- It's all in the rub.
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Coming from the north, I was trained to cook meat rather quickly on an outdoor grill. Maybe it had to do something with the winter weather. Nonetheless, be it steaks, hamburgers or chops, the idea was to come home, slap some meat on the grill, throw some salt and pepper on it, flip it, and serve it up piping hot. This was matched by the warp speed by which we devoured the meal. From start to finish, maybe 15 minutes, tops. Then, off to watch the evening news (burp).
It's not quite that way down here in the South where I have learned to slow things down while cooking. I now "rub" seasoning on the meat well beforehand (sometimes as much as 24 hours), put it on the top level of the grill, turn down the burner to low, and kick back and enjoy a drink or two while waiting for the meat to cook.
It is not uncommon for me to slow cook baby back ribs for two and a half hours. I stretch out the cooking of steaks and chops as long as possible depending on the size of the meat. Even simple chicken wings typically takes me close to an hour to cook. In other words, I have learned to become patient and not rush the meal.
A lot has to do with the seasonings I use. There are obviously many, but I typically use salt, pepper, garlic powder, Old Bay, paprika, cayenne pepper, and maybe some brown sugar. I rub this into the meat carefully and let it sit for quite awhile, overnight preferably. Only during the last 15 minutes will I consider applying a barbecue sauce, which I apply evenly, not outrageously. To me, it is the seasonings that enhance the flavor, not the sauce. The longer you let it sit on the meat, the better it will penetrate.
One trick I learned a long time ago was to cover steaks with a generous amount of Kosher salt. I usually put this on the night before, or possibly in the morning thereby giving it time to sweat the juices from the beef, causing it to become tender. I have used this on just about every cut of beef imaginable and it has never let me down. It can turn a cheap and tough cut of beef into something quite tender.
Taking your time in cooking allows you to kick back, enjoy a drink or two, and possibly watch a little television outside on the patio (Yes, this is what we do in Florida). In other words, I no longer play "Beat the Clock" when it comes to cooking. When I take my time, the food not only tastes better, it digests better, and I believe this is a preferable way of cooking then the frenzy of the north.
As I indicated, this approach is very popular in the South. Down here, people like to talk about "smoking" (and, No, I certainly do not mean cigarettes), the ingredients for their "rub," the amount of time to cook something, and how good it looked and tasted. It's not about competition, it's about the constant quest for flavor. Interestingly, people down here enjoy watching barbecue cooking shows on television or the Internet, almost as much as they enjoy fishing.
My next challenge is to cook a prime rib on the grill. I saw a demonstration on YouTube which caught my fancy. Time to cook: two and a half hours. Watch the demo and you'll start to understand why we like to do things slower in the South.
Bon appetit y'all!
Keep the Faith!
P.S. - Also do not forget my books, "How to Run a Nonprofit" and "Tim's Senior Moments", both available in Printed and eBook form.
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Tim Bryce is an author, freelance writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb1557@gmail.com
For Tim's columns, see: timbryce.com
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