It's hard to say when cooking on charcoal became popular again. Even the ancient people at first cooked any food on an open fire or smoldering embers, then began to build stoves, but there the main fuel was wood and coal. When the method of cooking became more "civilized", it seemed that primitive technology, it would seem, had to sink into oblivion. But it was not there. Today, to fry a shish kebab or bake a fish on the grill, having left on the nature, all layers of the population are equally loved.
Of course, it's best to do it in a natural environment, so to speak, in the fresh air, closer to nature. That's why we often kindle campfires in the country, picnics in the forest or on the coast - we combine active rest and pleasant pastime, this is much better than sitting in a stifling apartment or bar.
It is at such moments and pulls to try a piece of juicy meats or appetizing vegetables, prepared in a non-traditional way. We cook the delicacies on open fire or in the heat of embers.
Some "garden", building a structure for a full-fledged ancient fireplace: sand pit, wood logs, stones or bricks, improvised brazier. Others prefer more modern adaptations, but both of them adhere to the very essence of this method of cooking. It has already become symbolic during a holiday in nature to revel in the delicious taste of eating from a fire.
How to cook food on coals
With this cooking technology, the process of processing the product occurs under the influence of high temperature, while the access of oxygen remains unlimited.
Products( meat, vegetables, fish or banal sausages) are placed in relative proximity to an open fire, but not directly in a fireplace. Please note that depending on the distance from the source of heat, the product can be cooked in different ways. For example, in coals are buried products for baking, and at a farther distance - they smoke.
As a result, the prepared product is saturated and acquires more specific flavor characteristics.
Grilled food
For example, what happens to grilled meat? Under the influence of high temperatures in the meat, the process of clogging the pores proceeds, and this, in turn, helps to conserve more moisture inside the finished product. Food becomes more juicy, while it remains tender and soft( especially compared to cooked in a frying pan or in a smoker).
It should be noted that grilling helps to reduce the amount of fat in the product by heat-fusing. As a result, the amount of fat that comes with food is reduced, and the level of cholesterol deposits decreases, which is only in the hands of those who watch their figure.
However, do not forget that high temperatures are harmful for a number of vitamins and active protein compounds. If you like grilled chicken or shish kebab from pork, then you should remember that some useful substances of the product after grilling will not get you.
Basic methods of grilling
Each of us has got used to call this way of cooking in own way. The most common devices for him: BBQ, grill and barbecue. Although there is no significant difference between these terms, there are still certain qualities inherent only in one way or another.
Brazier. The device is a kind of box( metal or stone), in which charcoal is formed from burned wood, and skewers with strung meat or other product are placed on top of it.
Grill. Almost the same brazier, only more modern. This is a mobile device on the legs, and it also has a cover and a removable grille. The dishes are cooked faster on the grill, and the whole thing is in the lid. Due to the fact that it can be covered or closed completely, you can reduce the flow of oxygen to the fireplace. The oxygen deficiency does not allow the flames to flare up, and from the lid itself all the heat is beautifully reflected and circulates in the tank.
Barbecue. When the device was invented, it was exactly like a grill, only without a top cover, and the food was cooked in it at a temperature slightly over one hundred degrees. Today the word "barbecue" refers to any way of processing products on coals, whether it's a grill, brazier or some other device.
We advise not to focus on concepts, but to limit ourselves to the fact that in any case the food is cooked in the heat of coals. Better let's talk about those products that are recommended to cook for this technology.
What to cook on charcoal?
The most popular product, cooked on the heat of coals, is meat, or rather - meat shish kebab. Ideally( according to the recipe of the national dish), the meat shish kebab is prepared from lamb. We are more used to using pork, beef or poultry meat, marinated in sauce with spices and onions rings.
In addition to real meat, other products are also cooked on the coals:
- Sausage products. Sausages and sausages are often cooked in large companies, where the quality of the ingredient is not so important, as its quantity and cooking time. It is worth noting that specially prepared sausages for grilling( both domestic and purchased in the store), can compete with a first-class shish kebab.
- Grilled chicken. We often buy it ready. Sellers are frying meat in special electric grills. At home, such a chicken can be cooked by someone who, for example, has a grill function in the microwave.
- Fish and seafood. Not everyone can prepare the fish correctly. This delicate product requires attention. Umeltsy can clearly boast of grilled steaks from salmon or other species of marine life. Mussels, both river and sea, also sometimes fall on the braziers with coals. However, these products are considered delicate.
- Cutlets. I know everything well, such a dish as lyulya-kebab. Vegetarians prefer falafel. We want to note that in the "summer" culture of cooking on charcoal these dishes are not common.
- Vegetables. Eggplants, sweet peppers, onions and whole tomatoes, baked on charcoal - a delicious vegetable saute. Prepare also zucchini and zucchini, mushrooms, potatoes and other solid vegetables.
Barbecue is truly considered the most popular way of cooking while relaxing in nature. We also note that among the inhabitants of this type of heat treatment of products is much more popular than in the industrial scale of the food industry.