Grilling & Smoking
Who can resist a juicy pork roast or baby back ribs hot off the grill? It seems we all love the flavor of grilled foods. What began as a simple meal over a charcoal fire has developed into a flavor adventure fueled by a devoted group of aficionados. No longer content with simple red barbecue sauce, global flavors of the Mediterranean, Caribbean, South American and Asian cultures are now embraced by these grilling experts. Dishes prepared with versatile pork are the ideal way to make the most of these flavors. So, whether it's a simple burger or an elaborate roast, you can make it a meal to remember with our tips and meal ideas.
Grilled To Perfection
After seasoning, take your meat to the grill. These basic tips will help you prepare perfect pork on the grill:
- Perfect Pork Chops - Grill chops over direct heat, placing them directly over the hot coals and cover with the grill hood. Turn chops once and cook to medium doneness. You can check for medium doneness by touching the center of the chops with tongs – if it's done perfectly, there should be a slight give. Correctly cooked chops may have a slight blush of pink in the center and juices will run. Total cooking time depends on the thickness of the chop: ¾ inch chop for six to eight minutes, one inch chop for eight to ten minutes and 1½ inch chop for 12-16 minutes.
- Perfect Pork Roast - Grill pork roast over indirect heat, placing roast on the grill rack away from the coals (coals should be banked on the opposite side of grill or all around the perimeter). Baste if desired with reserved marinade (discard remaining marinade after roast is done). Grill until internal temperature reaches 155 - 160 degrees F (gauged with a meat thermometer); about 15-20 minutes per pound, depending on how hot the fire is.
Direct and indirect grilling can happen simultaneously. While the roast slowly cooks over indirect heat, a grilled appetizer or bread can be cooked directly over the hot coals.
Tips for Charcoal Grilling
Follow these basic tips for successful charcoal grilling:
- Using charcoal briquettes (small pillow-shaped pieces of compressed ground charcoal), lay the fire with a surface area 10 percent larger than the food being grilled – about three-inches deep at the center tapering to one inch at the edge.
- Start the fire about 30 minutes before you're ready to cook. When ready, the coals will be covered with gray ash.
- Use a portable oven thermometer placed on the grill, not directly over coals, to measure the temperature. Or use a candy thermometer, inserting the probe into the top grill vent opening.
- To regulate the temperature, use the bottom and top vents, opening them a bit to increase the temperature and closing them to decrease it.
- For direct heat grilling, adjust the grill four- to five-inches above the hot coals. Place pork on the grill directly over medium-hot coals.
- For roasting on the grill, use indirect heat. Place the coals on one side of the grill grate and a drip pan filled with a small amount of water on the other side.
- Keep a spritz bottle of water nearby to douse unwanted flames.
- After barbecuing your main dish, use the cooling coals to grill a tasty summer dessert, like pineapple rings.
- After every use, clean the grill rack while still hot by brushing it with a stiff wire brush.
Choosing the Right Ribs
There are three types of pork ribs, each with a faithful following. Choosing the “right” rib is a matter of personal preference.
- Pork back ribs – also called baby back ribs – are cut from the blade and center section of the loin and are known for the “finger meat” between the rib bones. Back ribs are a favorite because they're meaty and easy to handle. Plan one pound per hungry person when purchasing pork back ribs, which generally weigh between 1½ and 1¾ pounds per rack.
- Spareribs – which come from the belly or side of the hog – are the least meaty of all pork ribs, but they spare nothing in taste (St. Louis-style ribs are spareribs with the brisket removed). Plan on one pound per serving. Both back ribs and spareribs are the preferred ribs for restaurants and rib "joints."
- Country-style ribs – the meatiest of ribs there are. Cut from the rib end of the loin, these pork ribs offer more meat than bone and can be eaten with knife and fork. A half pound of country-style ribs satisfies most appetites.
Create a Sizzle
Grill ribs over indirect heat by banking medium-hot charcoal around the edges of a covered grill (or bank coals on one side of the grill) or roast in a 350 degrees F oven. Grill or roast ribs for 1½ to two hours. Longer cooking renders ribs to be more tender. The ribs are done when you can “wiggle” meat from the bone.
