All About Outdoor Cooking on the Barbie

Although “barbecue” and “grill” are really two separate and distinct ways of cooking, in the everyday language of the suburban cook, especially in the northern United States, they have pretty much come to mean the same thing. The weekend chef or the tailgater in the football parking lot is as likely to refer to his or her cooking on the patio as barbecuing as much as grilling.
Speaking technically to “barbecue” is cooking by indirect heat, such as smoking, whereas “grilling” refers to cooking food, principally meat, by direct contact with the heat source. Although we can, when getting ready to cook the hamburgers, say that we are about to “barbecue” or do some “barbecuing”, these hamburgers are of course going to be put right on the grill to be cooked by the direct heat from the charcoal or propane as the case may be. Curiously, in Britain the practice is just the opposite, with barbecuing meaning cooking directly over high heat and the term grilling referring to what we in the U.S. would call broiling, or slow cooking under a heat source. Of course patio cooking is not the exclusive activity which we call barbecue. A smoker with a separate fire box with the smoke drawn past the meat by convection for very slow cooking is the way barbecue is cooked in many U.S. restaurants.
Actually the backyard amateur chef is quite a different animal from the professionals and the ardent aficionados who cook using a number of specialized processes, notably differing by various regions in the South and especially concerning the sauce. The three areas of North Carolina, for instance, the west, middle and east, each has its own particular variety of barbecue sauce. The barbecue in the Memphis area features tomato and vinegar based sauces. The dry rubs are common in Kentucky where the meat is smoked without any sauce. Alabama, Georgia and the eastern part of Tennessee almost always use a sweet tomato-based sauce, but differences exist there also. Kansas City-style barbecue features different types of meat including both pork and beef while pit-beef predominates in Maryland. Chicago-style barbecue is popular in the Midwest and is distinguished for seasoning the meat with a dry rub.
Our focus here is on the suburban backyard grill or the tailgate party. Millions of Americans cook regularly on their outdoor grills. In years gone by charcoal was the only source of heat on the grill, but in more recent times propane has become dominant. Fans of charcoal maintain that this method of cooking imparts a flavoring that can’t be duplicated by propane. The propane adherents point out the convenience and cleanliness that the gas grills provide.
Whether cooking by charcoal or by propane, whether on the patio or in the parking lot, every cook should want to get rid of the charred bits of food and grease that adhere to the grill at the end of each session. Some prefer to do the scrubbing right after removing the cooked food while the grill is still hot, but I feel sure that most people are then more interested in eating than worrying about how the grill is going to look the next time they use it. For those in this last group it is going to be important to preheat before trying to scrub, because it is just about impossible to get a cold grill clean.
The best way to scrub the grill, naturally, is with a grill brush. Grill brushes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so getting the right one requires a little thought. The short wood or aluminum block with affixed bristles on one side and a scraper on the other side used to be the standard some time ago, but modern developments in grill brush design have made that model obsolete. Today’s brush is designed with a t-shaped head which is more effective than the old blocks in getting into hard-to-reach places. This design also allows for having the bristles woven in, thus removing the risk that bristles will become detached and end up in the food, and potentially the mouths, of people eating the grilled food. Hospitals have reported many cases of emergency room patients who have swallowed bristles. Another advantageous development in the contemporary grill brushes is an elongated handle which allows for doing the job over a hot grill without exposing the hands and wrists to the heat.
Modern bristles are made of two different materials: brass and stainless steel. Most people prefer the brass, because it is more pliable and better at removing all of the residue. Stainless steel has its adherents, though, because it is stronger and less likely to be crushed with excessive pressure.
Do-Be Products is among the leaders in providing a modern brass grill brush with every feature which the backyard cook should be looking for: woven brass bristles in a t-shaped head and a 21” long handle with a comfortable polypropylene handle. For more information see the Do-Be Brass Grill Brush on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Super-Brass-Grill-Brush-Barbeque/dp/B00CF7RFRW