Barbecue refer to a meal or gathering at which meat, fish, or other food is cooked on a rack over an open fire or on a portable grill. Barbecue is not only a means of cooking, but also a way to enjoy leisure and entertainment.
When it comes to having a barbecue, barbecue equipment is indispensable. They come in a lot of different types in terms of the source of energy, gas, charcoal, and electricity. Among them, charcoal barbecue grills have an original design which is inspired from the way of cooking of our ancestors. Without a kitchen and cooking accessories, our smart ancestors roast the animals they hunted with a simple stand and log fire. As the advancement of cooking technologies of the human being, people find that charcoal (carbonized log) makes food more delicious with better flavor and taste. Now, charcoal has become an integral part of people’s pursuit of original and tasteful cuisine.
Best Charcoal Barbecue Grills
Let’s start with charcoal barbecue grill. The traditional hardwood charcoal lumps and briquettes is a good choice. They are cheap, can be ignited easily with wax or paraffin, burns long, and adds smoky flavor to the food.
Remember to open the vents before starting the grill, because the fire needs enough oxygen to keep going. The cooking temperature can be changed by adjusting the vents. Wider vents means hotter flames and more oxygen, while smaller vents means reducing the temperature.
Start your barbecue grill with a charcoal chimney starter, this is the easiest way to get your charcoal going. You dot need lighter fluid. Stuff newspaper loosely in the bottom of chimney, fill the chimney with charcoal, remove the top grate from the grill, place chimney inside, and light the newspaper. Let the charcoal or briquettes burn until they’re covered with white gray ash and leave 5-10 minutes for the coals to get to high temperature and 25-30 minutes to moderately high temperature. Pour charcoal into the grill and spread over grate with tongs. During the cooking process, it is important to choose suitable food at the appropriate time, steak, pork chops, fish, chicken, vegetable, etc., depends on the variation of the temperature.
The collapsible camping grill and chimney starter is a new super portable innovation perfect for grilling at the beach, camping, or wherever your adventures take place. This all-in-one grill and chimney starter combo makes igniting a charcoal fire quicker, easy, and most importantly, chemical-free. No lighter fluid is needed. Moreover, no addition tools for assembling or dissembling are required. Pack it in the bag and you are instantly ready!
Clean the grill right after cooking while it’s still hot by using a stiff wire brush. Remove food particles from the grill is an important step of maintaining the function and extending the service life of the grill. The brush is made of stainless steel and is durable and reusable.
In spite of the special flavor and taste charcoal gives food, many people find it inconvenient to use charcoal grill as you need to prepare the fuel, fire starter, chimney starter and wait for a long time until the temperature is ready to cook. Gas grill has hence become increasingly popular, which enables you to start your party whenever you want for its extreme convenience. It makes barbecue grilling super simple and user-friendly. It has become the preferred choice for making an outdoor kitchen with a barbecue grill at the backyard.
Building an outdoor kitchen for cooking your favorite food and having dinner with your family or friends is not as difficult as you think. Select the desired location, build a wall, and finish by fixing the gas grill, sink, cabinet, etc. The grade 304 stainless steel barbecue gas grill is most important to build the outdoor kitchen. Pay attention to the space of your backyard and choose a gas grill among the 3-burner, 4-burner, 5-burner and 6-burner types. Of course, you also have some other choices to use the gas grill in a moveable and simple way. 6-burner with infrared functions, big size (1690*630*1235mm), stainless steel 304, Total BTU: 87,000, BTU/HR=24.8Kw, 3pcs Iron with porcelain enamel (cooking area 97*50cm), 4pcs wheels (2 with breaks) and electronic ignition, all these functions can help you perfect your barbecue experience.
How to operate the gas grill?
1. Open the lid of the grill. Keeping your lid closed while igniting can result in risk of an explosion. If the gas has been turned on with the lid closed, turn off the gas and open the lid. Wait a few minutes for the gas to dissipate, then start the process over.
2. Connect the gas with the grill, if necessary. In most cases, a propane tank is used to supply the grill with gas. Propane tanks are usually stored beneath, behind, or by the side of the grill. Attach the gas line firmly to the propane tank and the gas intake for the grill.
