How to BBQ over hot coals at home
There’s a primal pleasure that comes from cooking juicy steaks over a fire, but for the uninitiated learning to tame the flame can be tricky. Here are an expert’s top tips for getting all fired up this BBQ season.
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There’s something almost hypnotic about the smell of a barbecue.
Whether it’s steaks developing that charry, rich crust over an open flame or onions caramelising into sweet rings of grilled goodness, there’s a primal pleasure associated with cooking over fire.
But as top restaurants around the world turn to wood and charcoal for their fuel, so too are everyday Aussies, with more and more ditching the gas barbie for a charcoal-powered kettle like the Weber.
“There’s just a certain smokiness and a quality that you do not get from gas,” says barbecuing champ Mike Hilburger from Shank Brothers BBQ.
However, for the uninitiated, learning to tame the flame can be a little tricky.
So to help you learn how to excel with embers, Mike reveals his top tips that are sure to get you all fired up about the coming barbecue season.
GET LIT
The most common pitfall for novice barbecuers in achieving the perfect cook is failing to light their coals properly, Mike says.
“If you don’t get a good little coal bed going and a good fire going then it doesn’t matter if you have the best piece of wagyu or whatever – nothing else is going to work,” he says.
His solution? A device called a chimney starter. Shaped like a giant beer stein made out of metal with holes in the side, you simply load it with your charcoal and put it over a heat source like a firelighter to ignite.
“Because heat travels upwards, it all lights very quickly and efficiently and then you can dump (the lit coals) in your barbecue and you know that you’ve got a super good basis for a long cook or a short cook or whatever.”
Chimney starters are available from Bunnings from as little as $20 and at barbecue stores and online for up to $80.
CHOOSE YOUR CHARCOAL
Charcoal is mostly carbon, produced by heating wood or other organic materials in the absence of oxygen.
“You’ve got two types – the lump charcoal, which is branches and sticks and bits of wood that have been carbonised, or then you get the brickettes, which is like your heat beads and that sort of thing,” Mike says. “They’re particles and they’re drawn together with some sort of binding agent to form that little brickette.”
Mike’s go-to is lump charcoal because it’s a more natural product. “There’s not going to be any strange binders or fillers or anything that might taint your meat at the end of it,” he says.
The best brand on the market for him is Firebrand, from an Australian company that uses sustainable wood from orange orchards, as he says many imported products use less sustainable materials such as mangrove wood.
READY, SET GO
The quicker you get cooking, the quicker you’ll eat, right?
That’s the common trap with many barbecuers throwing their meat or veg on the grill too early resulting in a suboptimal result.
Mike says a common mistake for people cooking with coal is using firelighters or lighter fluid to ignite their barbie but not letting the chemicals burn off before cooking on them.
“They get a little bit of a fire going and think, ‘Here we go’, and they stick their steak on and it absorbs all of those terrible kerosene, petrochemical odours and it’s awful,” he says.
Patience is the key.
“Your charcoal is black to start with, when it’s fully lit it will turn white,” he says. “When it gets that white ash coverage around it, that’s when you know your charcoal is ready.”
IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERE
Knowing what temperature to cook your ingredients at is vital to achieving a good result, Mike says.
In barbecue world there are two types of cook: low and slow – 120C for at least two hours – or fast and hot at around 250C. The first is for your bigger, often secondary cuts of meat like brisket, pulled pork and lamb shoulder that need time to tenderise. The latter is for the likes of steaks, sausages, lamb racks and seafood.
“The general rule is big cut, long time; smaller cut, fast cook,” Mike says.
Controlling the temperature of your fire comes down to air flow and controlling the vents on the top and bottom of your barbecue.
“Fire lives off oxygen, that’s what makes it breathe, so if you trim down those vents and cut the airflow, naturally your temperature is going to drop,” he says. “If you want to spark it up, you open up all your vents and get as much air in there as possible.”
YOU WOOD IF YOU COULD
Using woodchips is a great way to add a smoky flavour to your barbecue.
Rather than as a fuel source, they’re used in conjunction with charcoal and are either contained in a metal smoking box or soaked in water and put on top of the coals. The soaking stops them from burning up, letting them smoulder and add a subtle smokiness to food.
While previously barbecuers could only buy imported woodchips, now local manufacturers have joined the action, selling everything from apple and cherry wood to local ironbark and hardwoods.
