Indirect grilling
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Indirect grilling is a barbecue cooking technique in which the food is placed to the side of the heat source instead of directly over the flame as is more common. This can be achieved by only igniting some burners on a gas barbecue or by piling coals to one side of a charcoal pit. A drip tray is placed below the food to prevent fat from the food igniting and generating a direct flame.
A variation of indirect grilling is to place a plank or an unperforated tray on the grill as a base upon which to cook. A soaked wooden board or plank can impart its own flavour to the food.
In the 1990s it became popular to use an open can of beer or other canned beverage as a flavouring agent when indirect grilling. The contents of the can boil and flavour the food with the consequent vapour. Beer Can Chicken and Orange Soda Duck are dishes that use this technique. Half the liquid is used to soak flavouring wood chips, which are tossed on the coals, and the rest stays in the can, which is stuffed into the bird cavity and used as a stand.
[edit] References
- Black, Cary "Zen and the Art of Cooking Beer-Can Chicken" (Red Owl Publications, LLC, November 2005) ISBN 0-9754279-1-1
- Raichlen, Steven. Beer Can Chicken And 74 Other Offbeat Recipes For The Grill. (New York: Workman, 2002) ISBN 0-7611-2016-5
- Riches, Derrick. 'What's the difference between indirect and direct grilling?', About.com (August 9, 2004). Retrieved June 21, 2005.
