It has long been known that the most beloved national dish in our country is shashlik. Especially in the summer. It is hard to say what summer residents are looking forward to more every winter: the opportunity to dig in the ground and admire the first greens or to gather in nature with the whole family and friends around a generous table, where the main dish will be shish kebab or meat fried over a fire.
How tasty the barbecue will turn out depends on the quality of the selected meat, on the skill of the barbecue and on the barbecue. The meat should be chosen juicy, tender, preferably the back muscles. To prepare it, you can use any marinades... Onions and parsley will be enough. If it is decided to use vinegar for the marinade, then it is better to use alcohol or wine. Apple cider vinegar can spoil all meat.
Brazier types
All barbecue devices are divided into mobile and stationary... Mobile phones can be collapsible or not. Collapsibles are usually purchased for outdoor trips. It is convenient to pack them and transport them to a place in the trunk of a car. Whole barbecues are usually installed in a specific place in the garden and removed only for the winter. There are structures equipped with wheels so that it is convenient to move them around the site. Stationary barbecues can be welded from metal and lined with stones, or be completely made of bricks. Such garden ovens can combine a brazier, a cauldron stove, a smokehouse and a Russian oven. In addition, in such a complex, a sink and a work table are necessarily provided.
The size of any barbecue should satisfy the main family kebab owner. The height should be comfortable for constantly turning the skewers. To determine the optimal size, you need to bend your arm at the elbow and measure the distance from the ground to the palm. This will be the correct height of the barbecue up to its top edge. Standard barbecue height 1 meter... Portable models can be 60-70 cm.
It is believed that in order for the meat on a skewer to be evenly fried, you need 6 to 10 cm of space between each other for each stick of kebab. To calculate the length of the barbecue, you need to estimate how many guests are gathering at the table at the same time. The brazier should allow you to fry the entire kebab in two or three receptions. Otherwise, the cook may rebel, due to the fact that instead of communicating he will be chained to the barbecue. The size of the barbecue is considered optimal - 1 meter. At the same time, a structure with a length of more than one meter also will be inconvenient for a number of reasons:
- You will have to walk along the long barbecue, and not fry the kebabs while standing in one place;
- A large brazier needs more coals and it is difficult to ensure that they burn out evenly and the same heat along the entire length.
The width of all barbecues is standard and is 30-40 cm. This is due to the size of the skewers on sale, designed for 6-8 pieces of meat, as well as the size of the grills for meat, which are sold in large quantities in any tourist department.
The depth of the barbecue structure can be from 20 to 15 cm. The main thing is that the distance from coal to meat is not less than 5 and not more than 10 cm... If the distance is less, the meat will burn on the outside and remain moist on the inside. If the distance is greater, it will not allow the formation, under the influence of high temperature, of a crust on the meat, which does not allow the juice to flow out so that the kebab does not turn out to be dry.
Dimensions of garden oven complexes
If planned construction of a stationary barbecue, you need to soberly assess the possibilities and needs:
Better equip the oven barbecue, stove under the cauldron and provide a place for a sink and a work table. The space under the barbecue, sink and work table should not be wasted. Dry firewood and coals can be stored under the first. It is comfortable to place a bin under the sink under the sink, and under the work table you can make an additional shelf for dishes and kitchen utensils by closing this space with doors. At least 60 cm should be taken under a one-bowl sink.The desktop will be sufficient from 60 to 100 cm.
If the oven is part of the gazebo, then more space can be allocated under the work surface in order to end up with a full-fledged summer kitchen.
The dimensions of a barbecue made of bricks must meet the requirements already described. It can be equipped with an extractor hood so that smoke does not interfere with rest, or it can be simply open, equipped with only a small work table.
On the Internet, you can find many options for stationary ovens with detailed ordering, allowing you to lay out a small oven yourself. It is better to entrust the construction of a large complex to professionals who already have experience in the construction of furnaces and can provide recommendations.
Bon Appetit
The taste of kebabs to a large extent depend on the marinade... Basically, meat is marinated with vinegar, wine, tomatoes. If the meat is young and tender, onions and parsley will suffice. The taste of barbecue marinated in cherries turns out to be very interesting. To do this, the cherries must first be crushed and marinated in the resulting mass for 4-8 hours with salt and pepper. Have a great weekend!
I quite often see barbecues of such depth on sale. Let's see what happens to meat when it is fried on such a grill and whether a good shish kebab can be obtained under such conditions.
To begin with, let's agree on what is considered a good kebab. A good kebab has a ruddy, but not charred surface, with a characteristic crust. At the same time, the meat inside the piece is heated evenly and has a temperature corresponding to the desired degree of doneness. For the experiment, I took lamb, and set the desired temperature at 71C. Initially, the meat had an ambient temperature of + 15C. Time has gone!
Only after 20 minutes, the first side of the piece of meat began to brown slightly.
Juice began to drip from the meat, while the fat had not yet melted out and therefore the smoke characteristic of the shish kebab (and with it the smell) had not yet appeared.
After 30 minutes, the temperature inside the piece of meat reached 50C.
After 37 minutes, there is still only 63C.
The juice from the meat continued to flow in streams, the surface barely began to turn red, the smoke rose in thin streams.
Only after 50 minutes, the temperature inside the piece of meat reached the desired 71C. The surface of the meat looked just damp in places; meat juice was oozing out of it. I am sure that if I had not had a thermometer that clearly indicated the readiness of the meat, I myself would have continued to fry the meat, bringing the surface to the desired state. Of course, the meat would simply dry out.
The cut showed that in some places it was already dry. The meat was ready-to-eat, but there was no trace of the taste of barbecue, and there was no question of any juiciness.
Let's remove two bricks, reduce the height of the barbecue, leaving a distance of about 8-10 cm between the meat and coal. Coal and meat are exactly the same.
Within three minutes, the first side of the meat began to turn red and crusty, the temperature inside the piece of meat reached 50C.
A confident crust formed on the surface of the meat, juices dripped into the coal much less often than the melted fat, so aromatic, thick, white smoke rose from the coals, which gave the piece of meat that very unique smell of barbecue.
After eight minutes, the temperature inside the piece of meat approached 66C.
After another four minutes, the meat was completely cooked. Remember this color of the surface of the meat - this is the right color, this is a good kebab crust.
And this is how the kebab should look in the cut. Please note that compared to the previous cut, the color of the meat inside is almost equal. If on the first cut the crust and still damp meat inside were clearly distinguishable, then on the second the meat has practically the same degree of readiness throughout the cut. Note that the entire incision surface is oozing. The color of the juice is red, but it is completely transparent. One should not be afraid of this juice, it is precisely that the juice of completely finished meat, and not blood, which is never transparent.
By the way, if blood flows from a piece of meat you bought when cut, it means that the cattle was not slaughtered as expected. Maybe she just fell or was killed in some other, wrong way. And in normal meat, blood simply should not be.
Let's draw the first conclusions from our experience.
Reducing the distance between a piece of meat and coals by half made it possible to cook a shish kebab exactly four times faster. This is quite consistent with the laws of physics, which I mentioned before: the power of infrared radiation varies in proportion to the square of the distance.
The faster a brownish crust forms on the barbecue, the less juices it will lose during frying.
Evaporation from the surface of the meat is almost independent of the distance between the coals and the meat, in any case, it depends much more on the temperature of the ascending air currents and the duration of frying. The longer we fry, the more moisture evaporates, the drier the kebab will turn out.
Until this moment, I deliberately did not disclose another important parameter: the size of the piece of meat. In both cases, their diameter was approximately equal to three centimeters. If the meat were cut into cubes with the same edge, then each cube would weigh 25-30 grams. Such a piece is just convenient to chew, it does not need to be cut before sending it into your mouth.
But what to do with the proverb "a big piece and the mouth rejoices"?
Well, let's make another experiment - fry a piece of meat with a diameter of about 6 cm.
After 8 minutes, the temperature inside the piece of meat reached 37C.
After 12 minutes, the surface of the meat already has the correct color, but the temperature inside has not yet reached 44C.
After 17 minutes, the surface of the meat already begins to char, the temperature inside is 57C.
The color of the meat directly under the crust clearly indicates that it is already dry at this point. Meanwhile, the piece of meat inside is just raw.
And even 24 minutes after the start of frying, the meat inside did not even reach 65C. At the same time, it was already completely dry on the surface.
Let's try to formulate some conclusions from this part of our experience.
Meat absorbs heat from the coals on its surface. Doubling the diameter of a piece of meat resulted in a corresponding increase in its surface area. At the same time, the volume, and therefore the weight, increased fourfold. We divide four by two and we get another confirmation of the laws of physics: it took us twice as long to fry this piece of meat. Yes, only we never got what we wanted - a golden brown crust and a temperature inside 71C. Instead, we got unevenly roasted meat: already charred on the outside, with dry top layers and raw inside.
I know how to fry such a piece of meat. Not from a distance of 20-25cm, as in the first case, not from 10cm, as in the second, but from a distance of about 15-17cm. But explain to me - why cook meat, in pieces of almost two hundred grams? Wouldn't it be better to eat six or seven regular-sized pieces? After all, shish kebab is a dish that is consumed in the original without knives and forks!
PS This was not a barbecue recipe, here it is deliberately not told about how and with what I marinated this meat. In order to fry a kebab, it is not necessary to string long pieces of meat across five skewers - I did this so that you could cut the meat while cooking it. During the preparation of the barbecue, a thermometer and exactly the same barbecue as mine are not required. All this was arranged only in order to show you how to properly and how not to properly fry a kebab. What is good and what is bad. Do you understand me?
Whatever brazier you are going to do on your site, one of the most important questions that you must decide - what will be its size? This will allow you to optimize the manufacturing process and make a product that meets all your expectations and requirements.
Choosing the size of the barbecue for a barbecue, it is necessary to take into account both personal wishes and objective points. What does this mean? The dimensions of the product should contribute to its normal operation, correspond to the site allocated for placement, and also harmoniously fit into the design of the site.
Dimensions of the barbecue grill: drawing, photo
- Length.
The number of skewers that you can place on the grill directly depends on this indicator. This means that you need to think about how many guests will visit your "barbecue". The most common size is a meter long, which can accommodate 10 skewers.
- Width.
As for the width of the barbecue - usually the figure is constant and is 30 cm. This is due to the binding to the parameters of the skewers. A skewer, on which 6-8 pieces of meat are put on, occupying 25 cm, will fit. It is better to make the design no wider than the recommended values: a lot of heat from such a barbecue simply goes into the air.
- Depth.
Another important parameter is the depth of the barbecue. As a rule, it is 15 cm. At the bottom there is an even layer of coals and the distance to the meat is moderate (it will not allow it to burn). You can, of course, make it deeper, but it will take much more firewood. Whatever the design of the product, one parameter directly depends on the convenience of work and is determined by the height of a particular person. It's about the height of the skewers above the ground. It must be comfortable to hold and turn the skewer, not too high or too low. This value is measured on an individual basis.
Dimensions of the barbecue grill: drawing, photo, design
The simplest brazier is a metal box with holes along the sides to provide air supply. As a rule, it is installed on welded or removable legs. With the main part unchanged, such a design will differ significantly.
- Metallic.
Metal braziers are equipped with shelves for meat and firewood, for water and for various accessories. Pipes are attached to them so that the smoke does not interfere with cooking, and the roof provides protection from rain. Forged parts are used for decoration, and the products themselves must be cast from cast iron, giving them the appearance of real works of art.