“The general rule is that your things like beef and bigger cuts like brisket, they can handle a lot of smoke so you can hit them with your big ironbark and hardwoods and big smoky flavours,” Mike says. “Whereas, the more delicate proteins – thinking along the lines of pork or chicken – they really love a bit of fruit wood, so cherry or apple. It’s a lot more of a subtle smoke. You really don’t want to overpower. You still want to taste that base protein.”
SMOKE BOMB
Think smoke is just for meat? Think again.
Mike says one of the best things to make in your Webber is smoked cheeses.
“We’re talking about a cold smoke here. I’ve got this little device which looks like a maze and you fill it with sawdust and light it at one end, blow that fire out and then it will just smoulder and make its way around this maze almost like a mosquito coil. You’ll get six hours of smoking out of this,” he says.
You simply put your cheese and the smoker in your Weber, open the vents so the smoke doesn’t become trapped and go stale and acrid, and let it do its thing.
“Basically with a cold smoke, there’s no temperature involved, you’re just layering smoke down,” Mike says.
“With the cheeses they really benefit from cryovacing them and sticking them in the fridge and just forget about them for a couple of weeks because when that smoke first gets down onto the cheese it can be quite acrid, but let it mellow in the fridge for a couple of weeks and the flavours permeate and it becomes just amazing.”
Smoked fish is equally delicious, and for this Mike recommends using a cedar plank.
He soaks the wood in water for a few hours so it doesn’t catch alight, then lays a side of salmon on it, skin-side down, adds a spice rub and layers it with lime and dill. That then goes onto very hot coals.
“The coals start to smoulder the bottom of that plank and that cedar smell then smokes your fish and it’s amazing,” Mike says. “It’s like a 45-minute cook and it’s so easy but makes you look like a deadset barbecue rock star.”
FLIP IT AND REVERSE IT
Have trouble cooking your steak to the perfect temperature every time? Try a reverse sear, Mike suggests.
“Imagine a third of your kettle (barbecue) is charcoal, then we’ll put the steak on the side furthest away from that charcoal and we’ll just let it slowly warm up,” he says.
“We’ll throw a bit of smoke on with some woodchips, and when it’s close to medium-rare, we’ll then drag it over and then smash it directly over the coals and get that caramelisation and that char going on. By doing it that way you know you’ve got that perfect temperature inside and you’ve created that amazing crust on top.”
The same method can be used for anything from sausages to lamb racks, it’s just about using a meat thermometer and knowing your temperatures. Rare is 50C, medium-rare is 55C.
VEG OUT
While most people think of meat on the barbie, vegetables also love a grilling.
Mike recommends blanching your veg first so it’s par-cooked, which he says will result in a better caramelisation once it hits the flame.
His top tip for perfect barbecued onions is to slice them, salt them, then leave them for up to two hours for the salt to bring out all the moisture. Then place them in a tea towel, squeeze out any excess liquid and pop them on the barbie.
“They’re going to caramelise up instantly.”
SEAFOOD SATISFACTION
Cooking seafood on the barbecue can be somewhat of a struggle to get right, but Mike says to remember to keep things hot and fast.
“Keep lots of butter and garlic and chilli on things like prawns and bugs,” he says.
He also says crustaceans can be placed directly on top of the coals – no grill needed – with the flavour of the shell permeating the meat as it cooks, making for a more intense seafood flavour.
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TOOLS OF THE TRADE
You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on epic kit for casual barbecuing, but Mike recommends a couple of tools to deliver pro results.
The first is the chimney starter, to light your coals properly, and the second is a thermometer. If your barbecue already has an ambient thermometer, then you’ll just need a meat thermometer so you can accurately measure the meat’s temperature and get a perfect cook. If your barbecue doesn’t have an ambient thermometer, there are dual probes that can measure both.
He also says a really good set of heatproof gloves is a must to avoid accidental burns.
If you like cooking whole fish or vegetables, a barbecue cage is another tool worth adding to the arsenal.
“They’re brilliant for things like seafood that are quite delicate and stick to the grill or fall apart,” he says.
They also work well for sausages and asparagus that could potentially fall through the grill, enabling you to turn them all at once with ease.
But Mike says the best tool of all is quality ingredients. “It doesn’t matter how good your techniques are, if you start with a crappy piece of meat, you’re not going to make it into an amazing piece of meat. You should always buy the best cut you can afford because that will give you the best end result.”
