_beef On The Grill Some Kind Of Wonderful Recipes

_BEEF ON THE GRILL: SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL

Steps:

• Get Good Grades. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspects and grades US beef. The inspection is to ensure food safety standards are upheld, but the grading is voluntary--producers don't have to participate. These grades, however, are the best indication of what you can expect in terms of tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. Grades are based on the animal's age (younger is better) as well as the amount and distribution of marbling, the tiny flecks of fat throughout the muscle tissue (more is better). There are eight grades for beef, but you'll probably only encounter three or four of them:* PRIME beef is the best--only 2% of US cattle earn this title for their "slightly abundant" marbling. You can see the fine, evenly distributed flecks throughout the meat. Most prime grade beef goes to upscale restaurants and hotels, but why should they have all the fun? Inquire at your local butcher shop or make friends with a rancher and see how the other half lives. * CERTIFIED ANGUS BEEF™, while not a USDA grade, is a trademarked designation reserved for only 7 out of 100 cattle, which must meet strict standards for texture, firmness, and marbling. Fans attest to its intense flavor and richness. Try it for yourself if you haven't already done so. * CHOICE is the second best USDA grade and the most widely available. Choice beef has moderate or small amounts of marbling and the cattle are fairly young. Some say the difference between Prime and Choice is less significant than the difference between Choice and Select. For grilling, buy Choice when possible. * SELECT beef is the leanest, least expensive grade and the flavor within this grade can vary widely. It has only "slight" amounts of marbling and tenderness. Not the best grade for grilling. Don't hesitate to marinate it first to boost its texture and flavor. Try Aged Beef. There is another beef distinction that makes a big difference in tenderness and flavor, and that is aging. During aging, enzymes in the muscle fibers break down and bingo, you've got yourself a tender morsel. Dry-aged beef is exposed to air for 3 to 6 weeks and kept very cold. During this tenderizing process, the beef can lose up to 10% of its weight through moisture loss--which results in a more concentrated beef flavor. Aficionados swoon for this stuff. If you can find dry-aged beef, pounce on it! Wet-aged beef is sealed in Cryovac® bags for the tenderizing process, so there's no moisture loss. In the end, you have more meat with a "fresher" taste. Try each aging process if you're lucky enough to find samples and you may just have a new, pricey addiction. Choose Your Store. Today we have many options for purchasing beef. You probably have a grocery store you trust for everyday purchases. For prime grade, special cuts, or special attention, visit a good butcher shop. There's no match for the expertise you can tap over the counter. And if you haven't already, check out the warehouse clubs in your town. You might be surprised at the quality of the meat, and because these stores deal in volume, they often have great deals on Choice cuts. Don't Forget The Roasts. If your culinary daring ends at steaks and burgers, we've got good news. Many beef roasts are wonderful on the grill, especially those from the loin, short loin, and rib sections. Grilled roasts not only add a nice dimension to your repertoire, they can feed a crowd (or make someone very happy in the leftover department). Not every roast is made for high-heat cooking like grilling, however. Cuts from the foreshank and round sections fare best in moist heat, i.e., braised or in stews. The chuck has some cuts suited for the grill--we handpicked a couple and included recipes for them in this chapter--and ground up, it does make the best burgers. Take a look at the beef chart in our Grilling Guide (see REFERANCE & APPENDIX) to find all these cuts. Know When To Quit. Doneness is the cornerstone of your beef enjoyment and thus a matter of personal taste. In our recipes we offer the approximate cooking times to reach the USDA's definition of medium rare, with the exception of ground beef, which should always be cooked to 160°F, or medium doneness, to avoid risk of any food-borne illnesses. We use the USDA's definition of medium rare for beef, i.e., an internal temperature of 145ºF--some beef eaters will find this a bit high. We think you can enjoy beef that's plenty juicy at a safe 145ºF, but if you like your meat rare, enjoy at your own risk (except of course for burgers--sorry, but some aspects of modern living are tough on us all). In order to reach 145ºF as your finished temperature, the recipes for large cuts prompt you to remove the beef from the grill when it reaches 135ºF thick steak recipes have you remove them at 140°F. Stopping short allows for carry-over cooking, which means the temperature continues to rise up to 10°F as the meat rests (the larger the cut, the higher it will rise). Thinner steaks can be removed at 145°F. Go Against The Grain. Beef muscle is made of longer, often tougher fibers than most other four-legged creatures. Cutting across these fibers when you slice the meat will produce more tender bites. This is especially important with tougher cuts such as flank and skirt steak, London broil, and bottom sirloin. And A Word On Searing. Many folks think searing locks in juices. But the fact is (and it's been proven in lab tests, so who are we to go against the pros?) searing merely caramelizes the surface of your food, adding nice texture, color, and flavor. Don't get us wrong this is no trivial matter. Caramelization is a critical quality of masterfully grilled beef, but you can overdo it. Keep in mind that as long as you are searing the beef, or even cooking it at all, you are tightening the proteins and squeezing out juices. If you want juicy meat beyond that beautifully seared surface, just don't overcook it!From Weber's Big Book of Grilling. Copyright © 2001 Weber-Stephen Products Co. All rights reserved. First published by Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, California.