To protect the barbecue from rust, antipyretic paint is used, which gives the entire product a neat appearance. However, if all these options are limited to approximately the same size, then the stone barbecue is a fundamentally new structure.
- Brick.
The development of brick barbecues often leads to changes in landscape design. The barbecue zone is no longer the side of the feast zone, but a separate zone that makes changes both in the planning of the site and in the social structure of the collectives gathering at the site. This is because landscape design implies the presence of places where small groups of 2-3 people can safely retire from the whole team.
The barbecue area is another place, purely for men, where you could not only cook a barbecue, but also smoke, chat and drink a bottle of beer.
As for the place where the meat is cooked, it is a solid size, a hybrid of a kitchen wall and a fireplace, where every detail seems to be provided for convenience - from the electric skewers to the ability to wash your hands.
The platforms are planted with plants and covered with lids, turning into cozy and comfortable gazebos. Given the complexity of the construction, it is better to entrust its construction to professionals, experienced bricklayers who have the skill of laying fireplaces and stoves. In this case, it will really become a decoration of your site and a favorite place for making barbecue.
We tell you how to cook mouth-watering meat over an open fire
Every time I find myself in a store in the summer, with my heart bleeding, I observe how joyful vacationers buy plastic buckets with cartilage and veins dissolved in vinegar to be cremated on coals poured with kerosene from a paper bag. Horror. I cook meat outdoors in a different way, and without false modesty I will say that I cook it well. Here are a few rules that I always follow. This is not an exhaustive list, and it is not a once and for all order, which does not allow any deviations - just advice from an older friend
1. The best taste of grilled meat is just the taste of grilled meat. Plus a little salt, plus a little freshly ground pepper. If you really need to "improve" this taste - do it as delicately as possible. As a marinade, I rarely use anything other than rings cut into quarters, slightly mashed to give juice, onions mixed with spices - cumin, coriander, paprika, some herbs, maybe garlic. In mutton - not lamb, it doesn't need to be improved in any way, namely mutton - I add a handful of mashed blackberries and mint. Some fermented milk marinade, on kefir or yogurt, is suitable for the chicken. Lemon juice and wine are already serious options for tough meat. Not to mention vinegar - this is generally beyond good and evil.
2. The best firewood for the barbecue- vine. It burns quickly, giving a strong good heat. But this is the ideal option, and nothing is perfect. Therefore, you can get by with strong deciduous logs - oak and birch. Coniferous and resinous deciduous (like aspen) firewood is not suitable - they will cause the meat to taste bitter. I am silent about various pornography, like a liquid for ignition - a normal man should be able to build a fire from sticks, twigs, dry leaves and a single match
3. Fastest- and in the slightest heat - fish is being cooked. The chicken needs a little more time. Even more - meat. And, if meat can be served not completely fried, with blood, then fish and chicken should be fully cooked
4. Distance from coal to meat there should be about 4 fingers in the grill
Do not fill the entire capacity of the barbecue with charcoal - leave one edge free. There you will move skewers with almost finished meat - so that it "reaches" at a lower temperature
5. I'm not a fan of the custom of interspersing cuts of meat on a skewer with onion rings. Onions almost always burn before the meat is fried and impart their burnt-rancid aroma to it.
6. But stick the pieces of bacon very correct between pieces of meat - for greater juiciness
7. If the coals start burning b - do not pour water on them, but sprinkle with salt - it will not only extinguish the fire, but also prevent the fat flowing from the meat from burning out - the burnt fat will give the meat a bitter taste
8. Before putting the skewers or a grill on the grill, I throw a couple of sprigs of rosemary, tarragon, sage over the coals - smoke the meat a little with the fragrant smoke of aromatic herbs
9. And - please!- no chemical ketchups and even more so mayonnaise. You should enjoy the taste of meat as such, you shouldn't drown it with anything. Vegetables, fresh bread, salt, pepper - this is enough as an accompaniment.
