2017 CHAMPION CHICKEN SAUCES: NATIONAL BARBECUE NEWS
In the publication’s 7th year of awarding Sauces of Honor for BBQ excellence from Alabama to Alaska, National Barbecue News recognized these labels as the top 10 sauces for chicken. As always, the competition is open to both commercial producers and enthusiastic amateurs, including caterers, restaurants, competitive teams and farmer’s market vendors. Read about them – and look for these very special sauces when you’re in the winner’s neck of the woods. Save some room for the magazine’s list of winning beef sauces, coming later this grilling season.
The burger is the American griller’s favorite food choice. Surveys from organizations like National Cattleman’s Beef Association and Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association say so year after year. How much better can it get for the burger? A few food writers at the Detroit Free Press and Huffington Post shared their tips and perspectives to do better by your burger. Here’s how to upgrade your hamburger grilling game.
Look at all the elements together.
The meat, the condiments, the toppings and the bun. Choose all with equal care. Get creative!
Don’t add too much in the way of ingredients, just spices.
Handle the burger as little as possible to avoid making the meat cook up rubbery.
Less is more! Mix the burger meat and seasonings gently, shape patties with a soft touch, and resist the urge to squeeze the juices out with a spatula.
Form the perfect patty
Use about 6 ounces of meat in a patty that is at least ¾” thick and 3-1/2” diameter. Put a little dent in the center of the raw patties with your thumb so the burgers don’t puff up on the grill; it works!
If the idea of natural wood flavor and smoky goodness gets your taste buds all excited, but you don’t have the latest and greatest pellet grill gear in your backyard yet, there’s no need to despair. Here’s the good news: you can buy accessories to use wood pellets on the gas or charcoal grill you already own.
These affordable products are generally called ‘smoker boxes’ or ‘smoker tubes.’
They’re made of metal so they can take the heat. They’re also easy to use! Just fill with a few BBQ pellets, place onto your grill grates, and be amazed at the added flavor your bbq acquires. Because smoker tubes and boxes are simpler devices, they’re not nearly as versatile as a fully engineered, dedicated BBQ pellet machine. But for the same reason, you’ll pay a whole lot less for smoker boxes and tubes.
The SmokinCube is one great example of the bountiful selection you can find online. These accessories can kick off a long and beautiful relationship with pellet grilling. We hope you enjoy the journey. (We’re pretty sure you will.)
Now that you know how to get great smoky flavors, what are you going to do with them?
The pellet flavor you crave comes from wood. Find out here about maple, one of the wood species that goes into Griller’s Gold 100% natural wood pellets.
Our wood pellets are made of just that—wood. It’s the only ingredient. Today, we’re going to talk about maple, a great wood for BBQ pellets and more….
Sugar maple trees are neighbors to many of us
There are approximately 128 species, with the largest number native to Asia. Their habitat in North America spreads across the eastern part of Canada (starting in Manitoba) and the north-central US (from Minnesota eastward). A sugar maple typically grows to a height of 80 to 115 feet and can reach 148 feet. A healthy example might live to the age of 400 years, too.
Sugar maple wood is often known as “hard maple” and the tree’s timber has many uses.
The fine-grained wood of the maple is appreciated for the soft sheen it brings to flooring, furniture, and cabinetry. It’s the preferred wood for bowling pins, bowling alley lanes, pool cue shafts, and butcher’s blocks for kitchens.
The maple’s bright autumn foliage is so spectacular, it’s fueled tourism traditions in North America and across Asia.
Vermont is the nation’s leading producer of maple syrup. Producing nearly 2 million gallons of syrup in 2016, Vermont generates 47% of the country’s maple syrup.
And It’s not just for syrup!
Maple is a great wood for food flavor. Maple has long been popular for smoking foods. It adds its mellow sweetness and fine flavor to smoked and grilled foods. We proudly mix maple into two of our unique and delicious 100% wood blends – Competition and Fruitwood.
Because grass-fed beef is extremely low in fat, nutrition and medical professionals sing its praises. (Grass-fed beef has about the same amount of fat as skinless chicken.) But the extremely low-fat content that delivers those health benefits can also make overcooking a problem. You can avoid disappointment and enjoy your healthy grass-fed beef by using a few key principles:
Watch the clock.
Whatever cooking time a recipe recommends for ‘beef,’ cut the time by 30 percent when you go with grass-fed. And when in doubt, remove the meat sooner rather than later. Even one extra minute can take grilled steak to an overcooked place.
Aim for rare to medium rare.
Grass-fed beef should be served rare to medium rare when grilling. Since the meat has less fat, you definitely don’t want to dry it out.
Bring to room temperature.
Bring to room temperature before cooking. Defrost slowly in the refrigerator or wrapped in plastic and immersed in water. (Never, ever defrost in a microwave.)
Add moisture.
Coat with virgin olive oil, truffle oil, or any light oil. It will enhance flavor, add to browning, and prevent drying. Alternately, cook in liquid to up the moisture content (braising is a great option on a wood pellet grill). And always marinate the leanest cuts, like steak, especially before grilling. Learn more about marinades or try this simple but super-tasty Marinade recipe.
Sear, Baby, Sear!
When you grill grass-fed beef, give a quick sear over medium-high heat to seal in juices, then reduce to medium or low for the rest of your cooking time.
Combine marinating and grilling techniques with this savory recipe for Tamari-orange whiskey kebabs. Use grass fed kebab meat, or cut 1-1/2” cubes from a London broil, sirloin, top round or eye of round.
More than ever, you should make a marinade or rub a part of your wood grilling routine. Whether you’re using BBQ wood pellets or any other grilling fuel, rubs and marinades contribute to fuller flavor and more delectable texture. (You probably knew that!)
What’s the Difference?
Marinades are liquids that help tenderize the meat before you cook it, and infuse it with flavor, too. Marinades work best if you let the meat marinate for 30 minutes or longer, depending on the tenderness of the meat you’re cooking. Tender cuts of meat like chicken breasts won’t require long marinating times, but tougher cuts of meat like flank steak for tacos usually require longer marinating times. (Remember: sweet marinades with a lot of sugar in them can burn at high temperatures, so you’ll want to be cautious about following directions regarding heat level and cooking time.)
Rubs are a mix of spices and seasonings that contribute to the development of a delicious crust on the outside of your meat, but don’t aid in tenderizing it. Apply your rubs a few hours in advance and refrigerate the meat in plastic wrap for maximum flavor. During cooking, don’t move the meat around—just let it sit and get crusty as it hits your target degree of doneness.
Cooking Methods
Any dish in which you’d use a marinade or rub can make its way onto your wood pellet grill. Since wood pellet grills do so well across a range of cooking techniques—from smoking, braising, and barbecuing to high-temp grilling—your food is sure to come out with maximum flavor. If you’re using a wood pellet grill, even better, and here’s why.
Make your own Marinade or Rub
While the pros offer many rubs and marinades for sale online and at your local store, it’s ridiculously easy to make your own. Get creative. Better Homes & Gardens serves up some pretty wild marinades here: BHG Grilling Marinades. AllRecipes users have contributed and rated these zippy spice rubs: Spice rubs from AllRecipes.
