The difference between grilling, braising and smoking

If you are lucky enough to have a barbecue with a cook or a foreign friend, someone will soon point out that barbecue and braising are not the same thing. This happens when people from different countries get together because these terms have different meanings in different regions. When this happens, someone tries to explain that the difference between smoking and grilling is only a matter of time. The next BBQ party may become an argument.

Barbecue, braised and smoked, what is the difference between the three barbecue methods?

※Barbecuing means cooking on the fire, hot and fast.

※Braising means roasting without direct contact with the fire, low temperature and slow.

※Smoke means cooking with smoke (also low and slow).

The latter two also specifically refer to cooking meat, fish, and poultry, while grilling can include vegetables, fruits, and other foods that you may not have considered. However, smoking and braising are all about meat. Low temperature and long cooking time help large, hard pieces of meat become very soft and give out their full flavor.

The common point of these three methods is that they are collectively referred to as barbecue. If it is braised or smoked, special equipment is required. Recommend HJMK kamado grill, which supports the three cooking methods mentioned above, high-level Residents can choose HJMK MINI to support indoor kitchen barbecue.

What is barbecue?

Barbecuing is the rapid cooking of food over a hot fire (using charcoal or gas as fuel). In the context of grilling, hot and fast means cooking at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) or higher for less than an hour.

For foods such as steaks and ribs, the temperature should be close to 450 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit to shorten the cooking time. Remember that the best grilled meats are the tenderest pieces, such as rib-eye steak, strip steak, T-bone and other raw pieces from ribs and short loin. Cooking them quickly is the best way to maintain tenderness and prevent overcooking and drying out. The best way to cook juicy and delicious slices of meat in a short period of time is hot.

There are not many techniques for grilling steak, but this is not the case with fish, vegetables or poultry. For more delicate foods, shooting at lower temperatures is usually better, and this is where the extra skills come in.

What is braised roast?

If grilling is to cook small pieces of meat quickly, braising is the best choice for grilling large pieces of meat. We are talking about whole pork shoulder, sirloin, grilled ribs, ribs, and even whole turkey.

To cook these large pieces of meat on the grill, the temperature needs to be very low: between 190 and 300 degrees Fahrenheit, but you may see recipes calling for temperatures between 225 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit. At such a low temperature, it takes several hours to cook a large piece of meat. The biggest trick is to maintain this temperature during cooking.

On a gas grill, basically turn the knob to a low temperature.

What is smoking?

Smoking is like an extreme version of barbecue: in fact, you are cooking food with smoke from smoldering pieces or slices of pecans, mesquite, apple or cherry, each of which adds its own flavor to the meat.

The smoking temperature is even lower than the braising temperature to ensure that the smoky flavor can penetrate into the meat and continue to cook. Smoke food at a temperature between 125 and 175 degrees Fahrenheit; if the temperature is too high, the meat will cook too quickly, and the smoky flavor will not be achieved. Baking at this bottom temperature often takes 24 hours a day.

Among the three methods, smoking is the one that requires the most professional knowledge.