Direct / Indirect Cooking

The direct cooking means cooking directly over the charcoal and indirect cooking means cooking by the heat/smoke of the charcoal, but not above it. Indirect cooking is often done with a lid and depending of the quantity of for instance meat you wish to cook and what temperature, you may choose to put it between two homes of glowing charcoal.  With the barbecue lid it becomes like an oven, except that there is no thermostat, so you must be vigilant as the temperature rises very quickly. This is a good way to cook larger pieces, whole chicken, shank etc. and the result is very juicy.

Cooking fish
 
The fish is as common on the BBQ that the bottles of white wine are the cellar. It's very good, but most think of meat when we discuss barbecue. The difficulty with cooking fish on the BBQ is that the fish tends to fall apart when cooked. It is very difficult to cook the fish directly on the grill, at least if you have removed the skin. The less fish is of the fat type, the more it is difficult. There are removable grilles where you "catch" the fish inside it and then put them on BBQ. Fish, BBQ or not, requires a delicate cooking, otherwise it becomes dry. To keep the fish juicy, avoid slow cooking. For fat fish like salmon, it is best to keep the skin and have fairly thick steaks. Start cooking with the skin on the charcoal side (the skin will become almost charred, do not eat this!), when the top of the bite still seems raw, turn it on the sides for cooking, but not for too long. If you feel it "crunchy" on the edges and almost raw in the middle when eating, you have succeeded! Whole fish on the barbecue is also very good, because they are easier to keep juicy. For fish, as for meat, each and one have their “best” way of cooking.  With most of us used to eat Sushi, we realize that even the fish can be cooked according to desire. Check out the recipes!

Cooking meat
 
The meat is “at home” on the BBQ, cooking at high temperature suits it very well. Of course, this does not mean you can treat it and your guest’s without respect! There are as many different ways of cooking on the barbecue as there are different types of meat. Jarret, chops, steaks, chopped steak, sausages etc., you name it! One thing is sure, even if our parents told us that the charred meat was good for the singing voice, we know today that it’s carcinogenic, so that’s banned. Check out the recipes!

Cooking vegetables

Vegetables are cooked too quickly on the barbecue, and since they are supposed to remain in pieces and not finish in ratatouille or carbonized, the indirect cooking and/or delicate cooking is the method. Basically, they should be cooked more slowly at lower temperature. See also brochettes. Potatoes in foil are very easy to succeed, you just pack them well and then put them directly in the glowing charcoal (put them on the side to cook a little less strong, mainly to avoid the fat that drops from meat etc.). Check out the recipes!
 

Cooking Brochettes
 
The brochettes are good blend of meat, fish or shellfish with vegetables. Because vegetables are very fragile and require slow cooking at lower temperature, you can cook them a little in water before putting them on the stick. For example, a piece of precooked pepper is better with the meat on the stick than raw pepper that’s burned almost black on the sides once on the barbecue. If you use wooden stick, do not hesitate to soak them for 30 minutes in water before putting the ingredients on it. Check out the recipes!