23
Safety, Assembly & Instruction Manual 23
COVERED COOKING
Cooking with the Hood Cloased
Using the roasting hood traps heat, moisture and flavour that is normally lost on an open barbeque.
The Malibu is designed with enough power to heat up quickly with the hood open or closed.
With the hood closed and the barbeque pre-heated, its important to note that don’t exceed 250°C.
For covered cooking, there are two basis ways to cook: (A) Direct Cooking and (B) Indirect Cooking.
(A) Direct Cooking Method
This is when you place the food directly over the lit burners, either on the grill or the hotplate.
This method is great for frying, searing and grilling, especially with thinner cuts and foods that
require shorter cooking time. Cooking takes less time than with the hood open, and the results
are more tender and juicy.
Preheat the barbeque with all burners on
HI
and the hood closed for 5 minutes. Note that the
temperature at the cooking surface will be around 100ºC higher than the temperature measured
at the hood thermometer.
Importantly, once the barbeque is pre-heated and the hood is closed, heat is trapped around the food,
so the burners will only need to be on
LO
and in many cases, some of the burners
OFF
. Heat from the lit
burners will circulate all through the hood cooking quite evenly.
Fatty foods like sausages, can be cooked completely above the OFF burners, retaining juiciness and
flavour without risk of flare-up that results only in burning. 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 full 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 rexceed 250ºC on the hood thermometer or the barbeque will 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.
Always remember to switch the barbeque OFF once you are finished cooking.
(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 lets the food
cook completely through without burning on the outside, yet remaining juicy and tender on the inside.
