Fire It Up - Andrew Schloss [8]
No Grill Grate
With indirect grilling, spit-roasting, wrapping, and planking, the food gets progressively farther away from the heat. But we have to confess: we love what fire does to food. Sometimes we dispense with all accessories—even the grill grate—to bring the food closer to the fire. For example, we tested the Preserved Lemon and Lamb Kebobs two ways. First we grilled the skewers of ground lamb directly on the grill grate. The next time we made the dish, we removed the grate and suspended the skewers over the fire with the skewer ends resting on bricks. The latter method eliminated sticking and gave the lamb a clean, fire-kissed flavor. On a gas grill, you can remove the grill grate and place the bricks directly on your heat diffuser (the metal plates, flavorizer bars, or lava rocks above the burner); then suspend the skewers over the bricks.
Sometimes “closer to the fire” isn’t close enough. Firm vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and beets taste completely delicious when cooked right in the fire. Nestle these vegetables in hot coals and the skins will blister and char, sending wonderfully smoky aromas deep into the flesh. When it’s cooked to fork-tenderness, cut the vegetable in half, dollop with some seasoned butter, and scoop the fire-roasted vegetable from its toasted jacket. Yum! Meat and fish work well on the coals, too. Just be sure to use lump charcoal or a wood fire when you will be eating the surface of the food that has touched the coals. Charcoal briquettes (made from sawdust) leave an unpleasant sooty coating of fine ash on food. However, lump charcoal and wood leave nothing but phenomenal flavor. Check out the recipes for Fire-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Root Beer–Rum Butter, Campfire Raclette with New Potatoes Cooked in the Coals, and Raw Charred Tuna with Green Tea Ponzu Sauce. We firmly believe that the less that comes between the fire and the food, the better the flavor.
Types of Grills
We mentioned earlier that your equipment determines the type of grilling you can do. The biggest determining factors are the size of your grill, what it’s made of, and the type of fuel it uses. If you’re buying a new grill, consider all three factors. The grill should have plenty of space for your average grilling session. If you only cook a few steaks, chops, fish fillets, and/or vegetables at a time, a cooking area as small as 150 square inches or 14 inches in diameter may be sufficient. For larger roasts, leg of lamb, and whole turkeys, you’ll want at least 400 square inches and preferably 600 square inches of grill space, about the size of an average four-burner gas grill. For large grilling sessions with bigger foods or a greater variety, consider an even larger grill or more than one.
Most grills are made of stainless steel because it’s durable, easy to maintain, and fairly lightweight compared to other materials. Ceramic grills like Japanese kamados and Indian tandoors are heavier but retain heat better than steel and use less fuel. Ceramic grills excel at cooking tough cuts of meat for long periods of time.
Apart from the material, the more common concern is the fuel the grill burns. Gas, charcoal, and wood all have advantages and disadvantages. Here’s a quick survey of each.
GAS: Turn a knob or push a button, and your gas grill is lit. Turn the knob again, and the flame goes up or down instantly. This convenience has made gas grills the most widely used type of grill in North America. While charcoal aficionados point out that gas grills don’t emit smoke to flavor your food, you can always add wood chips to a gas grill for smoky flavor. The chief disadvantage with gas grills is moisture. Gas contains about 30 percent moisture, which vaporizes as steam during combustion. For every