Grilling and Barbeque

So many summer meals are done at the grill outdoors, and so are many family events. There are so many variations on grilled and smoke-cooked foods now, I'm sure you'll have some to contribute.

We started smoke-cooking several years ago and have discovered it to be an outstanding cooking method for hot summer days, parties, low-fat, low-salt foods, and also as a really unique flavor component in outdoor cooking. Although smoke cooking can be done on a conventional kettle style barbeque, temperature control is very important. We started with our old Webber and used a thermometer poked through one of the upper vents. We eventually moved on to a smoke cooker known as the Big Green Egg. Much easier and better (more predictable) results.

We have 9 fruit trees in our garden and when I prune every year, I keep all the pruned branches, large or small (not any diseased branches) to dry and use for smoke cooking. The only fruit wood not recommended for this is cherry. Many hardwoods work for smoke cooking as well, but don't use any wood that has needles instead of leaves. They are very resinous and will not taste good in your food.

s opposed to grilling, smoke-cooking is done at lower temperatures for longer periods. It is worth the effort and time. A couple of short recipes to try if you just want to check it out are:

Barbeque Recipes

  1. Appetizers
  2. Fruit
  3. Sauces
  4. Vegetables
  5. Seafood
  6. Poultry
  7. Meat

Not the recipe you want? Enter an ingredient in the box below: