Mastering the Grill_ The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking - Andrew Schloss [1]
02. Starting a Charcoal Fire
03. How to Maintain a Live Fire
B. The Science of Heat Transference
01. Conduction
02. Convection
03. Radiant Heat
C. Mastering Grilling Techniques
01. Direct Grilling
02. Indirect Grilling
03. Rotisserie Grilling
04. Adding Smoke
05. Barbecuing
06. Cooking in the Coals
07. Wrapping
08. Cooking on a Plank
D. Mastering Temperature
01. Judging Meat Doneness
02. Judging Produce Doneness
03. Judging Doughs’ Doneness
04. Resting
CHAPTER 3 MASTERING YOUR INGREDIENTS
A. Mastering Meat
01. Protein
02. Fat
03. Grass-Fed, Grain-Fed, and Organic
04. Cuts of Meat
05. Ground Meat
06. Grading
07. Beef
08. Veal
09. Pork
10. Lamb
11. Game Meats
B. Mastering Poultry
01. Poultry Cuts
02. Fat and Skin
C. Mastering Seafood
01. Fish
02. Shellfish
D. Mastering Produce
01. Roots
02. Stems
03. Fruits and Vegetables
04. Leaves
05. Flowers
E. Grilled Cheese
F. Grilled Dough
CHAPTER 4 MASTERING YOUR FLAVORS
A. Seasoning
B. Rubs
C. Mops
D. Brines
E. Marinades
F. Glazes and Sauces
PART II: THE GRILLMASTER’S RECIPES
CHAPTER 5 MASTERING BURGERS AND OTHER QUICK MEALS
CHAPTER 6 MASTERING STEAKS, CHOPS, AND OTHER QUICK-COOKING CUTS
CHAPTER 7 MASTERING ROASTS, RIBS, AND OTHER SLOW FOOD
CHAPTER 8 MASTERING THE BIG KAHUNA AND OTHER INCREDIBLE GRILL PROJECTS
CHAPTER 9 MASTERING VEGETABLES AND OTHER SIDES
CHAPTER 10 MASTERING FRUIT, DESSERT, DOUGH, AND EVERYTHING ELSE
CHAPTER 11 MASTERING MARINADES, MOPS, BRINES, RUBS, WET PASTES, GLAZES, SAUCES, AND DIPS
INDEX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TABLE OF EQUIVALENTS
Introduction: The Science and Mechanics of Grilling
If you have ever sacrificed a rack of ribs to the incendiary powers of a backyard grill, or tried to convince yourself that “black and crusty” is exactly how you like your chicken, then you know firsthand the ambiguous art of cooking over an open flame. The problem is not always a lack of skill; it may be a lack of understanding. Many of us operate under the delusion that grilling is little more than throwing the desired number of edible items over a blaze and sitting back until they heat through. However, cooking outdoors, without the high-tech benefits of things like thermostats and heavy-gauge saucepans, requires greater vigilance and knowledge than anything demanded from indoor cooking.
The first step in mastering live fire is figuring out what it’s all about. Many grill books and many food science texts are available, but very few cookbooks venture into the science behind grilling. That’s the focus of our book. We aim to explain how grilling works, how to make grills work better, and how to use simple flavoring and cooking techniques to cook delicious grilled foods. We don’t go overboard with trendy food science wizardry. We use no test tubes, vials, centrifuges, or sous-vide (French for “under pressure”). Our tools are the ones most grill lovers are comfortable and familiar with: tongs, spatulas, and knives. But we’ll occasionally employ something offbeat if it is useful, such as a marinade injector or a grill skillet.
Likewise, our main ingredients are the usual four-legged animal meats like beef, pork, and lamb, as well as fish and fowl of every sort, plus some game meats here and there. We also devote an entire chapter to vegetables and another to fruits, doughs, and cheese. We grill everything from whole animals to primal cuts to retail cuts to parts and pieces. Our grilling techniques range from the expected to the adventurous. For instance, we prefer to cook some food directly in the hot coals rather than on a grill grate, such as Sweet Potatoes in the Coals with Lime-Cilantro Butter (page 287). We also cook some foods in roasting pans on the grill grate when it makes sense (see Clambake on the Grill, page 237). We also use brines, marinades, sauces, glazes, mops, dips, pastes, and spice rubs to enhance flavors. And our recipes can be grilled with gas, charcoal, or wood as the fuel.
All of this should be fairly familiar to most grill lovers. So what’s new here? In this book, we approach the grill