Tips on How to Build a BBQ Smoker

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As thrilling as the sight is of the best commercial grade barbecue smoker trailers that look like compact smoke houses, the ability to build a bbq smoker provides priceless gratification and bragging rights. A smoker will generally have a closed box for wood or coal, called the fire box, where it is burned with little oxygen to produce smoke and not fire. Smoke vents to a bigger closed box for the meat, called the smoking chamber, where it gathers into a cloud and is exhausted out right away. The result is juicy, tender barbecue slow-cooked with indirect heat by the smoke cloud.

The offset barrel smoker is the classic design when you build a bbq smoker, still reflected in the best barbeque smokers available. Holding a grill rack for the meat, a cylinder shaped smoking chamber is attached at one end to a cylinder shaped fire box, and at the other end, to an exhaust chimney.

Tiers of grillware housed in a steel drum is what the UDS, or upright drum smoker, looks like. At the bottom is the wood or coal grill rack, separated by some gap from two or more racks overhead for the meat. If there is a water pan in the space between the wood and meat grills, then it is considered to be a water smoker. Newer 6 rack refrigerator style smokers like from Brinkmann are an offshoot of the UDS.

When you build a bbq smoker, variations of the smoking chamber are countless, such as sheet steel with tubing, a water tank or a sizable metal trash can.

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weber-stephen products STL BBQ Roast Holder grill accessories

weber-stephen products STL BBQ Roast Holder grill accessories Review

                

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Five Tips For Buying a Quality Barbecue Grill

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Does it seem like you have to buy a new grill every season? If you are like most people you might find yourself taking a trip every spring to the discount store to buy another grill. The same barbecue grill that you bought last spring, after a few uses, the legs got wobbly and the grate rusted through. Even a little rust can be bad because it gets on the food and that's never a good thing for many reasons.

They are a few differences that separate quality grills from those one-season wonders. A good quality grill, with proper care, will provide many years of use. Outlined below are five features you should always look for when considering the purchase of a grill that will last you many years.

16 gauge Stainless Steel Grill
The quality of the materials that are used make the biggest difference. Any grill worth its weight will be made of 16 gauge stainless steel. Stainless steel doesn't rust and it's resistant to oxidation caused by heat. Oxidation caused from heat is the leading reason grills rust through quickly. Most discount grill manufacturers will not use low-grade stainless steel as to keep production costs down.

Cast iron grill grates
Cast iron grates will last the lifetime of the grill if proper care is taken. Cast iron grates must be seasoned, just like your grandmother's old cast iron frying pan. Well seasoned iron grates are non-stick and will actually improve with age adding flavor to your food when it cooks. Cheap grill grates are made of steel that is coated with a chrome surface to prevent the steel from rusting. This works well until the first time you use the grill. The reason for this is because the heat degrades the chrome plating causing it to crack. Then the heat rusts the steel underneath causing it to rust from the inside out.

Adjustable charcoal rack
This is a feature you may find on grills that don't have any of the other qualities listed here. However, this one feature by itself shouldn't be the reason for buying a lesser grill. The reason an adjustable charcoal rack is important is because this allows you to adjust the heat for direct cooking. This means it's possible to cook steaks and burgers with less charcoal. This feature is also very useful for indirect cooking making it possible to try many new barbecue recipes.

Powder coated finish
A powder coated finish is applied in powder form to the stainless steel then infused to the stainless steel by applying heat. This makes it a permanent color coating that will never chip and peel. Powder coated finishes are very resistant to scratches making them the most durable finish you can have. The reason discount grills rust all over is because most manufacturers use of high heat paint. This may sound like a great idea but it doesn't work. This is because cheap steel oxidizes and begins to rust under the high heat paint causing it to peel away. Even if the steel doesn't rust it will expand and contract with the heat causing the paint to chip and peel anyways.