Depending on the grill, the connection may vary. When in doubt, follow the usage instructions. If you don’t have the paper instructions any more, look up a digital manual by searching online with the keyword of the grill. Some grills may be connected by a direct line to the natural gas supplied to the house. Gas of this kind acts in the same way as a gas tank, but is more stable. Smaller tabletop grills oftentimes have small canisters of gas which are screwed into the valve of the grill before it can be ignited.
3. Turn on the gas switch. This is usually done by turning a valve on the top of the propane tank. Some grills may have a secondary valve on the grill that you need to switch on to enable to receive gas. Switch on the valve fully, then wait about a minute for the gas to move through the pipe and reach the grill.
4. Ignite the grill. Generally, this involves rotating a knob on the front of the grill for the burner to be closest to the igniter. This will allow gas to flow through the grill up through the grate. Press the igniter button to start a spark inside the grill and ignite the gas. Follow the ignition instructions of the grill for the best results. Different grills may have different designs, like ones that have the starter and regulator knob combined. Follow the grill instructions when you are confused about the ignition procedure. Once one burner is lit, you can ignite burners next to the ignited one without the igniter by simply turning on the regulator knobs for these burners.
With a barbecue smoker, you can cook with smoke that emitted in a slow and stable way. If you hate the abundant smoke given out by barbecue grills, the 17-inch charcoal barbecue smoker may be your best choice. It is convenient to operate and clean, and the temperature is easy to manipulate. The lid has an adjustable vent, an integrated thermometer, and a thermal insulation handle. The middle section of the smoker holds the water bowl and two cooking grates and has a door for adding charcoal, wood, or water, and for checking food on the lower grate. The base has three adjustable vents and three stands for stability—and it holds the fire grate. The three sections don’t lock together, so you simply stack them up one by one. When you finish the barbecue, just take down each section separately and store them in an easy way.
Material: High quality for long service life. The body of the smoker is made from powder-coated steel that can withstand heat and the elements, while the stands, vents, and internal brackets that hold the grates are made of aluminum. The top handle and the access door handle are plastic, so they stay cool during cooking. The cooking grates are chrome-plated and easy to clean. While this is definitely designed to be a smoker, we found it interesting that it is easy to be used as a standard grill as well. The fire grate and ring fit perfectly where the water bowl normally stays, then the top grate is put in its normal place for grilling. The appearance of the smoker can be customized by changing the color and printing your desired logo and words.
While the food is being cooked, you need to keep the lid closed as much as possible. But you also need to keep an eye on the fire and the temperature as you will have to add more burning charcoal to the fire periodically. Once you get the hang of it, you shouldn't have any trouble keeping the temperature in the right range.
Smokers uses smoking, an indirect method to cook and usually takes place over a few hours under a certain temperature that is usually not very high, while grills use a combination of fire and high temperature of burning charcoals to cook the food.
Smokers are staple cookers at summer cookouts, but smokers are not the same as grills. Grilling your meat won’t give it that same smoky flavor that you’ll get with a smoker, and a smoker won’t give that same grilled flavor you love in hot dogs and hamburgers. So, what’s the difference between the two? Is one better than the other? In this guide, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of smokers and grills and how the two are different from each other.
As the name implies, smokers use smoke to cook food. Smokers can use charcoal, gas, wood or electricity as the energy source. Gas and electric smokers are much easier to use and require less human interference. However, charcoal and wood smokers can produce a more authentic and traditional barbeque flavor.
Smokers generally follow a similar design. A water basin and a wood chip basin are placed at the bottom of the smoker chamber. Either water or sand can be placed in the water basin. The wood produces smoke which gives food the smoky flavor, while the water (or sand) helps keep the internal temperature stable.
