Cool Smoke BBQ

Cool Smoke BBQ. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

Springtime sure feels like it’s here and that of course means outdoor cooking. And for a lot of people the barbecue can be a very serious event. Lighting the charcoal, getting out the utensils, marinating the meat. It’s almost a religious experience. For those that follow the barbecue circuit, the name Tuffy Stone should stand close to the top. He has been on CBS and TLC, has his own website and I had a chance to chat with him and he shares tips for mastering the grill at your next backyard BBQ.

STONE: If we’re talking about barbecue in the sense of a slow cooked product outdoors on an outdoor cooker or a grill that’s cooking slow there’s numerous problems that people will run into when trying to do that. But if we’re talking about barbecue meaning cooking something hot and fast like grilling steaks, there are some problems that are probably common to both styles of cooking.

One of the biggest mistakes made is too much smoke.

STONE: My grandmother was a great example, bless her soul. She was a fabulous cook but my grandmother used to slow cook turkeys during the holidays on a bullet style smoker. She would cook them probably a tad past the doneness point they should be at so they sometimes would be a little dry but also the amount of smoke that she would put on her product sometimes would override the flavor of the turkey itself.

He makes use of something like aluminum foil to keep the smoke off the meat.

STONE: If you are going to cook a product that’s delicious and good to eat you’re gonna probably have to use aluminum foil at some point in this process or something that will cover your product so that it can continue to cook but not put any more smoke on the product and so in competition barbecue we’ll use a technique that’s known as the Texas Crutch.

It’s similar to steaming the meat using any number of liquids like water, juice, wine, or beer. Stone says there are some other quick tips to help be more successful and get better flavor.

STONE: You know I’m a big fan and a big promoter of my equipment being ready to cook with. Sometimes you let your grill set for months at a time unused and you didn’t clean it the last time you cooked on it so you need to get your grill hot before applying your meat. You need to have a grill brush and get that grate cleaned and hot and ready to go. And you need to use quality fuel source, you need to use quality charcoal. If you are going to flavor your barbecue with any kind of wood, make sure it some good wood.
For more of Tuffy Stones barbecue tips visit his website at qbarbecue.com.
That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.