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:''For the device used to cook see Grill (cooking), for other uses see Grill''

'Grilling' is a form of cooking that involves direct heat. Devices that grill are called grills. The definition varies widely by region and culture.

Contents

British English

North American English

Direct and indirect cooking

Rubs and Marinades

Commonly grilled food and cooking methods

Other meanings

Further reading

References

See also

British English

In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries (but not including Canada), grilling generally refers to cooking food directly ''under'' a source of direct, dry heat. The grill or 'griller' is usually a separate part of an oven where the food is inserted just under the element.^[1] This practice is referred to as broiling in North America.

North American English

In contrast, in the United States and Canada, use of the word refers to cooking food directly ''over'' a source of dry heat."License to Grill", Schlesinger and Willoughby, William Morrow and Co. 1997 In the UK and other Commonwealth countries this would be referred to as barbecueing, although grilling is usually faster and hotter than the American sense of the word "barbecue". Grilling is usually done outdoors on charcoal grills and gas grills.
A skewer or brochette, or a rotisserie may link smaller portions of food into this process. The resulting food product is often called a kabob or kabab.
Mesquite or hickory wood chips (damp) may be added on top of the coals to allow a smoldering effect that provides additional flavor to the food. Other hardwoods such as pecan, apple, maple and oak may also be used.
What gives grilled meat the taste is a chemical process called the Maillard reaction. This process is the term for the browning of meat. The Maillard reaction, along with the flavors imparted by a wood or charcoal fire, is what sets grilling apart from other methods of cooking meat.
Barbecue and barbecuing are a way of cooking meat using the indirect heat and smoke from a wood or charcoal fire in a barbecue pit or smoker. Barbecuing is the slow smoking of tough cuts of meat. Grilling is a method of cooking more tender meats using the direct heat of a fire with the meat over the fire.
For example, a beef brisket is a meat cut often hot smoked or barbecued at 240-270F for 8 to 12 hours. A brisket is not a cut of beef that lends itself to being grilled.
Two of the largest manufacturers of backyard grills in North America call their products 'grills' and not barbecues.^[2][3]

Direct and indirect cooking

There are two methods to grill food over a gas, wood or charcoal fire - direct or indirect cooking.^[4][5] Using the direct heat method, you place the food item directly over the flame or coals. This method exposes the food item to very hot temperatures, often in excess of 500F. This is the fastest way to cook food items on a grill. The food items are cooked by the flames and infrared heat coming from the heat source of the grill. The direct heat method is used for grilling steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage, pork chops and skewers. The food items must be carefully monitored and turned frequently so as to not burn them.
Using indirect heat, you place the food item so that it is not directly over flames or coals. This is done by having the fire or coals on only one section of the grill and placing the food item on a part of the cooking grill opposite the flames or coals - for example, having the burners going on the right side of a gas grill but off on the left side or placing the coals on the right side of the grill and no coals on the left side. Another method for using the indirect heat method is to block the direct heat to the food item by some means, such as placing the food item in or on a metal pan or on a piece of aluminium foil. Using the indirect grilling method is best for chicken and fish. This allows the chicken or fish to be cooked all the way through without burning or charring on the outside of the meat.

Rubs and Marinades

Marination of chicken.

To increase the flavor of grilled meats and vegetables, they are often given a spice rub or a marinade or both before grilling.
Rubs -- can be as simple as salt and pepper or be complex mixtures of spices and herbs. Spice Rubs need not be 'rubbed' into the meat but are usually just sprinkled on the meat. There are many types of commercial rubs and grill seasonings available in Western markets. All the major spice brands have grilling spice mixtures for sale. The most common ingredient in spice rubs is common table salt. Rubs can be dry or a paste.
Marinades -- a quick marinade is to use a bottle of Italian salad dressing available in American supermarkets. The meat is placed in a zipper poly bag along with the dressing and sealed. The poly bag is massaged and placed in the refrigerator for 2-24 hours, depending on the meat. For chicken, limit marinating to 2 hours. Pork and beef can be marinated for up to 24 hours. Vegetable oils, beer, wine and fruit juices can also be incorporated into marinades with spices and herbs.

Commonly grilled food and cooking methods

★ Steaks

★ Hot Dogs

★ Hamburger Patties, Cube Steaks

★ Sausage

★ Chicken Breasts

★ Chicken Thighs and Legs

★ Pork Chops

★ Fish

★ Shrimp

★ Asparagus

★ Potatoes

★ Kebabs

★ Fruits

★ Mushrooms, Edible mushrooms, Portobello mushrooms

★ Squash

★ Sweet corn, corn on the cob

★ Vegetables, Root vegetables

Other meanings

Grilling also refers to intense questioning, scrutinization or speculation.

Further reading

★ Jamie Purviance and Sandra McRae: ''Weber's Big Book of Grilling'', 1st. edn. (Canada: Weber-Stephen Products Co., 2001) ISBN 0-8118-3197-3.

★ Visit the BBQ Porch and the BBQ List FAQ http://www.bbq-porch.org/faq/index.html

★ For over 1600 grilling recipes, visit this recipe site: http://home.earthlink.net/~wwwca/ Navigate to "On The Grill" recipes. The recipes are zipped and in MasterCook recipe format

★ Web-based lessons for grilling barbecook® barbecue lessons

★ Grilling a whole lamb 1-indirectly with two high flame fires, 2-rotisserie, 3-barbeque

References

1. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Grilling
2. http://www.charbroil.com/
3. http://www.weber.com/
4. http://www.culinarycafe.com/Barbecue/About_Barbecue.html
5. http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/recipe/grilling101/directindirect.aspx

See also

★ Braai

★ Barbecue

★ Broiling

★ Cooking

★ Spice rubs

★ Grill