_BURGERS ON THE GRILL: MEMORIES OF AN OLD FLAME

Steps:

• First Things First. We submit that a burger must meet three criteria to be considered worthy of eating: It must taste of the flame. It must be juicy. And it must be served hot. How To Get That Flame-Broiled Flavor: Are you still using lighter fluid? Say it ain't so. Lighter fluid can impart a chemical taste to foods. If you have a gas grill, you're fine. If you're grilling over charcoal, trust us, breaking the lighter fluid habit will carry you farther down the road to burger greatness than anything else. Try odorless, tasteless, nontoxic fuel cubes to start the fire. They're made out of paraffin so they are safe and won't leave an unpleasant taste on your food. Or try a charcoal chimney. With this cylindrical device you simply put fuel cubes or a few sheets of wadded-up newspaper on the bottom and the coals on top. You'll be grilling as soon as the coals ash over. Almost as easy as a gas grill. Next, make sure the grate is very hot before you place any burgers on it. Gas grillers, preheat with all burners on High until the grill reaches 500ºF, place the burgers on the grate, then reduce the heat to Direct Medium. Charcoal grillers, start with enough briquets for Direct Medium heat. Wait until the coals are lightly ashed over, then spread them evenly across the charcoal grate (leaving a small section without coals in case of flare-ups), place the cooking grate on the grill, close the lid, and wait 5 minutes more to heat the cooking grate. The burgers should sizzle when they hit the grate. After that, it's a matter of letting the grill do the work. Some folks worry about flare-ups, but in a well-designed grill they'll be short-lived at best. If they don't quickly subside, move the burgers over Indirect Medium heat for a moment, then continue grilling over Direct Medium heat. How To Make It Juicy: This is so easy you won't believe it. Start with 80% lean ground chuck. Yes, that means you're going to use beef that is 20% fat. If the numbers make you uncomfortable, hear us out first. The fact that you're grilling over an open cooking grate and not frying the burgers in a pan means they won't be stewing in their fat--which is as healthy as it sounds. Instead, a great deal of the fat will drip out onto the flames, leaving flavor in its wake and adding even more smoky flavor as it sizzles away on the fire. The intense heat of the grill is going to release all those beefy juices, too, in a way that a pan or griddle just can't. See, already we're making progress. Another key to juicy burgers is to not overwork the meat as you blend in seasonings and shape it into patties. Rinse your hands in very cold water before you begin and work quickly to gently shape the beef into 3/4-inch-thick patties. Place them on a plate or baking sheet and refrigerate them for at least 15 minutes before placing them on a hot grill. Once they're on the cooking grate, close the lid of the grill. Then, please don't play with your food. Turn the burgers only once, halfway through grilling time. If you flip and flop them, you might as well wring out all the juice. For safety, always grill burgers until the internal temperature reaches 160°F for medium doneness. This will take 8 to 10 minutes, depending on weather and other variables. And never press down on a burger with your spatula. It just squeezes out all that juicy flavor you're striving for. How To Serve It Hot: Don't fall for the trap of sliding your works of art onto a platter and letting everyone fend for themselves. Why let an errant breeze mar the perfection? Rather than leave burger-bliss to chance, serve directly from the grill to the hamburger bun. This may require you to holler like a drill sergeant to get everyone to fall in at the chow line at 18:08 hours, but hey, an Expert must have Standards.The Rest Is Just Gravy. Once you've mastered the patty, anything you add to it (grape jelly aside) can only enhance its regal stature. So layer on the toppings and create the perfect burger just the way you like it. After all, isn't that what makes us American?From Weber's Big Book of Grilling. Copyright © 2001 Weber-Stephen Products Co. All rights reserved. First published by Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, California.