Stainless steel charcoal rack
If there was any one part of a grill that needs to be stainless steel it's the charcoal rack. This is because this one part endures the most intense heat. Heat causes oxidation, which results in rust. Rust is the biggest reason why you have to by the $40 special every spring. The bad part is that a lot of people will continue to cook on a rusty grill, which is very unhealthy.

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Barbecue Secrets

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A tip for barbecuing

When you think about barbecue, what do you think of first? Which aspects of barbecue are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

Here's a basic tip for barbecuing...

When cooking out with a gas grill it is seldom
necessary to use the highest setting except when
cooking with the lid up. Even then, with a good
cooker, it is doubtful you will ever need to set it
higher than medium.

I find that food cooked over medium heat with the lid
down as much as possible during the cooking time is
best. Cooking on the highest setting usually produces
meat that is too dry.

The only exception to this rule is when cooking steaks.
When cooking Porterhouse, Rib, or Sirloin I want the
lid up and the heat high so that the flames from the gas
lick the meat.

If your barbecue facts are out-of-date, how will that affect your actions and decisions? Make certain you don't let important barbecue information slip by you.

The drawback of using a gas grill is that it imparts
absolutely no flavor to the meat. To achieve the
barbecue taste you might want to try adding a bit of
hickory flavoring or 'liquid smoke' to half of a cup of
cooking oil directly on the meat just before it is ready
to serve. The meat will flame and char, giving it that
semblance of barbecue taste.

I also want flame-up because I like the flavor of a
steak kissed by flame. Liquid Smoke is a product that
is made by burning hickory chips and condensing the
smoke into a liquid form. The liquid is then scrubbed
and filtered to remove all impurities.

It's used to flavor meat poultry and seafood. Use
sparingly as liquid smoke is very concentrated and a
few drops can go a long way. You can buy it in most
grocery stores in the Barbecue and steak sauce section.

For more ways to fake real barbecue taste when using a
gas grill, and more specific tips, techniques, resources, and
recipes, check out
http://www.barbecueabc.visit.ws/.

As your knowledge about barbecue continues to grow, you will begin to see how barbecue fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important too.

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Learn How to BBQ Ribs That Are Mouth Watering

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The first thing you need to learn about how to bbq ribs is that they have to be cooked for a long period of time at low temperatures. Professional chefs cook theirs at 255 degrees for approximately 5 hours. Before cooking them they need to be marinated overnight. There are ways you can learn how to do this in less time without loosing any flavour.

Some people think that you should boil them first to get the fat out but when you learn how to bbq ribs you will see that this is wrong. You never want to boil them first as this will take the flavour out of them and very little of the fat actually comes out. All you will achieve by boiling them first is flavouring the water; you want the flavour left in the meat not the water.

When preparing them, the night before choose the flavour of the rub or marinate you are going to use. Apply the rub and wrap them in saran wrap and leave in the fridge overnight. A dry rib simply has salt and pepper on it and a wet rib has sauce on it. Experiment with different rubs and marinates. You can learn how to BBQ ribs with many different recipes and then find your favourite.

One hour before cooking your BBQ ribs take them out of the fridge. To cook them in about four hours preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Place a pan of hot water on the bottom rack. Keep checking to make sure the pan does not run out of water. You place the ribs bone side down in the oven over the pan of water and do not turn them.

When the ribs are almost done cooking then you should brush on the sauce. If you put the sauce on them too soon it may burn. About 20 minutes before they are cooked is a good time to put the sauce on. It may take a little practice but once you learn how to BBQ ribs you will be able to do it in just a few hours. You will be able to tell when they are done because they pull apart easily and the meat will also be pulling back from the bone.

Once your family and friends know you learned how to BBQ ribs they are all going to want to try them. Your ribs will be the talk of the town.

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BBQ Grill Maintenance

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Why would anybody want to know how to properly clean a bbq grill? Well, if you own or sell the big expensive kinds, you already know the answer to that question. However, even if you realize that failure to maintain a bbq grill properly can waste a lot of time and money, what you might not know is that the process can be quite easy. Whether you own one yourself or are trying to sell one to a consumer, these tips will add value to and extend the life of any barbecue grill without adding frustration and effort.

