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Covered cooking (continued)
Preheat the barbeque with all burners on
HI
and the hood closed for 5 to 10 minutes. Once
the barbeque is pre-heated and the hood is closed, heat is trapped around the food, so the
burners may only need to be on
LO
and in some cases, some of the burners
OFF
. Heat from
the lit burners will circulate all through the hood cooking quite evenly. Quite close attention
needs to be paid to the food, and the burners frequently reset to
LO
or
OFF
as required to
prevent overheating.
Don’t be afraid to open the hood often to check progress. You are in control of the
temperature by turning burners higher, lower or
OFF
as required. The gas burners will
respond instantly and powerfully to your control. Most importantly, use the hood thermometer
as a warning guide that the barbeque is too hot. For grilling most foods, aim to keep the
thermometer below 200ºC to avoid burning.
NEVER
let the temperature exceed 250ºC or the barbeque can dangerously overheat and
burn your food. A separate probe thermometer is available as an accessory from all
Barbeques Galore stores. This takes the guesswork out of knowing when your food is
cooked.
(B) Indirect Cooking Method:
This is when you place the food only above burners that are
OFF
. The other burners are adjusted
in combinations of
LO
and
OFF
to maintain constant lower roasting temperatures.
This method is ideal for thicker cuts of meat, legs of lamb, pork, shoulders of beef, whole
chickens and whole fish. Moist, hot air rises from the lit burners and circulates around the
food, trapping juices and flavour. Even cakes and breads can be cooked in your barbeque
this way. Cooking low and slow allows the food to cook completely through without burning
on the outside, yet remaining juicy and tender on the inside. Best results are achieved by
placing your roast in a rack and that rack in a drip pan. The roast is elevated to allow heat to
circulate all the way around, and water, wine, juices, herbs can be added to the drip pan to
help flavour the roast and make a baste or gravy.
Preheat the barbeque with all burners on
HI
and the hood closed for 5 minutes. Importantly,
once the barbeque is pre-heated and the hood is closed, heat is trapped around the food, so
normally some of the burners may need to be turned
OFF
or to
LO
. Heat from the lit burners
will circulate all through the hood cooking quite evenly.
On a 4 burner barbeque, the two outer burners on
HI
and the two middle burners
OFF
is
usually the best setting for roasting. The roast on its rack in the drip pan is best positioned in
the middle of the barbeque.
Contrary to some beliefs, the slower and lower (temperature) the food is cooked, the more
even, tender and juicier the results will be. Importantly, use the hood thermometer as a
warning guide that the barbeque is too hot.