Menu Ideas:
Americans Add a New Dimension to Grilling – Smoking
Smoking meat is a growing trend for the great flavor – it adds to food without fat. When the smoke – created by using wood chips on the fire – encircles mild meats like pork, fish and poultry, it produces a mouth-watering flavor and rich color that's hard to resist.
The following are tips for smoking on the grill, cooking instructions and the varieties of flavored wood chips:
Guidelines for Smoke-Cooking in a Kettle-Style Grill
Smoking is easy to do and can be accomplished in a kettle-style grill using indirect heat and adding wood chips to banked coals.
- At least two hours before you plan to start cooking, place wood chips or chunks in water to soak. Estimate two chunks of wood or a good handful of wood chips for each hour of planned smoke-cooking time. If you have leftover soaked wood after completing smoking, it can be dried and used at another time.
- Build the fire about 40 minutes before you plan to start cooking. Remove the cooking grate from the covered grill and build a pile of about 25-30 charcoal briquettes on one side of the fire grate; light them and let them burn down to a hot glow, covered with gray ash; leaving only one of the bottom air vents open, directly under the charcoal. Place an aluminum loaf pan filled two-thirds full of water across from the charcoal.
- Spread the hot coals with a pair of long-handled tongs to make a bed for the wood chips or chunks; place a good handful or two chunks of wood directly on the hot coals. Replace the cooking grate on the grill and place the food over the pan of water, on the opposite side of the grill from the fire source. Cover the grill, with the top vents fully open and directly over the food.
- If your kettle grill does not have a thermometer that reads on the outside of the grill, place an oven thermometer on the grill, close to the food (not directly over the fire). Or place a candy thermometer on top of the grill, with the probe placed through top vent. Maintain a temperature of about 225-250 degrees F. If the temperature rises above 250, almost close the bottom vent directly under the charcoal, monitoring the heat and opening that vent again as the temperature drops.
- When smoke-cooking food that takes more than an hour, like a pork shoulder, you will need to add more charcoal to the fire to maintain heat. Start a supplemental bed of charcoal burning in a small grill nearby, about 30-40 minutes after you have started cooking. This will ensure a steady supply of hot coals. For a very long smoke-cooking period (6-8 hours), add three to four new charcoal briquettes to the supplemental fire every 40 minutes or so.
Throughout the smoke-cooking process, watch for smoke escaping from the top vent. As it slows down or stops, add more wood to the fire. When adding extra wood or charcoal to the fire, work quickly with long-handled tongs: each time you take the lid off the grill, it will add 10-15 minutes extra cooking time.
Smoking Tidbits
Foods for the smoker may be prepped the same way as foods for the grill – marinate or rub prior to smoking, if desired.
- Boneless meats such as pork shoulder will undergo shrinkage during long, slow smoking. Ask your butcher for untrimmed cuts – a layer of fat on the meat holds shrinkage to a minimum. Simply cut off the fat before serving.
- Use long-handled tongs to add wood to the fire.
- Charcoal will need to be added during the smoking process to maintain heat. Keep a small pile of charcoal burning in a small supplemental grill.
Choosing Smoke Sources
Wood smoke should complement, not override, the taste of the meat, fish or poultry. Too much smoke makes meat taste bitter. Softwoods like pine and spruce exude resins, resulting in unpleasant flavor. Hardwoods or fruitwoods, like the following, produce aromatic smoke:
- Alder - Adds a gentle smoke flavor to pork and seafood.
- Fruit (apple, cherry, peach) - Good flavor addition for pork, turkey, chicken, goose or game, but too strong for fish.
- Hickory and maple - Traditional smoke source associated with Southern-style pork barbecue.
- Mesquite - Excellent for ribs and other richly flavored meat.
- Herbs and Spices - Much more delicate in flavor, a branch of fennel, a bouquet of bay leaves or a bunch of fresh tarragon or rosemary can add subtle notes to grilled food. Likewise, garlic cloves, orange peel, cinnamon sticks and whole nutmeg will add new dimensions to smoke.
Menu Ideas: