WORLD CUP BARBECUE TIPS

WORLD CUP BARBECUES

Suns out, Guns out and in preparation for those World Cup gatherings you're going to have here are some great Barbecue tips that'll crown you king of the grill.

ICE ICE BABY - The golden rule you absolutely cannot break is ice cold beer, serving warm beer is a crime never to be forgotten and one you'll be ridiculed for eons after the 90 min whistle has blown -  and lets face it, with the World Cup every four years its not like you haven't had enough time to prep for it.

Quick cold tip: Waiting for the ice to arrive but need to get beers chilled fast? Wet a paper towel and wrap it around your bottle of beer and place it in the fridge, in 10-15 mins it'll be ice cold.

Keep it cold tip: Using a cooler filled with ice or an ice bucket or tub? - Add one cup of salt and three cups of water before you dump the ice in. This will equilibrate in temperature in a process called freezing point depression with a temperature that'll get down to around the minus 10 degrees mark. The process works by keeping water molecules away from each other and stops them from freezing or melting.

And because the liquid naturally flows around your beer, it will do a much better job of keeping it cool than sticking a lump of ice on top of it.




GET YOUR FLAME ON - The biggest mistake you can make is waiting until all your guests have arrived before you've even got your flame on, for traditional charcoal barbecues you need to light at least 20 mins before guests arrive. For coal briquettes you need these to turn ash white with a decent orange glow for heat before cooking food and for them to be able to kill off any bacteria found in raw meat. Evenly distribute the coals or charcoal safely with a poker so that you can cook the food with a relatively even spread of radiated heat but avoid spreading too wide as the coals will lose their heat quicker.

Flavor tip:Wood chips from hard wood trees such as cherry,citrus, apple will add a sweet flavor to cooked meats when the smoke starts going. Oak is great for beef or lamb. As a general rule use hardwoods for adding smokey flavors. Woods such as Walnut and Mesquite are heavy so should be mixed with other wood chip variants.

DIY flavor tip: Water soak wood that you can turn into wood chips for 30 mins and drip dry before placing on charcoal or coal barbecues, add orange juice or apple juice to the water soak to create a sweeter smoke. Alternatively add a dash of rum which will promote a caramel flavor. Ideally you want the wood to smoulder not burn hence soaking the wood first.




GIVE IT A RUB - Rub is basically salt, sugar and pepper, so many people forget to add seasoning to meat before they barbecue it, the base of your rub starts with those three basic ingredients. The salt and pepper adds your standard seasoning and sugar caramelizes creating that sweet stickiness to the outer meat surface. Creating your own rubs and seasoning is entirely down to what you want to use and what type of flavours you're looking for, adding spices like ginger, cinnammon, chilli powder and garlic powder also adds dynamic flavouring to your rubs.

Rub Tip:  let your meat sit for awhile after applying a rub to both sides. If you want the best flavor, cover the meat and let it sit overnight in the fridge. 

Sweet Tip: Use brown sugar to add a caramel sweetness to your ribs or pork meats. Increase or decrease the amounts you add to the rub, 3 table spoons of sugar to one and a half of salt, one and half of pepper. Garlic -  aim for around one teaspoon for rubs.



PREP THE NIGHT BEFORE - This isn't a military operation but a successful plan always had good preparation. For gatherings like barbecues you need to prep, buy your ingredients,beers and make sure you've got things like seating and side dishes all sorted out before your guests arrive. For meat you want to add any rubs the night before cooking and then bring the meat up to room temp before you cook it. Don't forget to add non alcoholic drinks to the chiller for those driving.
Clean any garden furniture and maybe think about hosing the patio or decking for a scrub up, no one likes standing on a fox turd when eating a hotdog.

Prep Tip: soak your hard wood if creating wood chips and allow time for drip dry well before cooking. Prepare for garden insect pests like common garden midges and stock up on The Soft & Fresh Dry Oil Body Spray from Avon, not designed as a bug repellent but an internet fave which is even used by the Marines.

Appetisers: prep some easy appetizers the night before or the morning of that you can easily whack in the fridge Guacamole and chips is an easy one check out this recipe here




SALADS & SIDES - You've got the meat but what about the sides, okay so guys aren't heavily into salads but rather than having a barbecue that looks like a Zombie meat feast cookout add some simple sides to freshen up the dishes, things like sweet salads, fruit salads and slaws are a great addition to adding some texture and colour to the dark brown meats basking on your plate.
Slaws are also cheap and very easy to make - check out a great recipe here which serves 8 people.

Salads & sides tip: Think cole slaw needs mayonnaise? Nope. Classic Creamy Cole Slaw uses a bit of cream and malt vinegar (the acidic nature of the vinegar naturally thickens the cream to dressing-like consistency) to dress shredded cabbage.

Fruit salad tip: Strawberries, apricots and orange segments liven up salads with a fruity twist. Just because its salad doesn't mean lettuce and carrot.




MEAT AND THE MAN - Barbecues for large groups of people aren't cheap, if you're lucky some of the group will offer to bring something, but this usually equates to liquid refreshment more than the food.

Chicken quarters and thighs are inexpensive as opposed to breast meat, Lamb neck is also cheaper than lamb cutlets or other cuts, Brisket is a great meat for barbecues due to the fat content which adds great flavor. Buying direct from the high street butcher is also going to save you money, supermarket meat can be hit or miss and is nearly always much more expensive to buy. 

Ribs are awesome if cooked right and a relatively cheap alternative to steaks. Chuck steaks are a particular cut that's also cheaper to buy but talk to your butcher about the cuts he can provide first. For Pork, opt for Pork shoulder, it's one of the cheaper cuts you can get and still great for grilling. Turkey is often overlooked for barbecues and also a great cost saver for large groups of people. The important thing about your barbecue meat is you get what you pay for, cheap and cheerful keeps the bill low but ideally you don't want to scrimp on the quality of the meat, invest in good cuts of meat for your barbecue and the world cup is an added entertainment bonus.

Meaty Tip: make sure Chicken comes to room temp before cooking, if its too cold on the inside the chicken won't cook through, alternatively cook in your oven and finish off on the barbecue.

Skewer Tip: only put one kind of meat on a skewer, it means you'll only have to worry about one cooking time, chicken cooks faster than beef and mixing meats can lead to burnt offerings.


Need a handy barbecue Cooking guide? - Use the chart below