One of the stereotypical images of the classic back yard barbeque is a cook obscured by clouds of smoke swirling about as he opens the hood or lifts the lid and utters the phrase:  “better check the meat.”

For many folks the phrase ’smoke flavor’ as it relates to grilled foods is limited to the taste of burned meat as experienced in similar scenarios in countless backyards all over. And about the only thing that gets smoked is the cook!

While grilling food over hot coals or gas flames is often associated with the taste of burned foods – that doesn’t have to be the case. When you cook meat at the high temperatures of grilling – a range between 400F – 700F degrees depending upon the technique -  there is bound to be some smoke.  At the very least you can minimize the amount of smoke produced when grilling meat over hot fires by reducing the amount of ‘useless’ fat on the meat. This useless fat adds no flavor to the meat when prepared by grilling and really only melts, drips and creates the conditions for fat flare ups and excessive smelly smoke.

Before we go too far into this discussion let’s agree on one basic principal of cooking: Fat = Flavor.  For example (to my taste) the extra lean ground beef sold these days lacks a depth of flavor, tenderness and moisture – due to the lower fat content.  One of the key criteria upon which beef steaks are graded is the amount of fat marbled in the muscle.  Oh and while I’m not going to be an advocate of eliminating fat from meat I will ‘heart’-ily agree there are good fats and not-so-good fats.  But this will not be a discussion of that topic.

When it comes to grilling meat over high heat – making choices about the amount of fat associated with the meat vs. that which is excessive to the requirements for flavor, tenderness and moisture is the responsibility of the cook. And that would be you.

All too often I receive letters from folks detailing their horror stories about a $100 beef roast catching fire on the rotisserie, or the chicken dinner that was ‘ruined’ from all the flames licking the chicken pieces throughout the cook – giving it a yucky burnt taste.  In these circumstances, especially when cooking using a gas cooker – the primary culprit is the fat dripping off of the meat and onto the flames, where it either ‘flares-up’ or catches fire and smoke coats the meat with a distinctly acrid flavor.  Have you ever burned oil in a pan you were going to use to saute something? Yee-uck!

In this post I use the words ‘fat’ and ‘oil’ loosely. For the purposes of this discussion – once fat has rendered from the meat, it is in a liquid state and it’s an oil.

Any amount of fat or oil that doesn’t convert to flavor in the meat is excess – and it’s best to eliminate prior to grilling to reduce the amount of burning it will fuel.  As for some of the standard practices which contribute to this problem, please allow me to be the one who busts a few myths about fats and oils in hopes this information will help you reduce the amount you use in your food- thus reducing the potential for flare-ups and foul smelling tastes on the surfaces of the food.

Here’s the first one and it’s a doozy!

Specialty oils do very little for flavoring meat prior to grilling.

Wow – that’s a big one isn’t it? I can almost hear you right now saying:

“But CB what about all those recipes I read in the fancy cookbooks or the TV chefs marinating everything in olive oil?”

Piff-Paff.  There are two primary reasons to add oil to the surfaces of the meat you intend on grilling. The most often stated is to give the meat some ‘lubrication’ so it won’t stick when turning but that’s a function of the primary reason – to  conduct heat from the grates to the meat. In effect the oil in contact with the grates quickly conducts the heat energy stored in the grates to the meat proteins – which brown – and when properly browned the proteins naturally ‘release.’  That’s the ‘not sticking’ part.  If you add more oil than you need for this purpose you are only adding fuel for a fire.

The second reason for adding oil to meat is to add flavor – for instance adding some oil or fat content to extra lean ground beef. (BTW – I recommend bacon fat…smile.) But seriously folks, soaking a steak over night in expensive imported oil is not going to add a great deal of flavor to the internal parts of the muscle as very little will penetrate the surface. If you want fat (fat = flavor) in the muscle or flesh, you’ll need to inject it. At that point it’s getting pretty silly and a heck-of-a-lot of extra effort – so just buy a higher grade of meat or a different cut. And if your purpose for injecting the meat is to add spices and other flavors – well that’s a different conversation.

