Barbecue Basics - marinades, rubs, and how to tell if it is cooked.

First of all, let us distinguish between "barbecuing" and "grilling" - the former is a slow cooking process, usually with the lid down over a lower heat. Grilling is a high-heat process that is great for fish, vegetables, hamburgers, and a great rare steak.

Barbecuing proper often requires that you keep the food away from direct heat - perhaps keeping the coals lit under half the grill, while the food sits on the other side, or making a ring of the embers and placing the meat over the centre area without the coals. This method is also useful in smoking your food; simply add wet wood chips to the heat.

We've included some ideas to help you experiment and create your own signature marinades, sauces, and rubs.

Marinades

Marinades typically have three components:

For heavier meats like steak, venison, and lamb, marinades work best when the meats are cut into cubes or steaks not more than 1inch thick to allow the marinade to permeate. Do not marinate meats for too long, as the acids tend to "cook" the surfaces and the grilling process will dry it out. Pork and lamb should be left between five and eight hours, chicken for two or three hours, and fish for no more than one hour. Steaks can be left overnight or even up to 48 hours.

Because of the high acid content of marinades, use a non-reactive container during the process. Ideally, glass or stainless steel dishes or for convenience, a plastic freezer bag has the added benefit of requiring less liquid (squeeze the air out for even better results). Never use copper or aluminum pans.

Cover the meat completely in the marinade, or you will be stuck turning it over every half-hour or so.

Refrigerate the marinating meats to prevent bacteria from forming. DO NOT reuse a marinade.

Mix and match

Choose from the columns to make your own custom marinade

Dips, Sauces, and Glazes

Once the food is on the grill, you may want to introduce a sauce or glaze, or alternately baste it in the marinade that you set aside (at the beginning of the process). You might also serve the dip or sauce along side the finished product in small dishes for each diner. They often contain the same ingredients (or complementary one) as the marinade, but are boiled down to a thicker consistency.

Use sweet sauces only near then end of the cooking cycle or they will likely burn.

Rubs

A dry rub is a blend of spices and seasonings designed to complement the flavour of the meat. Contrary to what the name suggests, a dry rub is not actually rubbed into the meat. Much like a marinade, putting the rub onto the meat in advance helps the flavours permeate into the meat - for beef, try adding it the night before. Dry rubs are sometimes even referred to as "dry marinades."

How it works: the seasonings draw the juices of the meat to the surface, where they pick up some of the flavours, and then form a thin "crust" which seals in the other juices.

Brining

Sometimes called "salting," brining is the act of placing the meat into a salt solution where osmosis causes two things to happen: water, salt, and any sugars will plump the meat up and the salt will cause the meat to break down (tenderize). When the salting process is done with dry salt, the process works in reverse and the moisture from the meat (and more often, fish) is drawn out and a cooking process occurs. So no additional heat is required.

Brining makes the meat gain weight (water - up to 20% of the initial weight). If you opt to grill the meat as opposed to slow-cooking (barbecuing), expect the meat to lose this additional moisture. Use less salt and sugar in brine that is intended for grilling.

For BBQ:

For grilling:

Brine anywhere from ½ hour (fish) to 8 hours maximum (roast).

Is it done yet? How to tell.

Depending on whether you are grilling or barbecuing the answers will differ. Grilling results in food that is more cooked on the outside and less so as you get further into the centre. Barbecuing will result in a food item cooked throughout, with a slightly more cooked outer layer (and possibly even a smoked layer).

The best way to gauge the "doneness" of your dinner is to use a thermometre. Insert the thermometre at the thickest part of the meat, and avoid bone, which heats faster and will not give you an accurate result.