The BBQ Grail » BBQ Tip

BBQ Tip #11: Tenderizing Meat With Ginger

Larry — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 14:00:36 +0000

My love of Asian food translates into a love for ginger. I came across this little tidbit on ginger being used as a tenderizer. It also explains the tenderizing process. It’s good useful information. Thank you to The Ginger People for allowing me to publish this. For more information on Ginger visit their website.

In recognition of June 21, the official start of the 2011 grilling season, and America’s upcoming birthday (Start planning your July 4 theme barbecue party now!), we wanted to spotlight ginger’s natural talent as a meat tenderizer. By using ginger on protein you can produce better, more tender results.

The use of ginger as a meat tenderizer was first practiced in India thousands of years ago. Meat tenderizers are proteolytic enzymes or proteases; enzymes specialized in breaking the peptide bonds between amino acids found in complex proteins. Meat is held together by a complex protein called collagen, and aside from mechanical tenderization and cooking, enzymes are the only other available meat tenderizers. Meat tenderizers are extracted from a number of natural source, including citrus, tomato, papaya, pineapple, fig and ginger. These tenderizing ingredients are generally accompanied by a liquid mixture comprised of oil, vinegar and spices known as marinade (to soak) prior to cooking or grilling.

BBQ Tip #9: Getting A Hand On Grill Temps

Larry — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:00:29 +0000

Last Monday I started a Plank Grilling series, and in several of the posts I mentioned using a Medium-not grill for grilling. How do you tell what “temperature” your grill is at.

Place your hand at grill level. (Look folks, the grill is hot so don’t actually put your hand ON the grill, put your hand AT grill level. Depending how long you can keep you hand there will tell you the temperature of your grill:

If you can hold your hand at grill level for 1 to 2 seconds: VERY HOT
If you can hold you hand at grill level for 2 to 3 seconds: HOT
If you can hold your hand at grill level for 3 to 4 seconds: MEDIUM HOT
If you can hold your hand at grill level for 4 to 5 seconds: MEDIUM
If you can hold your hand at grill level for 5 to 6 seconds: MEDIUM-LOW
If you can hold your hand at grill level for 6 to 7 seconds: LOW

BBQ Tip #5: How To Tame Jalapeno Peppers

Larry — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:04:38 +0000

Jalapenos have a great flavor, they can enhance many different sauces, spices and foods. But, and it’s a big but sometimes, people come over for dinner and they just can’t stand the heat. Here’s a tip on how to serve jalapenos without the heat. This little tip will tame your jalapenos, leaving you with the pepper taste but very little of the heat. At my house I usually tame half the jalapenos, leaving the other half with the heat for those that love the burn.

To tame jalapenos all you need is jalapenos and some Sprite. I've never tried it with other lemon lime sodas, I was told to use Sprite, and that's what I've always used.

The first step is to remove the seeds and veins from the jalapenos. It doesn't matter if you cut them in half or not. Just remove the seeds and veins.

Put the jalapenos in a bowl and cover them in the Sprite. Put the bowl of japapenos and Sprite in the refrigerator for 24 hours. What you'll end up with are very mild jalapenos and a bowl of very hot Sprite. Don't throw away the Sprite, put it back in the bottle and keep it in the refrigerator. The "kicked up" Sprite makes a great spritz for ribs or other BBQ'd meats.

BBQ Tip #2: Lighting Your Charcoal Chimney

Larry — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 13:40:23 +0000

I use a lot of charcoal briquettes at my house. Close to 500 pounds per year. And since I refuse to use lighter fluid, I have to rely on my trusty Weber charcoal chimney to get my grill started.

When I first started using a charcoal chimney I had to deal with the frustration of not being able to get the chimney lit and having it stay lit. I know for many backyard grillers this is a problem they face and why they continue to use lighter fluid. Finding the best way to light my charcoal chimney has been a project for me. This method seems to work the best for me.

Start with at least three full sheets of newspaper. Roll two of the sheets of newspaper and give them a little twist or crumble as you go. Turn your charcoal chimney over and place the rolled newspaper along the inside of the charcoal chimney. You should have a hole in the middle with no paper in it.

Next crumble up another sheet of newspaper into a ball. Drizzle or spritz a little cooking oil on the ball of newspaper. You don’t need a lot of oil, about a tablespoons is it. Place the ball of oiled newspaper in the center of the chimney.

Turn the chimney over and add your favorite charcoal. Using a match or lighter to light the paper in the chimney and watch the charcoal chimney do it’s job.

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