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DEEP-FRYING TECHNIQUES
A wide variety of foods can be deep-fried outdoors on your
grill, from potatoes, to seafood and chicken. Deep-frying
uses a large portion of oil, preferably saturated. The
outdoor location is ideal for deep-frying as smoke, grease
and smells reach for the sky, not the ceiling of your
kitchen.
Preparing to Deep-fry
Deep-fry on your grill using a cooking pan or wok, over
direct heat with the grill lid raised.
Fill a cooking pan no more than half full of vegetable or
corn oil. Start with low heat, then raise the heat gradually.
Check the temperature of the oil carefully with a frying
thermometer or test with a cube of bread. The cube of
bread should brown in about 30 seconds for most cooking
needs. A temperature between 350 and 400 degrees is
optimal for preparing the majority of deep-fried foods.
Food Preparation
Foods being deep-fried taste better when coated with
either batter or breadcrumbs to add flavor and prevent
moisture from escaping.
Tips for Deep-frying
Wear an insulated cooking glove and slowly lower foods
into the hot oil using a wire scoop or stainless steel tongs.
Add only a small quantity of food to the oil, allow it to
cook, then repeat with another small quantity. This
ensures the oil doesn't drop in temperature. Once the
food is cooked, remove it carefully and drain onto a paper
towel. Turn the heat off as soon as you have finished
deep-frying and allow your pan to cool. When the oil is
cool, remove all remnants of fried foods by straining it
through a fine metal sieve. Once the oil is quite cool, store
it in a clean bottle for future use.
STIR-FRYING TECHNIQUES
This method of cooking is popular around the world and
can be easily accomplished outdoors on your grill. It's a
quick and healthful way of preparing a complete meal
using meat, poultry or seafood in infinite combinations
with other interesting ingredients like vegetables, rice or
noodles.
Preparing to Stir-fry
Although it is possible to stir fry in other dishes, a wok is
your best tool. Its high sides enable the cook to stir food
without spillage. Its construction allows you to cook
quickly at high temperatures, with instant control of heat
which is essential for successful stir frying.
Food preparation
Slice meat and poultry into long thin strips and cube fish
fillets. Remove all fat from meat and poultry and cut large
vegetables into even slices or cubes.
Marinate foods for extra flavor and tenderness. Marinating
times will vary for red meat, fish and or various cuts. Less
tender cuts of meat should be marinated longer. Remem-
ber to always chill marinating food in the refrigerator prior
to cooking.
Stir-fry meats, poultry or fish first. Next, add hard veg-
etables like carrots. Then continue with softer vegetables
like snowpeas and peppers. To ensure even cooking,
continually stir and toss the food in the wok using a
wooden spoon or spatula.
Tips for Stir-frying
Place a wok directly over a high heat on your grill or Side
Burner. Add only a small amount of food at a time to
ensure fast cooking and also to allow the wok to reheat
between ingredients.
Vegetables are generally easy to cook on the grill. The
optional cooking rack makes it convenient because you
can still use the main cooking area while the vegetables
are suspended above the Cooking Grids.
Pre-cook hard vegetables by briefly boiling or microwaving
them before cooking on the grill. Wrap vegetables in a
double thickness of foil to protect them while cooking on
the grill. Then, remove the foil if desired, 10-15 minutes
before the end of cooking, brush vegetables with butter or
oil and finish cooking.
Guide to Using the Optional Secondary Cooking Rack
The optional cooking rack can be used for purposes other
than just the obvious. Consider using it for warming
French bread, garlic bread, croissants or even bagels.
A small whole fish wrapped in foil also cooks well on the
optional cooking rack. Parcels of seafood such as
scallops, prawns and sliced fish fillets prepared in a
sauce and portioned into small foil wraps cook well this
way, too.
Guide to Stir-Frying and Deep-Frying