Summer is one of the favorite seasons of the year for many people. One of the reasons for this is the opportunity to relax in the open air: in the country house, camp site, by the river or just in the forest. An integral part of such outings is a picnic, the main dish of which is traditionally barbecue.
To cook tasty, juicy, well-done meat, you need a grill. Few thought that the quality of the cooked meat directly depends on the correct manufacturing of this structure. The availability and variety of building materials will allow even the most fantastic ideas to come true.
What do the parameters of the barbecue depend on?
- When choosing a barbecue, the first step is to decide in what way the meat will be fried on it: on skewers or on a barbecue grill. Skewers are for the most part standard sizes, so the width of the brazier must match them. You can choose any length. With barbecue grates, everything is easier. They often have different sizes, so it will be easier to choose a grill in accordance with the size of the barbecue. Although a lattice with dimensions of 18x28 cm is considered standard.
- The second important criterion is the choice of the place where the meat will be most often cooked. If this is a private house or summer cottage, then a stationary barbecue is best suited here, which will have a permanent location and be cleaned only for the winter. It is better to make it from thick metal or cast iron for many years of operation. If it is understood that the hearth will need to be transported frequently, then it is better to make it lightweight, foldable and compact.
- The depth of the barbecue directly depends on the material on which the meat will be cooked. When it comes to coals, shallow is ideal. If firewood is used for cooking, then it is better to choose a deep barbecue, since you will have to lay a large amount of wood in order to get the required amount of coals for frying.
How many people - so many opinions, desires and needs. Therefore, there are two main types of devices for frying meat - mobile and stationary.
Many of those who do not live in the private sector and do not have a suburban area prefer to go out to barbecue in nature. They do not need a massive grill, which includes additional elements. Compact structures made of non-thick material are ideal for them. They are lighter, have thin walls, low folding legs and a minimum of decorative elements. They will easily fit into any car and will not take up much space when stored in an apartment.
For those who wish to equip a real barbecue corner on their site, large stationary barbecues made of metal or even stone hearths are suitable. They are large, made of thick metal, often equipped with additional surfaces and storage space for accessories. Therefore, cooking meat becomes not only pleasant, but also very comfortable.
Standard sizes
Professionals say that in the manufacture of barbecues it is necessary to be guided by the optimal size. Below are the correct parameters for the ideal brazier, which will only produce delicious, juicy and flavorful kebabs from time to time.
- Width. This value directly depends on the length of the skewers. Classic skewers have a total length of 45-50 cm, and a working one - 30-35 cm. Therefore, the width of the barbecue should be no more than 40 cm. If it is larger, then the meat will occupy a smaller area, and the heat coming from the coals will go to waste ...
- Depth. When making a barbecue, it is better to focus on a depth of 20 cm. When frying, the layer of coals should be 5-10 cm, and the distance from the pieces of barbecue to the coals should be about 8 cm. Based on this, we can conclude that the ideal depth is from 15 to 20 see. If the meat is most often cooked not on ready-made coals, but on wood, then the grill can be made deeper so that more wood can be placed in it. But with this method, it is necessary to take into account that the layer of coals should be larger, since the distance to the kebab increases.
- Length. The size of this parameter depends primarily on the number of kebabs that are usually cooked. When frying, the distance between the skewers should be at least 5 cm in order to turn each of them freely. For a small company, a length of 60 cm will be enough to cook 6 meat skewers at a time. If we are talking about large picnics, then the optimal length is considered to be 100 cm. At the same time, it will be possible to cook 10 kebab skewers. As for the barbecue grills, a small barbecue up to 40 cm long is ideal for them.
- Height. This is the only parameter that is selected purely individually. The structure should not be too low, since during the cooking process you will have to bend over, or too high, this will also create unnecessary discomfort. Therefore, it is better to immediately decide who is most often engaged in the preparation of this delicious dish, and, based on its height, choose the height of the barbecue. Ideal is the height to the waist of the cook, so that the arms are in a bent state. Depending on the height of the person, it can be from 75 to 125 cm in size.
