter and quite mild and still good for ribs

Oak – a really heavy smoke so go easy

Orange – medium smoke with a light fruit hint

Pear – Another one with a slightly sweet flavour

Plum – similar to hickory but milder and sweeter, compare it with Nectarine

Most wood chips have now already had a mention further up but that doesn’t mean they don’t go well with Poultry:-

Alder – sweet

Birch – strong and earthy

Grapefruit – medium smoke & lightly fruity

Lemon – again medium smoke with a light fruit aroma

Mulberry – sweet apple flavour

Orange – more medium smoke with a light fruit hint

Pear – another one with a slightly sweet flavour

Game, generally strong smokes for strong flavoured meats, but there are some exceptions:-

Alder – sweet

Apple – sweet with dense fruity smoke

Maple – strong and earthy

Mulberry – beautifully sweet apple flavour

Oak – really heavy smoke

Pear – sweet flavour compare it with Alder

Walnut – very heavy smoke and can be bitter so put it with a strong well hung meat

Fish sometimes works well lightly smoked and sometimes it’s good to go for a really heavy smoke

Alder – sweet

Apple – sweet with dense fruity smoke

Ash – light and distinctive flavour, it burns fast so ideal for fish

Lilac – light and subtle with a floral hint, fantastic on seafood

Oak – really heavy smoke

I’ve got two recommendations for Vegetables both of which are strong and earthy:-

Maple

Mesquite

Hopefully that’s given you a few ideas to try at your next barbecue, just don’t forget to soak them before putting them on the coals. Happy smoking!

Barbecue Smoker Recipe Man asked:


It’s interesting to note that before Henry Ford made the BBQ grill popular by link selling it to his cars with the vision of day trips and pic-nics, charcoal was nothing but a waste product left over from the recovery of acetic acid and methanol. In the early 1900’s after more efficient and less expensive methods were developed for synthesizing acetic acid and methanol, charcoal production declined only to be revitalized by the development of the briquette for recreational cooking.

Converted to mass production by Ford in the 1920’s charcoal briquettes are made of two primary ingredients, one of which is basically traditional lump wood charcoal referred to a char. It is added to give the briquette its wood smoke aroma and also because it’s easy to ignite. The other not surprisingly is coal or anthracite which is added to produce a high temperature and long lasting fire.

Ash whitening agent is added to let the chef know when the BBQ is ready to cook on (and still people burn their food by not being sufficiently patient!) The final ingredients are a starch binding agent and an accelerant.

The first steps in the manufacturing of briquettes are to prepare both the char and the coal and this is done by different methods of controlled burning that drive off the moisture and volatile components. Once complete the finished products are pulverized ready for blending.

To make the briquette, the char and the coal is mixed in the correct proportions with the starch binder and fed into a blender where it is thoroughly mixed. Despite having been desiccated, the mix still has significant water content and this is necessary to help form the briquettes.

The briquettes are formed and dropped on a conveyor where they pass through a further drying process but being heated up from 40°C to 135°C for approximately four hours. During this process the moisture content of the briquette will reduce from about 35% to 5% and at the end they will either be stored or pass directly through to an on line bagging machine.

It depends on the final product specification but it’s at the bagging stage that organic solvent may be added (using an atomizer) just before bagging and this produces instant light briquettes. Usually these are put into smaller paper bags so that the barbecue enthusiast can simply pick up an individually wrapped pack and light the paper without having to remove the briquettes from the bag.

Because of the use of fossil fuel in the manufacture of briquettes and the various heat drying processes involved it’s arguable that lump wood charcoal is more environmentally friendly however two points have to be borne in mind.

The first is that the drying process drives off volatile gases and these gases can be used to fuel the driers themselves. Whether this is completely sustainable I would doubt however the modern briquette manufacturers do take the environment seriously and now manufacture their char from wood shavings and sawdust i.e. the waste products of the lumber industry.

So whether your choice is lump wood or briquettes not only can you claim to be a traditionalist, you can also be content in the knowledge that you’re more environmentally friendly than your gas grilling neighbor. Well at least you’ll know your facts and can argue the point!

Barbecue Smoker Recipe Man asked:


I’m never more delighted than when I get invited to a barbecue cookout at a friends house, not only because it’s the way of cooking that I prefer but also because it’s a great opportunity to have a chin wag and a glass of “pop” with folks that I maybe only get to see once or twice a year.

I’m really fortunate to be part of a great bunch of lads, one group from my school days and another set from university and everyone gets on really well together. We all live in different areas of the country so it’s difficult to keep the contact and a barbecue cookout in the summer sure helps. It keeps all the kids outdoors as well which saves on the clearing up!

Friends for over twenty years, barbecue parties every summer yet still no one can cook a decent grill. I’m delighted to attend but as I turn up my eyes suddenly dilate with horror seeing chicken wings dowsed in flames and worst of all, one of my friends expecting me to eat them!

