Cooking with Some BBQs- How to Avoid Embarrassing Flareups

The season is upon us so it is time to clean the grills, replace the ceramic coals and check the connections and the tank on our grill if you have gas as most of us do.

It may also be time for you to learn about the flare preventing and superior technique of indirect BBQing. This technique is used for all grilling and even is effective for grilling of steak, hamburgers and hotdogs. It simplifies and improves the grilling of fish, chicken and vegetables. It works best with a three burner unit, but can be done with a two burner. It can even be done with charcoal but that is somewhat cumbersome.

In all cases, begin by preheating the grill for about 10 minutes with all burners on high or the lid on the kettle and the ashes turned to gray.  

Abbreviations are H for High; M for Medium; L for Low and O for off. Thus HLH would mean that the two outside burners are on high and the middle burner is on low. MOM would mean two outside burners on medium and middle burner off. In all cases except for fish, the technique begins by searing the meat to keep the flavor in and then finishing with reduced heat.

The basic technique is to sear the food on high heat for a few minutes to keep the juices in and then cook slowly over reduced heat to prevent flare-up and burning and for more even cooking.

Note: All times noted below are in minutes.

STEAKS
First Side Sear    HHH  Second Side Turn and Cook Steaks   MOM
Thickness Sear Rare Medium Well Done
1" 2 3-5 5-7 7-9
1½" 4 6-8 8-10 12-14
2" 4 12-14 14-16 18-21

 

HAMBURGERS
First Side Sear  
80% Lean   HLH
70% Lean   MOM		 Second Side Turn and Cook   MOM
Thickness Sear Rare Medium Well Done
¾" 3 4-5 6-8 8-10
1" 5 7-9 9-11 11-13

 

CHICKEN
Sear HLH or MMM  Turn & Cook MOM
Size Sear (Turn Chicken Halfway through Cooking Time)
Small Pieces 3 30-40
Large or Meaty Pieces 3 40-60
Whole Chicken (2-3 lbs.) Do Not Sear 1-1 ¼ hours       Do Not Turn

 

FISH
Cook only  MOM
Size  
Filet & Steaks 10-12 min. per lb.
Whole Fish (up to 1 lb.) 10-15 min. total
Whole Fish (over 1 lb.) 10-12 min. per inch of thickness
Note: Turning Halfway Through is Optional

Final Notes: These techniques provide the most consistent grilling and prevent flare-up. When there is a long cooking period and lots of fat dripping, you may want to create a drip pan out of aluminum foil with the size to cover the size of the food cooked and place it over middle burner and under the food.

If you have a two burner grill consider left burner as middle burner and move food over left burner. Process will then take longer.

If you have a charcoal grill, you have two choices which may require you to lift the grill off the BBQ  for a minute to arrange the coals on one side or in a circle with no coals in the middle. Then, place the food over the area with no coals beneath.