◪Making food flavorful and tender
◪Gives food a smoky barbecue flavor
◪Electric smokers are convenient and easy to use
◪Smokers allow for long-time slow cooking with minimal tending
◪Cooking with smoke takes longer than grilling and other cooking methods
◪Smokers using charcoal and wood require more tending, and the temperature is not always easy to control
◪Concerns over food safety
◪Without a meat thermometer, it can be difficult to discern whether or not the meat is fully cooked when using a smoker. Meats that are not well cooked can be dangerous to consume
Barbecue grills can be found in many people’s backyards all over the world. They may be powered by electricity, charcoal or gas. Everyone has their own opinion on which type of grill produces the best flavor, but charcoal and gas are preferred to electric models. Grilling allows for quick cooking, and food need to be rotated frequently for even heating. Foods can be grilled over high or low heat, depending on the type of food being grilled. Grills tend to be very efficient at cooking smaller pieces of food, like chicken breasts, chops and steaks.
◪Cooks food quickly
◪Easy to use
◪A healthier way to cook as excess fat drips off meats
◪Vegetables and meats retain more vitamin
◪Foods stay moist and flavorful when basted
◪Food need to be flipped frequently to avoid burning
◪For beginners, charcoal grills can be tricky to operate
◪Grilling is often preferred over roasting, baking and frying simply because it allows you to cook with less oil and excess fat drips away from the meat
Grills and smokers may look similar, but the two are very different in several ways.
Cooking Temperature
Grills and smokers cook food with different temperatures. Whether you are using charcoal or gas grill as the source of energy, the internal temperature can be very hot up to 400°C. This is because grills use direct heat to cook food, whereas smokers use indirect heat of the smoke. The internal temperature of a smoker will range between 160 and 300 degrees. A lower temperature are better suited for fish, cheese and vegetables, whereas most meats are smoked at about 200-220 degrees.
Design
Smokers and grills have similar appearances, but their internal design are very different. Grills are designed to apply direct heat to the foods being cooked on the grates. No matter whether you’re using gas, charcoal or even electricity, heat is applied directly to foods. This is why the cooking time is much shorter when foods are grilled. Smokers, on the other hand, use indirect heat to cook the food. With a charcoal or wood smoker, heat is typically vented into the cooking chamber from the fire chamber.
Cooking Technique
The cooking techniques used to grill meat is very different from that used to smoke meat. With grilling, it is essential to flip the food frequently to prevent it from burning. The direct heat cooks food quickly, but it can also singe food if the food is left unattended. With a smoker, it’s generally not necessary to turn the food as indirect heat is what cooks the food. It creates an environment that’s similar to the oven in the kitchen. The food get well done slowly, which allows more smoke flavor to penetrate the food.
Food Preservation
Smoking is a great way to preserve food if done properly. This is something that cannot be achieved with grilling. Before the advent of refrigerators, people relied on smoking and salt to cure and preserve food.
Preserving meats is done through intensive smoking. The end product is similar to jerky. Recipes use a lot of salt and meat is smoked at low temperatures until almost all of the moisture is cooked off. The salt prevents the reproduction of bacteria as the moisture is removed from the meat. Providing you smoke your meat properly, you can create jerky with an indefinite shelf life, although it had better be consumed within six to twelve months.
Smokers vs Grills – Which is the Best Choice?
Whether or not you choose a smoker or a grill will depend on your own personal taste preference and the type of food you want to cook. Grilling is a simple and direct way to cook foods, while smoking will provide you with some unique options. For example, you can use your smoker to smoke cheese or create beef jerky. These are two things that you cannot do with a grill.
Grills, on the other hand, allows you to cook food quickly. This is why they’re better suited for cookouts or barbecues than smokers. You can cook a large amount of food in a relatively short period of time. Smoking, on the other hand, can take several hours. For ease of use, most people prefer grills. However, it’s hard to beat the flavor produced by smokers. For large cuts of meat, like roasts, ribs, briskets and ham, smoking is the preferred option. Smoking is also the best option for making jerky. If the food can benefit from a smoky flavor and slow cooking is preferred, smoking is the best choice. However, small cuts of meat such as chicken breasts, steaks and chops are better cooked by grilling.
Conclusion
Barbecue may be one of the most popular forms of having an outdoor meal or party, and it has become a very daily cooking style. Barbecue enable people to enjoy delicious food, spend time with friends and families during weekends and holidays. Grills and smokers, despite their differences, can help to achieve this end by giving the food an original and attractive flavor. Use them well to have a barbecue that features delicious food, a cozy atmosphere and sweet face-to-face communication with friends and families.