It’s probably no wonder that as soon as I turn up I wrestle the tongs off him and get the whole food rack far away from the grill for a good 15 minutes and let everything settle down.

The flames appear because the coals are not ready, fat starts to drip and up it goes! The more flames, the more fat and the more fat, the more flames. Food black on the outside, raw on the inside. Have you been there? Well here are my recommendations so that you never have to go there again.

Whether it’s a charcoal or gas barbecue grill it’s all about patience and the preparation of the coals. In a gas grill, the flames heat up the lava bricks and it’s the bricks that radiate the heat to cook the food so the simple tips for gas:-

1. Give it time and gas on full whack to get the coals up to temperature.

2. When the coals are hot and you’re ready to cook, turn the gas down just to maintain the temperature in the coals and keep them well away from the food.

Despite me saying be patient, gas is still wonderfully quick and convenient to have a barbecue but never should it be instant. Anyway, why hurry?

For charcoal barbecue grills there’s a certain knack to preparing the fire:-

1. Pile up the charcoal to get it all burning at the same pace

2. Coals are ready when they are white (not black)

3. Before cooking, spread the coals out and don’t worry, they will still give off heat.

4. Start off with the food rack on its maximum height and bring it down gradually.

5. If you’re cooking on a kettle, remember to reduce the aperture of the bottom draft.

Not only does it take patience to get the perfect BBQ but it also takes time and experience – some of my friends clearly haven’t mastered it after 20 years! So please don’t give up, it really is worth the effort when you get it right.

One final tip whilst you’re in training – put your food in a barbecue basket. If you do get some flames you can lift large quantities of food simultaneously off the grill without too much hassle.

So now you have the barbecue smoker recipes for success enjoy your BBQ this summer!

Gayle Hartley asked:


When the weather is fine, there is nothing quite like having a barbecue and eating al fresco, everything seems to taste better and cooking outdoors is a real pleasure.

Unlike the UK however, Andalucia basks in over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year which means that cooking on the barbecue, whether just for yourself or for family and friends, is almost an everyday occurrence.

In fact during the summer months, many people rarely cook indoors and extensive outdoor summer kitchens are a feature of many gardens and patios.

Even in December, we regularly eat outdoors at lunchtime, you need a jumper or two but the warm winter sun and clear bright blue skies are just so inviting.

Barbecue cooking in Andalucia is very different to the typical Bank Holiday affair in the UK with Dads serving up burnt black sausages which are a little too pink in the middle. There are no gas barbecues and we never, ever put things in the oven to keep warm…..

The design of barbecues you can see varies hugely, a few people buy theirs but most people prefer to have them built or they build their own and these are the most interesting. They range from simple functional ones built out of brick, rustic style ones like ours made out of stone, which we just made up as we went along. There are lovely smooth sculpted ones with high chimneys that seem to blend in to the surrounding area. Of course there are the more professional ones with different levelled grills and two compartments either back to back so wind direction doesn’t matter, or side by side. Both of these ‘double’ style barbecues allow you to cook different things at once such as meat on one side and vegetables on the other, or you can transfer the hot coals from one side to the other as they become ready so that you always have a constant supply of the perfect ‘brasa.’ Whichever style you see they are always big enough to take a large paella pan which is very important.

The key to a perfect barbecue is of course, the brasa or hot coals. To get it just right the fuel of choice is wood, a mixture of pine and olive or almond. Charcoal is almost never used. The use of natural wood means you get lovely chunks of hot glowing red coals which give off just the right amount of heat. The added advantage to using olive or almond wood is that the food produced is slightly smoky in flavour with earthy hints and if you add some rosemary or thyme to the wood the smell and taste is naturally herby and delicate.

It can sometimes take up to two hours to get the brasa just right but that gives you enough time to have an aperitif or a few tapas with friends while you wait.

Sometimes barbecue cooking conjures up images of burgers and sausages which are black on the outside and raw in the middle but that needn’t be the case at all. Here in Andalucia, the people have a passion for outdoor life, healthy eating and social occasions so the typical food of andalucian barbecues is always fresh, exciting and varied. Almost anything can be cooked outdoors and in true andalucian style family and friends get together to prepare a variety of dishes rich in colour and flavour to create a perfect atmosphere every time.

This doesn’t mean however, that you need to splash out on expensive ingredients, quite the contrary in fact. People here are experts at creating delicious dishes using fresh local produce at very little cost.

Barbecued chicken is a favourite and it is much more economical to buy a whole chicken and get your butcher to joint it for you which is what the locals here usually do. A typical way to barbecue chicken here is once you have all the separate cuts, marinade the pieces in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and thyme for a couple of hours. The marinade, as well as producing a lovely flavour, helps keep the meat moist during cooking and if you keep the cuts small it takes hardly any time which avoids burnt outsides and raw centres.