- Thickness. The wall thickness of the barbecue is also an important parameter. The thicker they are, the more durable the structure will be. In addition, a thick-walled brazier keeps heat better. When making a stationary barbecue in the country, you can use metal up to 8 mm thick. If the structure is mobile, then a smaller thickness is also suitable - up to 4 mm. Such a grill will weigh much less.
How to calculate?
To calculate the parameters of the barbecue, it is better to be guided by personal wishes in conjunction with manufacturing standards. In this case, the design will be durable, comfortable and visually attractive.
The height of the vertical barbecue should be chosen in accordance with your height. This will allow you to comfortably cook meat. The depth is most often classic - up to 20 cm. This size allows the meat to roast well and quickly, to have a crispy crust and a unique aroma.
The length will primarily depend on the amount of meat you cook. For large companies, the ideal length is considered to be 100 cm. 10 skewers can easily fit on such a grill, and there will be no need to fry the meat in two passes. In addition, with such a length, it is possible to equip a place for boiling a kettle or preparing a side dish. The width of the bowl most often depends on the tool for preparing the kebab. For skewers, it is standard - up to 35 cm. The barbecue grill, by the way, will also be comfortable to sit on such a grill.
It is interesting that the need for holes in the side walls of the barbecue has both supporters and opponents. Some believe that their presence interferes with the control of the frypot temperature. Others are of the opinion that the presence of holes reduces the possibility of coal ignition and promotes uniform heating.
If you correctly take into account all the classic parameters and adjust them for yourself, then the result will be an ideal grill, on which it will be comfortable to cook your favorite dish.
A more durable structure is a brick hearth. They are most often laid out in summer cottages, or on the backyard plots of private houses. The internal design of the brazier has classic dimensions. Only external dimensions are enlarged, chimneys are being built, work surfaces and sinks are additionally equipped. All this increases the comfort of cooking.
It is necessary to equip special sites for stone hearths. Their size can be any, depending on the size of the hearth itself, the area of the site and the personal desire of the owner. It is better to lay out these areas with paving slabs, gravel, decorative stone, or simply cover them with sand. This will not only give an aesthetic appearance to the area, but also protect against the possibility of fire. You can also dream up the design of the hearth. It can be decorated with decorative stone, plastered and applied with drawings and patterns, decorated with decorative tiles. Such a finish will not only give a brick brazier an individual design and visual appeal, but also make it more durable.
In addition to the usual calculations for the manufacture of a barbecue, you can use the additional tips below to design a real recreation area in the country or home area.
- If the length of the barbecue is planned to be more than 100 cm, then in this case it is recommended to equip the structure with additional legs. This will give more stability.
- The metal brazier can also be equipped with wheels. This will allow, if necessary, to easily change its location on the site.
- A canopy can be constructed over barbecues and hearths. In this case, the preparation of kebabs can be done even in bad weather. If, in addition, equip benches, plant flowers and shrubs, then this place will become the real heart of the infield, where in the evenings you can just sit by the fire, listen to birdsong, look at the starry sky.
- The structure of an ordinary metal barbecue can be additionally equipped with places for storing firewood, skewers, water and a poker. This will add additional charm and some charm.
- Cast iron is considered the best material for making a barbecue. It is very strong, durable and keeps you warm. This will save on coals. In addition, it can be additionally decorated with forged elements.
- When choosing the location of the barbecue or hearth, it is necessary to be guided primarily by safety rules and not to place the structure near buildings (the distance should be more than three meters), next to flammable objects, under trees, near fences, hedges, gazebos.
- A stone hearth is best made from natural elements. But, in order to build it in compliance with all building codes, regulations, standards and technologies, it is better to resort to the help of qualified bricklayers.
- It is better to cover a metal brazier made with your own hands with refractory paint. This will make its appearance more aesthetic and will significantly extend its service life.
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