O K, you've got your grilling basics down. You're familiar with the various types of barbecue fuel, when to use direct versus indirect heat, how to arrange the grill for each method, and when to take the food off. (For a complete guide to these techniques and more, see our grilling primer.)
But maybe you're itching to take it to the next level: Are your taste buds getting a bit bored with your repertoire? Wishing you could change things up a bit?
According to Elizabeth Karmel, author of Soaked, Slathered, and Seasoned: A Complete Guide to Flavoring Food for the Grill, the answer lies in what she calls "flavor accessories." You see, she explains, great grilling is only half about how you actually cook the ingredients. Once you've got that part down, the key to making it your own is learning how to add flavor in different ways. There are various options to accomplish this: The most common are marinades, rubs, mop sauces, and barbecue sauces. Once you understand how to use these building blocks, you can mix and match them to take the same type of grilled meat in dozens of different directions.
Karmel walked us through each of these four methods, and shared her recipes for each. See below for her side-by-side comparison, and click on the links for recipes and more in-depth explanations.
Flavor Accessories at a Glance
The best way to divide these four flavoring elements is by when they're used: Marinades and rubs go on before cooking, mop sauces during cooking, and barbecue sauces toward the end of cooking or after the food comes off the grill. Here's more info on the differences:
|Marinade||Rub||Mop Sauce||Barbecue Sauce|
|What Is It?||Liquid mix of fat (such as oil) and acid (such as vinegar)||Powder or paste of herbs, spices, and other ingredients||Thin liquid with ingredients like tomato juice or beer||Usually thicker, often sweet sauce|
|What Does It Do?||Flavors and slightly tenderizes||Forms crust that flavors each bite||Adds moisture during low-heat slow cooking||Adds flavor and caramelized coating|
|How Is It Used?||Soak foods 30 minutes to 2 hours before cooking||Pat on foods 15 to 20 minutes before cooking||Baste foods during cooking||Brush on during last 5 to 15 minutes of cooking|
|Best with:||Leaner or blander foods, such as chicken breast, pork chops, vegetables||Fattier meats, such as pork ribs, pork loin, lamb chops, salmon, skin-on chicken||Tougher, long-cooking cuts, such as ribs, pork butt, and brisket||Almost anything, especially chicken, ribs, and shrimp|
|Classic Example:||Grilled marinated chicken breasts||Barbecued ribs(also has barbecue sauce)||Carolina pulled pork||Barbecued ribs (also has a rub)|
more flavoring ideas:
Karmel reminds us that the options listed above are just the most common ways of adding flavor before and during cooking. There are also numerous options to use after the food comes off the grillfor instance:
- An herb butter is great on top of steak or fish.
- Pork and chicken are delicious with a fresh salsa or relish.
- Pestos, chimichurris, and tapanades are a fantastic garnish for almost any grilled ingredient.
- Dipping sauces are served at the table for diners to customize their own flavors.