Other popular marinades for meat are honey and lemon or mustard and orange. However, nothing beats a pork or lamb chop or sausages and burgers simply cooked on the barbecue. Chops are generally cut really thin in Andalucia which means quick cooking and things don’t get burnt. A favourite way to barbecue sausages is to roll them up and then skewer straight through with a sprig of rosemary or thyme for natural sausage skewers.

Being close to the coast, fish is obviously a favourite barbecue dish and everything from quick seared sardines or prawns to fresh tuna steaks are cooked on the barbecue. Tuna stuffed with mint, wrapped in foil is a lovely treat but my favourites by far have to be gambas al pil-pil and the Spanish paella, either the seafood or rabbit and chicken varieties which can all be cooked on the barbecue.

But the barbecue doesn’t have to mean meat or fish with a side salad, many vegetable dishes can be prepared the same way as meat dishes. Baked potatoes are lovely cooked in the hot embers of your barbecue and if you put some olive oil, thyme and garlic in before cooking they are simply delicious. Vegetable kebabs are an obvious favourite too and if you have some good cazuelas you can do garlic mushrooms in olive oil which are prepared in a similar way to gambas al pil-pil. A typical vegetable dish eaten especially in the summer is ‘escalibada’ which is tomatoes, red peppers and onions which are cooked on the barbecue grill until soft in the middle. It doesn’t matter if the skins are a bit black as it all adds to the flavour and the skin is discarded anyway. Once cooked and peeled, chop them up, mix them together, add some salt and a drizzle of olive oil and that’s it. The beauty of this dish is that it can be eaten hot or cold so you can prepare it in advance if you wish.

During the summer, the best time to have your barbecue is in the evening – often it is just too hot at lunch time anyway. The best thing about evening barbecues is the atmosphere. Garden lights or outdoor candles create a really warm, friendly feeling and after the meal what better way to relax than to put some more wood on the fire, sit back in the warm glow and watch the stars…

Barbecue Smoker Recipe Man asked:


The history and tradition of charcoal burning goes back thousands of years and there’s something magical about cooking on a charcoal barbecue grill.

Charcoal is the traditional fuel for barbecues because it produces a hot, long-lasting fire that is virtually smokeless. The fundamentals of charcoal manufacture is the burning of wood in a low-oxygen atmosphere, a process that drives out the moisture and volatile gases present in the original fuel. The elimination of the moisture reduces the weight of the fuel by up to 70% and the resulting charred material also burns for much longer than the original piece of wood.

Charcoal has been manufactured since pre-historic times and we know this following the discovery of a ancient body in a melting glacier in the Tyrolean Alps. Scientists dated the remains of the man back approximately 5,000 years and they also found that he had been carrying a small box of charred wood wrapped in leaves. The scientists deduced that the charred wood was probably smouldering and what the man would use to start a fire because apart from this box, he was not carrying any other fire starting materials such as a flint.

Even 6,000 years ago, charcoal was the preferred fuel for smelting copper and this continued to be the case for iron as well even as late as the 17th century when charcoal was superseded by coke. Charcoal also remained popular in many other industries much later primarily because of the abundance of forests in many areas and the process of coppicing made it a sustainable resource. Something that we should consider in this age of global warming – many environmentalists see wood and charcoal as carbon neutral because of the ability of trees to grow and absorb the greenhouse gasses. Charcoal has been used for domestic heating and maybe we should start to use it more in chimineas rather than the gas powered patio heater?

The ultimate transition of charcoal from a heating and industrial fuel to a recreational cooking material took place around 1920 when Henry Ford created the charcoal briquette. The business proved extremely profitable for Ford because the charcoal briquettes were manufactured out of waste wood from the car plants and his sideline business also encouraged recreational use of cars for picnic outings – great link selling! In fact BBQ grills and Ford Charcoal were sold at Ford dealerships as well.

The retort method is used to produce charcoal briquettes and it involves passing wood through a series of hearths or ovens and the major revolution is that it is a continuous process rather than having to be made in discrete batches as with traditional lump wood charcoal. The traditional method of charcoal production was by piling wood in a pyramid and covering it with dirt, turf, or ashes, leaving air vents around the base and a chimney at the top. The wood was then set alight and allowed to burn slowly and once complete the air vents were then covered up so the pyramid would cool.

I guess the benefits of briquette manufacture are attractive to the manufacturing business man but there’s something magical about the batch production of lump wood charcoal. Different stages in the process are indicated by different colors of smoke as the moisture is driven off and there’s an element of skills being passed from father to son. Maybe I’m being too sentimental but whenever I’m cooking on charcoal I always feel safe in the knowledge that a traditional industry is propagating.