Adam Perry Lang trained with the world's best chefs before giving up four-star kitchens for the thrill of cooking with just meat and fire. Now he's on a mission to turn everyone into an expert.In Serious Barbecue, Adam Perry Lang has translated his intimate understanding of culinary technique into easy-to-follow advice to help a nation of backyard cooks unleash the raw power of one of the most flavor-packed cuisines around: American barbecue.
Perry Lang begins by breaking down the fundamentals of barbecue--what tools you'll need to begin, how to master cooking with charcoal and wood, how to choose the perfect grill, and more. Then he takes readers on a trip through the butcher's case, describing exactly what makes each kind of meat special, explaining how to select with the skill of a master, and providing his favorite recipes for almost every available cut of pork, beef, veal, lamb, chicken, and turkey.
These original, mouthwatering recipes, which include step-by-step seasoning instructions and a flip-by-flip grilling or smoking guide, will have amateur and expert cooks firing up their barbecues and enjoying perfect results every time--whether they're impressing a group of friends with Perry Lang's insanely delicious Salt and Pepper Dry-Aged Cowboy-Cut Rib Eye or wowing half the neighborhood with his massive, slow-cooking, succulent "Get a Book" Whole Pork Shoulder. Whatever the recipe, his goal is for everyone to achieve the holy grail of barbecuing: bragging rights.
SERIOUS BARBECUE
Smoke, Char, Baste, and Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor CookingBy Adam Perry LangHYPERION
Copyright © 2009 Adam Perry Lang
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4013-2306-6Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................1BARBECUE BASICS........................6PORK...................................35BEEF and VEAL..........................113LAMB...................................196CHICKEN and TURKEY.....................249SIDES..................................304BASIC RECIPES..........................361SCIENCE................................374SOURCES................................378ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................380INDEX..................................382
Chapter One
TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
Whether you're a novice or expert, whether you're planning to grill a few steaks or barbecue a brisket, this is what I think you should have on hand. Of course, I know it sounds like a lot, so for you part-timers, I've provided a just-enough-stuff list, too.
Just-Enough-Stuff List
Tongs, oil towel, grill brush, fire extinguisher, firebricks, instant-read thermometer, spatula, lighter, cutting board.
TONGS: Heavyweight restaurant tongs. Avoid the fancy ones, because they just tire your hands.
OIL TOWEL: Soaked but not dripping in canola oil (which is cheap and has a higher smoke point than, say, olive oil). Just don't use a towel that you'd ever use to wash your face.
GRILL BRUSH: Invest in the sturdiest you can, one with heavy tines that won't fall out. It's better to replace it often rather than invest in a fancy one, and price doesn't always indicate quality. Preferably cast iron.
HEAVYWEIGHT GRATES: Use them even if you have to lay them on top of the flimsy ones that come with your grill.
ENOUGH FUEL: Do not get caught with half a tank of propane or too little charcoal. Always, always have more than you think you need, just in case-you'll notice I haven't mentioned lighter fluid.
SAFETY ASH BUCKET AND SHOVEL: You'd be surprised how long ashes stay lit. Have a safe place to put them. The shovel makes it easy to move them.
FRESH SPICES: Don't ruin a great meat with dull spices. Buy small amounts. Keep replacing them.
PLATTERS READY FOR YOUR BARBECUE: Don't get caught without a big enough platter. And have it ready for your food, because a hot cooker is not a safe resting place for finished meat.
FIRE EXTINGUISHER: Hey, you never know.
THREE TYPES OF THERMOMETERS:
An instant-read thermometer gives you a quick, accurate temperature reading.
A remote thermometer: Great for large cuts, it lets you monitor the temperature in real time without opening and closing the cooker door.
A laser thermometer: For calibrating your cooker's temperature. (See Calibrating Your Grill page 15.)
NOTEPAD AND PEN: Write down everything-what works, what doesn't, and ideas for next time. When it comes to barbecue, school's never over.
WATER AND SUNBLOCK: You'll be having so much fun you might not notice that accidents with the barbecue are not the only way to get burned outside.
