BIRTHDAY BARBY
Q My wonderful girlfriend just bought me a barbeque for my 21st birthday.
While it is the best present I have ever - or will ever - get I noticed that it
doesn't have the old style volcanic rocks but has a metal flame tamer
instead. I like my steak cooked hot and fast - is it better to cook it on the
flat plate without the flame tamer or on the grill rack with the flame tamer
underneath. Which will give me the best heat and flavour? Should I invest
in some volcanic/ceramic rocks just to be safe?
Stuart
Lismore
New South Wales
A Be very, very careful Stuart. One of my girlfriends used to give me cooking
gear as presents. Later when she became Mrs Blue the reason behind the gifts
became clear. She never, ever intended to do any of the cooking herself!
Sadly, it appears that volcanic rock is going the way of the VHS video. A pity,
because I reckon their porosity helped provide more barbecue flavour than any
other heat diffusing material.
These days I use a cast iron flame tamer with those little ceramic pucks in my gas
barby and it doesn't do a bad job. Really, all you're after is a surface that gets hot
enough to immediately vaporise any juices that land on it. The flavour these
vaporised juices give back to the meat is the real taste of barbecue - it's what
sets it apart from food that has been cooked in an oven or in a pan.
And that Stuart is why steak should always be cooked over the grill part of
the barby. The solid plate is best kept for cooking stuff that will ignite
easily such as fatty sausages or stuff like onion rings that would fall
through the open grill part.
You won't go too far wrong if you stick to your philosophy that the only way
to cook a steak is hot and fast.
BBQ Blue