Photo Friday (Vol. XVIII) [BBQ Edition]

Although it has nothing to do with the topic at hand, I'd like to take a moment to point out that not everyone seems to have gotten the word about peace having broken out here in the Middle East.

My blog-buddy Harry was stoned (no, not that kind) early this morning while driving home from a rehearsal with his band (he was on the Jerusalem-Modi'in highway, Road 443).  It seems that Harry committed the unforgivable 'crime' (Saeb Erikat would probably use the term 'atrocity) of DWJ (Driving While Jewish).

Fortunately, he escaped without injury... but his car wasn't so lucky.  Once he posts the pictures of the damage I think we will be able to set aside the 'kids will be kids' excuse that the PA loves to trot out when these things happen.

Anyway, if you know or read Harry (and if not... what's wrong with you!), go say hello and tell him not to let this incident turn him into a lunatic right wing settler like me.  :-)

OK, now that we've gotten the Public Service Announcement portion of our program out of the way... on to Photo Friday!

Over the past year I've mentioned several times that I have a long-standing Friday ritual of BBQing the main course for Shabbat dinner... and enjoying a little corn-based beverage from the great state of Kentucky. 

Several readers have written to ask about my BBQ technique... and several others have written to suggest (not too gently) that I am misusing the term BBQ, and that what I'm really doing is grilling. 

I love my readers.

Even when they are calling me an idiot they offer endless inspiration for journal entries and photo ideas. 

First a little clarification about terminology:

1.  Grilling is the act of placing expensive cuts of meat or poultry on the cooking surface of a gas-powered cooking appliance and immolating said meat or poultry at approximately the same temperature as the surface of the sun.   Cooking times vary from a few nanoseconds up to  10 or 15 minutes (by which time the neighbor's smoke alarms are all going off).  Sometimes sauces or marinades are applied to the food before or during the cooking process to suggest the idea of moisture and to keep the expensive animal flesh from crumbling into dust before it reaches the table.  The fine art of grilling is practiced primarily in northern areas of the United States as well as Canada.

2.  BBQ (pronounced BAR-ba-kyew), when expressed as a verb, is the act of slow cooking any available cut of meat or poultry over a cool, smoky bank of wood coals.  The word BBQ is also commonly used as a noun to describe the results of the verb form (e.g. "I had me a plate of bubba's BBQ the other day... damn but that boy makes some good dry rub.").  Best results are achieved when the heat source is not directly under the food, and there is usually a can of water somewhere in there to raise the humidity in the cooking area.  Dry rubs made of various herbs and spices are often applied to the meat as are a wide variety of either mustard- or tomato-based sauces (depending on where you live).  However, many BBQers forgo the rubs and sauces and let the woodsmoke flavor the food.  It is not unusual to BBQ meat or poultry for several hours (or even half a day!).  Even if one started with an undesirable cut of meat, or a chicken that met its end at a more, um, advanced age... the process of BBQing usually results in a tender, delicious treat that practically falls apart as you eat it (sorry if I'm grossing out my vegan readers).  BBQing is practiced primarily in states where Nascar Racing is enjoyed.

The type of outdoor cooking that I practice is a hybrid of these two techniques.

Yes, I use a big gas Weber grill.  But I use it strictly for good, not evil!
[note:  if you do a bit of outdoor cooking, it might be worth your while to run a gas line out to your grill as I have done.  It saves the stress of your tank running dry at the worst possible time.]

Here is a step-by-step primer of my cooking technique:

1.  First go buy yourself a couple of smoker boxes.  You can buy them (as well as a nice selection of wood chips) from my good friend Sam.  I don't normally endorse commercial products here on treppenwitz, but Sam was so helpful about getting me my smokers as well as shipping a nice selection of alder, mesquite and hickory chips to me here in Israel that I'm happy to give him a plug.

Put the smoker box(es) above the heat source, but below the grill surface.  Soak the wood chips in warm water for at least 15 minutes, and then put them in the box and replace the box's cover as shown:

It's hard to see here, but there are actually small holes in the bottom and top of the smoker boxes.

Now that the smokers are all set up, replace your grill surfaces, and if you like... set up a roasting rack to raise the meat even higher.  The smoker boxes block most of the direct heat, but I have found that roasting racks slow down the cooking even more.

The next step is to light the burner(s) underneath the smoker boxes.  It is very important to make sure that no burners outside the area covered by the boxes are lit as this will directly cook the meat... a definite BBQ no-no!

The ideal temperature is somewhere between 200 - 225 F.  Play around with the gas setting until you get a constant temperature within this range. Within 10 or 15 minutes the wet wood chips will start to give off smoke... this is your cue to put the meat on the racks (or directly on the gill surface, if you must).  Arrange the food so that none of it is sticking out beyond the footprint of the smoker box(es).   

Place an old can full of water somewhere inside the grill so that the humidity inside the cooking area stays relatively high throughout the process.  After a few weeks the can will look like this:

Now close the lid, pull up a chair and begin consuming the bourbon-based drink of your choice.  I usually go with a mint julep, but when there is no fresh mint growing in my neighbor's garden I've been known to drink it neat.

I'll anticipate a few comments here by saying yes, you can substitute drinks based on rum, vodka or even tequila, but I've always enjoyed the best results with bourbon.  Scotch is not recommended for this type of cooking.

After 2 or 3 hours you should arrange to have one of your kids wake you out of your stupor to check on the progress of the meat.    Whether or not you have rubbed /marinated the meat or left it to the smoke to provide the flavor, 2 hours is still the bare minimum if you are cooking at such low temperatures.  If you are cooking ribs or a roast, 4 hours or more is perfectly OK, but after 3 or 4 hours you will have to empty the ashes out of the smoker box(es) and add fresh wet wood chips.

At the end of the process you should have something that looks like this (I added no seasoning or marinade to this chicken... that is just the result of almost 3 hours of cool, moist hickory smoke):

Now that my appetite is all stoked, I think I'll go upstairs and get started cooking some eggs for everyone's breakfast.

As always, keep those cards and letters coming.  If there's something that you'd like to see a picture of here on a future Photo Fridays, just let me know.

Shabbat Shalom!