Never Fail Meats

Story by Debby Waldman

The experts crowd around the backyard grill and clamour to offer advice on making the most of meat

For those of us who grew up in the 1960s and 70s, the thought never occurred to use a backyard barbecue for anything other than hamburgers, hot dogs or, on special occasions, a juicy steak.

Nowadays, with sophisticated gas or propane units that rival restaurant-quality equipment, you can make just about anything on the barbecue, from beef to brownies. It’s the former, though, that most people prepare, along with a variety of other meats including chicken, lamb, pork, ribs and, increasingly, bison.

Cooking outdoors is “an art and science, but the more you do it, the more experienced you get,” says home economist Barbara Barnes, supervisor at the ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen. There’s plenty of opportunity to get that experience in Edmonton, because despite our often less-than-hospitable winter temperatures, people still barbecue year round.

It’s important to understand, though, that on cold, windy days, cooking will likely take longer. “It varies so much depending on the wind, the temperature, the model of the barbecue, the fuel source, and even the conditions of the barbecue,” Barnes says. “It’s one of the reasons we don’t put exact times down on our recipes.” (The ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen has just published “Hall of Flame,” its third barbecue cookbook. For more information, or to order a copy of the $10 book, call 1-800-840-3393.)

While weather will always be a variable, there are plenty of constants in barbecuing, chief among them is to start with meat that has been evenly cut. Unevenly cut meat will cook inconsistently.

“You should never be afraid to ask (at the meat counter or butcher) for a steak that is a specific thickness,” says Barnes, who prefers her steaks between one and a quarter to one and a half inches (two to three centimetres) thick all the way through.

Because cooking times vary no matter how your meat has been cut, it’s important to have a meat thermometer. That way you don’t have to keep slicing into it to figure out whether dinner is done, which will not only result in an unsightly main dish, it will cause the juices to run out, making your meat less tasty than it would be if you served it intact.

Barnes usually inserts the meat thermometer when the meat looks about cooked. Becoming adept at administering the eyeball test takes experience. But the more time you spend at the barbecue, the better you’ll get at using your eyes or your sense of touch to determine how your meat is doing.

“If it’s still really soft, you know it’s pretty raw,” Barnes says. “If it’s starting to get about the firmness of the flesh between your thumb and your first finger, you know that it’s starting to cook a little bit more. If you touch that steak and it really is resisting – if you push and it’s firm –you know you’ve really gone too far. Take it off the barbecue.”

Some meats aren’t meant to be served well done, among them beef flank steak, which should be cooked medium, and any cut of bison.

Bison steaks should be a minimum of three-quarters of an inch (two centimeters) thick and are best cooked rare to medium-rare, says Linda Sautner, office manager at the Alberta Bison Centre in Leduc. “There is no marbling within the meat,” Sautner says, referring to the visible fat content. “If you cook bison meat to well done it will be very dry and stringy.”

Barnes recommends cooking most meats at low or medium heat, depending on the cut and your barbecue. When preparing lamb, Barnes usually uses low heat unless she is searing to lock in the juices. Then she’ll use medium to medium-high heat. Most beef steaks are cooked over medium heat, while low heat is used for pork. Prepare your ham, which is already cooked, over medium heat just long enough to warm it.

Barnes gets a lot of questions about how to make ribs on the barbecue. Contrary to some backyard chefs, she says not to boil them first. It can toughen them and leach out the flavour. Ribs should be cooked over low heat anywhere from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half.

Chicken should always be cooked bone-side down first, because the bone helps conduct heat through the meat. Barnes removes the skin for most recipes, to prevent the fat from flaring, although she will often leave on the skin when she’s barbecuing chicken legs.

Barnes generally cooks chicken over low heat, with the exception of boneless, skinless breasts, which she cooks quickly, over medium, to keep them from drying out. To keep skinless chicken from sticking to the grill, she brushes it with a bit of oil.

To keep salmon from sticking, Barnes puts it skin-side down on a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil, which provides more protection and doesn’t pierce as easily as the lighter grade. She recommends trimming the foil so it is slightly larger than the fillet. If you don’t want the skin sticking to the foil, either grease the foil or use a non-stick variety. Both Reynolds and Alcan make non-stick foil.

You can flavour fish with spices, but if you are going to marinate fish or seafood, don’t do it for more than 30 minutes. Neither have connective tissue and after about a half hour they will begin to cook in the acid of the marinade. When you grill them, they will either fall apart or be pulpy. Fish and seafood are generally cooked at medium heat.

Marinades are used for flavouring and to tenderize. The longer you marinade, the more tender and flavourful your meat will get. That’s because the salt in marinade acts as a tenderizer. So does wine, vinegar, citrus juice and tomatoes, all of which are acidic. Sautner recommends marinating bison meat overnight. She uses French’s meat Marinade.

A meat rub will also tenderize and flavour flesh. A rub is a mix of herbs and spices (you guessed it) rubbed on meat before cooking. “I find rubs will go on individual steaks a lot better,” says Jeff Jackson, part-owner and chef at Edmonton’s Century Grill restaurant. His preference is to grill meat immediately after rubbing. Barnes lets her rubbed meat sit for 15 minutes before she cooks it.

If you’re looking exclusively for flavour, try -barbecue sauce. There are dozens to choose from, including the made-in-Alberta Cattle Boyz brand, which comes in original and honey hot barbecue flavours. The key is to add the sauce during the last 10 minutes of cooking, says Karen Hope, managing partner of the Calgary-based company. “When you put it on too early, the sauce caramelizes and burns.”

If your meat does burn, cut off the charred part. Although nothing has been proven conclusively, some studies have linked charred meats to cancer. To prevent charring altogether, trim away some of the fat before cooking. “It’s not healthy anyway,” says Nelson Fok, associate director of En-viron-mental Health for Capital Health.

Adding sauce in the last minutes of cooking will create a glaze. Jackson makes his own glazes, usually beef stock reduced or cooked to half its original volume. His glace de viande contains truffled peppercorn butter melted on freshly grilled meat. Truffle oil is pricey – $45 for 250 milligrams (eight ounces). If you’re trying to economize, Jackson says, consider substituting flavoured canola oil mixed with butter and peppercorns.

Another sauce Jackson uses on steak and chicken is beurre blanc. He suggests heating 30 mL (two Tbsp) of orange or peach juice concentrate with 30 mL (two Tbsp) of white wine and five to 10 mL (one to two tsp) of finely chopped shallots. Reduce the liquid until it’s about the consistency of maple syrup, then add 225 g (a half pound) of cold chopped butter. The recipe will serve 10 to 12 people.

The most popular grilled items at Century Grill are New York steak, chicken and salmon, although Jackson also grills tuna, lamb and bison. At home, where he uses a Weber barbecue, Jackson’s choice cut is prime rib steak. Given his background and training, he has no trouble whipping up a great meal. But he’s confident that backyard chefs can be just as successful.

All it takes is cooking it properly, he says, and “it’s possible to have something just as good.”