SPRAY BOTTLE: Not for taming the flame, but for spraying the meat with liquids like watered-down apple juice to add color and flavor.
BAKING DISHES AND ALUMINUM PANS: Handy for everything from shuffling meat around to adding pastes during cooking to (when it has seen better days) using as a drip pan. The disposable ones are cheap, reusable, stackable, and easy to clean.
PLASTIC QUART CONTAINERS OR MASON JARS: Great for mixing sauces, glazes, spices, and everything else.
IMMERSION BLENDER: One of the greatest inventions: Why haul your ingredients to a blender when you can bring the blender to them?
MICROPLANE GRATER: Grates the finest garlic, shallots, apples, chiles, and citrus zest, all of which are awesome for adding last-minute flavor boosts.
TWO CUTTING BOARDS: One for raw meat (not wood for this one, please), one for cooked meat. I sometimes drizzle sauce or glaze, or even butter, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs, on this second board, so when I'm slicing, the meat picks up some extra flavor.
FIREBRICKS: Wrapped in heavy-duty aluminum foil, they can weigh meat down, block heat and serve as a safe resting place for meat, and if placed on a sheet pan they can create super-hot spots on the grill grates. They're more resistant to heat than regular bricks.
HEAVY-DUTY ALUMINUM FOIL: For wrapping, for keeping things warm, for creating an effective makeshift griddle on a grill, for cleaning your grill (just crumple it up!).
HEAVY-DUTY PLASTIC WRAP: For keeping things moist throughout cooking. Just have it. You'll understand why.
HEAT-PROOF GLOVES: For moving grill racks, or for handling hot meat or coals.
BEAR PAWS (BEAR CLAWS): They make pulling pork shoulder a snap.
SPICE GRINDER: Do I have to tell you why? A coffee grinder works well, especially if you use it exclusively for spice grinding.
LARGE RESEALABLE BAGS OR GARBAGE BAGS: For marinating meat.
A SHARP KNIFE: So you can slice your barbecue the way you like it.
A GRIDDLE: Enables flare-up-free browning-particularly useful for rattier items like burgers or rib eyes.
SYRINGE (INJECTING NEEDLE): For injecting brines.
GRILL PRESS: For weighing down meats and vegetables. It keeps items in contact with heat source, which helps them brown evenly and exceptionally, and helps them keep their integrity of shape.
GRILL BASKET: Lets you apply direct heat to cuts that are too tender to handle without them falling apart-think pork belly, trotters, and my picnic ham.
MEAT POUNDER: For flattening meat and whacking in flavorful ingredients. You can use a rolling pin, if you'd like.
DIRECT GRILLS: GAS GRILLS, CHARCOAL GRILLS, KETTLE GRILLS
What Direct Means
Direct grilling means hitting meat, fruits, or vegetables with heat that hasn't been deflected or significantly diffused. This is especially useful for cuts that have lots of fat and low amounts of collagen. Contrary to popular opinion, it does not always involve high heat (which can make really leaner cuts like chicken breasts tough and dry), though the temperature used for direct grilling tends to be higher than those used for indirect cooking. You want to use that direct heat to get grill marks, which are cool-looking but, even more important, also carry a lot of the flavor characteristic of outdoor cooking. That's why we typically put relatively thin cuts like steaks, chops, and loins directly over the heat: By the time the interior is cooked to perfection, the outside has had the chance to become all brown and delicious.
Who Is It For?
If you love steaks, chops, and chicken with beautiful brown crusts and grill marks, a direct-heat cooker is for you, though you can also close the lid and use it like an oven. This is the cooker that provides grilled flavor with stunning char.
Where the Flavor Comes From
When you're direct grilling, there are two sources of flavor to keep in mind-besides that of the meat and whatever you put on the meat, of course:
Caramelization: The heat changes the composition of the proteins and sugars in the meat and forms all sorts of new and tasty flavor compounds.
Flavor bombs: As fat and moisture leave the meat, they drip...
