Grilling 101

Frequently referred to as cooking foods hot and fast, grilling involves cooking your food over direct heat from your grill’s charcoal or gas for less than an hour. This method is perfect for preserving the tenderness of smaller cuts of meat such as burgers, brats, steaks or pork chops.

If you’re planning on cooking a larger cut of meat, such as a beef brisket or whole chicken, then barbecuing is the way to go. Barbecuing uses low, indirect heat, and a longer cooking period to help tougher meats become more tender. You can, and should, expect to be cooking for a few hours using this method.

Similarly to barbecuing, smoking is achieved through low, indirect heat. Smoking can be done using a smoker grill or by using a smoke box with your standard gas or charcoal grill.The smoking process utilizes the burning of wood chips, such as hickory or apple, to create that undeniable and intense smoky flavor in a variety of cuts meats like briskets, ribs, and chicken wings. Regardless of what you’re cooking, we’d recommend keeping a spray bottle on hand during the cooking process to add humidity and prevent your meat from drying out.

Since smoking is done at an even lower temperature than barbecuing, it is not uncommon for meat to take a few hours or even a full day to become fully cooked depending on its size. Using a brine prior to smoking will help create tenderness and prevent bacteria growth during the long cooking process.

A dry rub is exactly what it sounds like: a blend of herbs and seasonings, without any wet ingredients, that is rubbed onto the surface of food just before cooking. Dry rubs are an easy way to add flavor and texture to your cooked meats. Create your own smoky barbecue dry rub with our Hickory Smoke Powder!

Marinades utilize liquid ingredients such as oils, vinegars, or juices in addition to dry seasonings and herbs to add flavor and moisture to meat. Using a marinade a few minutes to a few hours prior to grilling can help reduce dryness from the hot and fast cooking process. The unique blend of molasses, vinegar, and spices in our Worcestershire Sauce Powder makes it the perfect addition to any flavorful steak or chicken marinade.

Often referred to as a wet cure, brining uses a high concentration of salt and water to prevent the growth of bacteria in food. Adding a curing salt like our Prague Powder No. 1 can help preserve meat while enhancing its flavor and color prior to smoking.