PORTERHOUSE STEAKS WITH GORGONZOLA BUTTER
Serves 4
Prep: 20 Min
Chill: About 1 Hour (Butter)
BBQ: About 1 Hour
INGREDIENTS
1 medium garlic head
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
85 g unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup (about 40g) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (not dolce)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
4 porterhouse steaks, each 280g-350g and 2.5 to 3cm thick, trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
11/4 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
METHOD
1. Preheat the barbecue for indirect cooking over medium heat (180C-230C). Cut about 1cm off the top of the garlic head to expose the cloves. Stand the garlic, cut side up, on a piece of aluminium foil and drizzle the oil on top.
2. Wrap the foil around the garlic and seal tightly. Roast the garlic over indirect medium heat, with the lid closed, until soft, 40 to 60 minutes.
3. Remove the garlic from the barbecue and let cool to the touch, then squeeze the garlic pulp out of the skin into a small bowl; discard the skin. You should have about 1½ tablespoons roasted garlic.
4. Add all of the remaining butter ingredients to the bowl and mash together with a fork to mix well.
5. Scrape the Gorgonzola butter out of the bowl onto a sheet of baking paper and shape into a rough log. Roll the butter in the paper and shape by hand into a smooth log about 13 cm long. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
6. Thirty minutes before grilling, lightly coat the steaks with the oil, then season with the salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature to warm slightly. Take the Gorgonzola butter out of the refrigerator if it’s been chilling for longer than 1 hour.
7. Raise the heat of the barbecue for direct cooking over high heat (230C-290C). Brush the cooking grills clean. Grill the steaks over direct high heat, with the lid closed, until cooked to your desired doneness, 7 to 9 minutes for medium rare (51C to 54C), turning once or twice. Remove from the barbecue and let rest for about 5 minutes.
8. Cut the butter log crosswise into eight equal slices. Top each steak with two slices of the butter and serve right away.
NOTES:
– Favoured butters will keep refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
– When grilling over charcoal, the heat varies from one area of the cooking grill to another. To make sure your steaks cook evenly, swap their positions after turning them, moving the steaks in the centre to the outside, and the outside steaks towards the centre.
PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS, SILVERBEET AND FETA
Serves 4
Prep: 30 min
BBQ: 13-18 min
Special equipment: large perforated Grill Pan
INGREDIENTS
4 large portobello mushrooms, each 85-115g
Extra-virgin olive oil for brushing, plus 1 tablespoon
1 very large bunch silverbeet
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 70g)
1/2 cup coarsely grated whole-milk mozzarella cheese (about 55g)
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 small spring onions, white and light green parts only, finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 cup panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs
Ground black pepper
METHOD
1. Prepare the barbecue for direct cooking over high heat (230° to 290°C). Using a damp paper towel, wipe the outside of each mushroom cap to clean. Using a small knife, cut out the stems.
2. Holding 1 mushroom in your palm and using a small spoon, gently scrape out all the black gills, being careful not to tear the delicate cap. (It’s important to remove the gills,
as they will discolour the filling during cooking.) Repeat with the remaining mushrooms.
3. Brush a large perforated grill pan with oil. Rinse the silverbeet under cold running water. Stack the wet leaves in the prepared pan.
4. Grill the silverbeet over direct high heat, with the lid closed, until the greens begin to wilt, 5 to 6 minutes, turning once or twice with tongs. Remove from the grill.
5. Cut off the stem at the base of each leaf and discard. Fold the leaves in half lengthways and twist to wring out the excess moisture. Using a large, heavy knife, coarsely chop the greens. You should have a generous 1 cup.
6. In a medium bowl mix together the chopped greens, feta, mozzarella, ¼ cup parmesan, the mayonnaise, spring onions, garlic and nutmeg.
7. In a small bowl mix together the panko, the remaining ¹/³ cup parmesan and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Stir 1 tablespoon of the panko mixture into the greens filling. Season the filling to taste with pepper (about ¼ teaspoon).
8. Divide the greens filling evenly among the mushrooms, then pat gently with your hand to fill to the edges.
9. Sprinkle the remaining panko mixture evenly over the filling.
10. Place the mushrooms on the same grill pan. Grill over direct high heat, with the lid closed, until the cheese melts and the topping is deep brown, 8 to 12 minutes. Using a metal spatula and tongs, transfer the mushrooms to plates and serve.
Recipes from Weber’s Ultimate Barbecue by Jamie Purviance. Photography by Ray Kachatorian. Murdoch Books RRP $39.99.