People immediately began using charcoal briquets for industrial purposes, but backyard grills weren't readily available yet. In the 1950s, when backyard grills became widely available, and outdoor cooking really began to take off. The combination of outdoor grills and the charcoal briquets made barbecuing so easy and reliable, that today, according to a Barbecue Industry Association survey, seven out of ten American households own a barbecue grill, and we use them about 1.5 billion times a year total.
Frank and I also barbecue, but it took some learning on my part. In spite of being someone who loves to cook, before marrying Frank, I'd never barbecued. I'd never even thought to buy an outdoor grill.
What I'd been missing! Frank does own a barbecue, a nice handsome one that can manage chickenburgers for our combined eighteen children and grandchildren all at once. I love it, because we can all be outdoors, playing volley ball or watching the young ones, with their arsenal of squirt guns, as they gang up on Frank$and the beauty of it all is that no one has to miss a moment of the fun by having to go into the kitchen to fuss with dinner.
If you've been barbecuing for years, skip ahead to the recipes. But if you're like me and still new at it, here are some tips that can help you get uniformly good results. The tips come from the Perdue food scientists and home economists, from Cooperative Extension and from the Barbecue Industry Association.
_Start with a clean grill. Removing old ashes assures good air circulation, and cleaning away any cooked- on bits of food results in better flavor and quality.
_Be sure to wash everything after handling raw meat. Don't use the same plate for the cooked meat that you used for the uncooked meat unless you've washed it in between.
_Coat grate with vegetable cooking spray, or brush with cooking oil to prevent food from sticking.
_If the basting sauce contains oil, however, do not grease the grill; too much oil causes flare-ups.
_Prepare the fire a half hour or more before grilling. For quick lighting, use a chimney starter with crumpled newspaper in the bottom and briquets or charcoal above. Or stack the charcoal in a pyramid shape and light with a liquid or electric starter, following the manufacturer's directions. Charcoal is ready for cooking when it's 80% ashy grey in daylight, glowing red at night. This usually takes about 25 to 30 minutes.
_Toss a handful of aromatic wood chips such as mesquite, hickory, alder, or fruitwood chips over the coals. They'll create a whole new dimension of flavor without adding any extra calories.