G'day guys Chad here your resident pit master and backyard barbecue expert today I'm back with more
tips tricks and recipes to help you become a real hero around the barbecue and the campsite
so you've decided to delve in to low and slow barbecue today I'm going to give you like a crash
course on everything low and slow to give you a leg up in this awesome culinary art from the
different barbecues available to tools smoking woods fuels tips and tricks and everything in
between welcome to barbecue 101 a beginner's guide to low and slow let's get started with
choosing your smoker there are so many cookers on the market and most utilise different methods
and levels of experience there's bullet smokers cabinet smokers gas smokers offset smokers you've
got pellet smokers hell you can even smoke on a kettle barbecue with the know-how there's just
so many out there right now on the Aussie market now if you're a beginner I do suggest you start
with something like a portable smoker it's an inexpensive unit you're not throwing your money
away for a dead hobby if you don't take to it straight away great way to learn your smoke
control it's a great way to learn your oxygen flow your temperature control if you can learn
to cook on one of these you can learn to cook on any smoker great starting unit jump on one
now it's time to think about your fuel source when it comes to barbecuing now depending on
what type of barbecue you're about to cook on or the method of cooking you're about to delve into
you will require a different source of fuel I personally for smoking low and slow on a smoker
will prefer to use a lump charcoal like so it always ends with a better result and you get
a nice clean flavour and a nice clean heat along with a nice clean smoke through the cooker which
is super important when it comes to low and so on the smoker if I'm using something like
a kettle barbecue I always tend to go towards the briquettes I find them really versatile and easy
to use for different methods on the kettle so when choosing your briquettes remember to stay away
from the EZ light stuff these contain accelerants and can be nasty to cook with especially with low
and slow stay with the natural stuff so remember these are just tips from me because they work for
me it's always good to experiment with what works best for you that's what barbecue is
all about play with your flavours play with your smoke play with your fuel hook in and have a go
choosing your smoking would when starting out with long slow barbecue can be quite a daunting process
the trick is to keep it super simple if you're cooking something that's red meat like a brisket
or beef ribs steak even for that matter try to stick with your heavier woods like Hickory or
ironbark these give off a nice peppery flavour and they've got a really nice long burn time because
they're such a hardwood so these are great ones to start off with for your red meat if you're cooking
something like chicken or pork white meats always tend to have a little bit of a lighter smoke I
like to use fruit woods cherry apple peach things like that work really really well for white meat
so fruit wood for white darker and heavy woods for your red meats you can't go wrong again play
around with your smoking woods it's all about flavour it's all about experimentation the only
tip I want to give you is don't overpower your food with smoke use it as a seasoning just like
salt and pepper now there are a handful of simple tools you can pick up to really help you along in
your low and slow journey so first thing we'll start with is a good thermometer now a perfect
piece to have in your kit just to check the progress of your cook make sure everything's
running along nice and smoothly second up is you need to have either some fire lighters or I like
to use my fire wand fire one is obviously going to be a little bit more expensive but you're going
to get your fire lit in just a matter of seconds compared to about twenty minutes if you're using
fire lighters without a fire starter kit next up spritz bottle now we've got to have a spritz
bottle for all things low and slow I usually fill a portion of this with a bit of apple
cider vinegar and then beef stock if I'm cooking beef or chicken stock for white meats like pork
and chicken it really does help break down that connective tissue while keeping the cook nice and
moist the whole way through must have on the list next up bit of our foil can't go wrong you need a
few wrapping it will help you stop that dreaded storm now that's something that we will delve
into in the next episode of barbecue 101 it's something that will slow down your cook and hold
you up for hours and hours if you don't know how to tend to it now rather than using a spatula or
a pair of tongs to take my final product off the smoker I like to pair a good set of cotton gloves
with a good set of black nitrile gloves over the top to remove anything from the smoker with the
out burn in my hands keeping it nice and pretty to hand over to friends and family to really impress
Celsius versus Fahrenheit now I get it we live in Australia we use the metric system you know
what this art of cooking did not originate here in Australia this originated in the
States and they use Fahrenheit it's super difficult each time you learn a new recipe
to sit down and try and convert everything from Fahrenheit to Celsius a lot of these
recipes being from the States it's just easier to adapt to Fahrenheit I also find that it's a
much more granular measurement of temperature so when I'm aiming for a temperature of say 205
Fahrenheit it's much easier than trying to aim for a measurement of 96 point one one one one
Celsius as I said don't after all cooking Fahrenheit when it comes to this method of
cooking I find it easier you may not again personal preference find what's easy for you
in Louisville a barbecue you'll notice that we use a lot of dry rubs rather than wet marinades per se
there's a couple of reasons behind this one we like to achieve what's called a nice bark on our
cuts of meat that bark is that really nice dark crust across the outside of your meat that every
low-and-slow barbecue strives to achieve now feel free to use wet marinades if that's more to your
preference again that's what it comes down to personal preference and experimentation I find
wet marinades work really well if I'm doing something like a Sunday roast with a liquor
smoke on my smoker but if I'm doing true low and slow American style barbecue it's always going to
be a dry rub if you're cooking something like beef you want to aim for something with just a
slight salt and pepper maybe a bit of cayenne a little bit of heat like some smoked paprika
if you're cooking something like pork try to go for something a little bit sweeter in there
as well now you can go out and make these rubs yourself but try to keep them basic to start
with I like to use pre-made rubs they're tested tried and true you cannot fail with them have
a play with them before you go out and make your own rubs get your basics down first car go wrong
and finally and most importantly to yield the best results each and every time it's best to
remember these two sayings you can't rush perfection it's done when it's done and if
you're looking you're not cooking it's as simple as that if you're opening your cooker up every
couple of minutes have a look are we done yet we're done yet if you're not cooking anything
you're losing temperatures throughout the smoker you're gonna give inconsistent temperatures to
your meat things are going to tighten up they're not working properly if you're in a hurry to get
everything out on the table because it's time to eat and she'll be right it's never she'll be
right you're going to have chewy consistencies dry cuts of meat you're not going to be happy
with anything you're going to be upset with your cook that you've spent hours and hours and hours
on make them wait it's never done when you think it's done it's done when it's done now barbecue is
an art don't rush it but have fun with it it'll all be worth it when it hits the table and you
made some family you've got smiles from Eddie and then we have it folks your beginner's guide
to low and slow barbecue for those of you that are getting really super serious and having a
good craic make sure you hit that subscribe button and click on that bill so you're notified of our
next episode so you can yield great results each and every time for more tips tricks and
secrets on how to become a backyard barbecue master or a camp cooking legend make sure you
hit that subscribe button and keep in touch with all things adventure kings on facebook
twitter and instagram and of course you can get all the gear at 4WDSupacentre.com.au