Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons (3 page)

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Authors: Colleen Rush,Gary Wiviott

BOOK: Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons

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BELLS AND WHISTLES

Beyond the items prescribed, there are a handful of other tools and ingredients that can help you achieve barbecue nirvana.

ROASTING RACK
There’s no point in buying a special rib rack because you probably already have one. Just flip over the big V-rack you use to roast turkeys and you’ve got a rib rack.
PLASTIC CONDIMENT BOTTLE
A shot of seasoned liquid over meat in a cooker can add a needed dash of moisture or tang to the barbecue. A squirt bottle is fast and clean, unlike a stringy basting mop or a spray bottle, which gets clogged.

OVEN THERMOMETER
A simple stainless steel analog thermometer is about $5. The digital probes with remote display are expensive, and aren’t as accurate when it comes to reading grate temperature. By the end of the program, you’ll be able to read your cooker using only your senses, but this basic thermometer will help you get a feel for the grate temperature throughout the first few cooks.

SPICE GRINDER
The only secret to making any great sauce or rub is using freshly ground whole spices, which requires a grinding device. A mortar and pestle, an electric grinder (like one used to grind coffee beans), or a hand mill (think pepper mill) will do just fine.

TIP:
If you use your coffee grinder to grind spices, run a few batches of uncooked rice through it to clean out residual powder before you use it again to grind beans.

INSTANT-READ THERMOMETER
Please do not open and close your cooker seventeen times to poke the meat and check the temperature. For food safety reasons it’s a good idea to have an instant-read thermometer to check the meat in the last stages of the cook. And, during Lesson #5, you’ll use it to learn more about how meat temperature plateaus and spikes during a long low and slow cook.

SUGARCANE KNIFE
This inexpensive tool is multi-functional. The small hook on the blade makes moving hot grates easier. The business end of the blade shears through bones and big pieces of meat, and the long, flat side can be used as spatula to rotate meat or scoop charcoal back into place. It’s also handy for intimidating anyone who tries to peek inside your cooker. (Credit goes to Big Jim in Central Florida for demonstrating the usefulness of this tool.)
WHOLE HERBS AND SPICES
Processed, pre-ground bottles of herbs and spices have a shelf life of about six to twelve months before they start tasting musty. Using whole, toasted, and freshly ground spices or herbs, like peppercorns or dried chiles, makes a huge difference in the flavor of any recipe. Whole herbs and spices have a longer shelf life—up to three years—and are also far less expensive than the bottles in a supermarket spice aisle, particularly if you buy in bulk. Ethnic markets often have the best bulk price and a better selection of both typical and unusual whole herbs and spices.

BARBECUE MISE EN PLACE

SAY IT WITH ME: MEEZ AHN PLAHS. IT’S
French for “all of your ingredients are washed, chopped, diced, or otherwise prepared, and in place for cooking.” Or something like that. Having a few key low and slow ingredients always at the ready not only saves time, but over time it also improves your creative and intuitive seasoning skills in the kitchen. With a pinch of this or that at hand, you can start to make your own rubs or marinades by sense instead of being a slave to recipes. I keep these non-perishable ingredients in small, half-cup bowls on my counter:

• Kosher salt

• Black pepper

• White pepper

• Crushed red pepper, finely ground

KOSHER SALT 101

ALWAYS USE KOSHER SALT FOR THE
recipes in this program. This coarse-grained salt has no additives, like iodine or anti-caking agents, and has a better flavor and texture than common table salt. The two most popular brands, Morton and Diamond Crystal, are shaped differently and have different volumes compared to table salt. I prefer the flakier texture of Morton kosher salt, but Diamond Crystal kosher salt works, too. All of the measurements in this book are for Morton’s, so be sure to adjust accordingly.

1 tablespoon table salt =
1½ tablespoons Morton kosher salt =
2 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt

TOASTING HERBS AND SPICES

FOR THE BEST FLAVOR,
herbs and spices should be toasted and ground from whole. However, toasted herbs and spices deteriorate quickly because of the volatile oils released during heating. Only toast and grind as much as you need for the recipe you’re making.

To toast, preheat a heavy-bottomed pan until the surface is medium-hot—not smoking but almost too hot to touch. Pour the ingredient to be toasted into the hot pan and swirl the pan constantly; this keeps the ingredient from sticking or burning. When the herb or spice becomes fragrant, it’s toasted. If the pan starts to smoke or the herb or spice burns, start over with a fresh batch. The bitter flavor of a burned herb or spice will ruin a dish.

TOASTED MEXICAN PEPPER BLEND

This is the blend I use on a regular basis and reference throughout the book. Feel free to customize it, using more or less of the same chiles, to suit your taste. I recommend making a double or triple batch so you have a supply on hand.

MAKES ABOUT ½ CUP

4 or 5 dried guajillo chiles
2 dried ancho chiles
2 dried pasilla chiles
2 dried morita chiles
10 dried pequín chiles

Stem, seed, and roughly tear the dried chiles. Toast the chiles in a preheated skillet until they’re fragrant. Pour the toasted chile pieces into a spice grinder and grind to a coarse powder.

MEET YOUR COOKER

THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF
smokers and grills out there, but I’ve focused this program on only three: the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM), the offset smoker, and the kettle-style grill. My personal favorite is the WSM. It’s the equipment that turned me into the barbecue-obsessed man that I am today, and it’s the cooker I used to develop this program. But all three are fine cookers for backyard low and slow. Each cooker can also be re-configured for direct-heat grilling. I think of them as ideal urban cookers because they’re compact and inexpensive compared to gas grills, and relatively easy to operate. They represent the most popular styles of charcoal cookers on the market today.

DECKS, BALCONIES, AND SMALL BACKYARDS

Wooden decks and small spaces can create problems for the charcoal cooker (landlords and condo associations, too). Be sure that your cooker is properly safeguarded before you start messing around with live charcoal. If the surface your cooker sits on is flammable, look into buying a fireproof mat, concrete pavers, or cement backer board. My good friend Steve Z. went to a metal fabrication shop and purchased a large sheet of aluminum, which acts as a “blast shield” under his WSM. Water heater pads work well too.

WEBER SMOKEY MOUNTAIN