Getting a simple cover for the barbecue grill in question is a no-brainer. If you don't have a cover for your grill, in a year or less you won't have a grill, you'll have a pretty rust sculpture instead. However, a cover does more than just protect the grill from rain and rust. It also protects said grill from excess dirt and mud, eliminating the need for constant cleaning.

When cleaning the outside of the grill you may want to be a bit careful to keep it looking good. Again, always use a cover on the grill. To clean it only use mild dishwashing liquid and a soft cleaning rag to clean the visible areas. For stubborn dirt or mud, a plastic scrubbie works well without damaging the finish too much.

Cleaning the grills themselves often counts as one of the most miserable maintenance jobs associated with any BBQ grill. However, it doesn't have to be too messy. Simply place the grill components in a black plastic bag with a cup of ammonia, seal with a twist tie, and leave them out in the sun for several hours. After pouring the ammonia off down a drain, hose off the grills. The vast majority of gunk and dirt will come right off, leaving the grills reasonably clean. Many BBQ gift sets, which frequently include forks, thermometers, and spatulas, will also feature grill scrubbing equipment.

Finally, dry everything off with a hand towel, and enjoy a beautiful barbecue grill that will look like new for years to come!

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4 Tips For Planning Your BBQ Party

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Planning a bbq party can be hard work and sometimes you'll be wondering why what seemed like a great idea last weekend when you were full of enthusiasm now appears to be a bit of a chore. Remember the definition of character. Character is what's left after the enthusiasm for a project has died away.

Now I'm not suggesting that organising a barbecue party should be a test of character, I'm just trying to point out that it is the same for all of us but if you break it out into it's component parts it's really not too much trouble. And there are a few sneaky ways of making life easy.

1. The Invitations

The first challenge is to prepare the invitations and you can make these really funky by downloading free bbq clip art and simply copy and paste onto your Word document. If you not sure how to do this, follow these instructions:

Internet Explorer:

Right click on clipart with the mouse.

Select from the menu window "save picture as".

Choose your folder where you want to save the BBQ clipart.

Click "save".

Netscape:

Right click on clipart with the mouse.

Select from the menu window "save as" option.

Choose your folder where you want to save the barbecue clipart.

Click "save".

Macintosh:

Place your cursor over the clip art that you want to download.

Hold down the mouse button until a menu screen pops up.

Choose the appropriate selection from the menu.

2. Smoke The Main Course

Once you've downloaded the barbecue clip art and prepared your invitations get them mailed out and then it's time to think a but the menu and again it's the internet that's going to help you because there are some great websites out there offering free bbq recipes and menu ideas. Smoking meat is a great way to take the pressure off because there's a wide time variation between when it's cooked and when it's overcooked so provided you've got everything going on time, you don't need to worry if your guest are a little late.

3. grill The Appetizer

Now that you're smoking the main course do the appetizer on the grill. This way you can have a really fresh tasting barbecue appetizers that won't take anything away from the smokiness of the main course. It also maintains this philosophy of flexibility in that the smoked main course can be allowed to rest before carving whilst you grill the appetizer.

4. Ease The Pressure With A Dip Or Two

A great way to ensure that your guests have something to nibble from the off is to prepare some BBQ dips such as Tzaziki or Humus. Get some celery and carrot and cut them up into sticks (the technical term being Julienne) and place them upright in a bowl. Folks can then pick up a stick, dip it in the humus and nibble away and again you've got a flexible way to keep your guests happy whilst you continue to prepare the food.

Follow all the points above and you've got a serious chance of having a stress free barbecue party but inevitable there may be other external factors that can still throw you - the man of the house of course! In these situations then it's best just to accept the situation in a spontaneous manner, uncork a bottle of wine and just let the party atmosphere take over!

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