Somewhat on topic: if you use an oil not well suited to the high temperatures of grilling – you are also not doing yourself any flavors favors. For the best results when grilling, use only a light spritz of a high temperature vegetable oil like canola, peanut, cotton seed or grape seed. I use a spray can of canola oil to lightly coat meat before placing it on the grill. I keep the bare metal cast iron  and stainless steel grates on my different grills seasoned with the same quality of oil – applied after cleaning immediately after each use. This ensures the meat has the oil where it is needed.  If I only oil the grates much of it will be burned off before the meat is placed on the grates.  I do use oil on the grates to ensure they are properly seasoned to reduce sticking (just like a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet) but that is not for cooking and is a ritual I perform prior to the first use and thereafter cleaning each use. Same as I do my cast-iron pots and pans.

If you want to add flavorful oils to meat you grill – especially the over-used  Extra Virgin Olive Oil – add small amounts to meat after grilling. Now that’s a tip that will save you money because you only need to use just a little drizzle of that good (expensive) stuff on a piece of grilled meat just before serving – when it lends a layer of rich flavor that is delightful.  However if you use Extra Virgin Olive Oil on meat before grilling – the high temperatures of the grates and heat from the charcoal, gas or infrared will quickly convert the natural sugars remaining in the unprocessed oil into bitter tasting stuff. The same is true for any cold-pressed oil.

Tip: Instead of Extra Virgin Olive Oil – next time use a drizzle of  cold-pressed nut or seed oil like walnut, avocado, peach, almond, hazelnut, sesame, macadamia or apricot for a DEE-LISH-US change of pace that adds a layer of complexity and flavor to enhance a piece of grilled meat!  You won’t need a lot – just a drizzle.

What’s that I heard you say?

“CB – you are so full of hot air! I always use Extra Virgin Olive Oil when I smoke or slow cook meat! And when I grill too!”

I didn’t say to not use Extra Virgin Olive Oil for lower temperature cooking, just not for  the higher temperatures of grilling!  If you regularly use it for grilling – my guess is you may also like the flavors of spicier rubs and such, or even add sauces or glazes to the meat before serving – which cover up the flavor of the burnt oil.  Fair enough – but if you are covering up the flavor (burned or not) why bother with the flavorful (and more expensive) oil in the first place?

By the way, hot air really dries out meat and these days I’m soooooo all about infrared grilling, which doesn’t use hot air for grilling the way conventional gas grills do!

All that fat on the meat adds flavor!

More Piff-Paff.  When grilling, rather than slow roasting, braising, frying or stewing – the fat that adds flavor is the fat in the muscle not on the outside.  For example a rib eye steak has a reasonable amount of fat marbling inside the meat – and that will convert to flavor when grilled because it melts into the muscle as it cooks and renders.  But that big ol’ strip of fat on the lip of the steak does nothing but render and drip into the fire and make it’s way to the drip pan.  You can trim most of that off – unless you like the presentation of it all crispy brown and such.  But beware of it’s capacity for adding drippings to the fire and/or to the interior of your grill which only adds to clean-up.

Take a look at the picture on the right, it’s a plate of various cuts of USDA Prime Wagyu Kobe Beef – prized for it’s flavor, tenderness and richness.  The cattle are specially bred, fed and nurtured to produce meat that is ’saturated’ with fat throughout the muscle. When prepared that’s where the flavor is enjoyed – in the flesh.

But make special notice that the fat on the outer portion of the steaks is trimmed to a very small strip.  That’s because it’s not useful to the flavor of the meat. Small ribbons of fat in the muscle will add flavor to the meat when grilled. But ribbons of fat on the exterior of the meat will only render into the fire, adding virtually no desirable flavor to the meat.

When you and I purchase our packaged meat at the grocery store we’ll most likely get USDA Choice or Select grade beef steaks with a much wider strip of fat on the outside, and much less fat content in the muscle.  There are two reasons for this, the first being the meat has less fat content in it that the uber-prime beef so they expect we’ll always cut a piece of the fat and ingest it with the meat. The second reason is they want to sell us the fat at the same price as the meat…ahem.

When you grill chicken it’s gonna catch fire from all the fat.

Yes that is true - unless you trim away the excess fat you don’t need when grilling chicken.

Recently I”ve begun purchasing whole chickens and trimming them into pieces for just about every recipe I prepare. It’s usually cheaper to purchase this way and it only takes a minute or two to perform the task of cutting into pieces.  When preparing the chicken for grilling I can also trim away some of the excess fat that doesn’t add to the flavor when grilling (stewing, roasting and braising are a different story) and the side benefit is less chance of flare-ups from the chicken fat rendering and dripping onto the coals (when I’m grilling ‘old school’ style) or onto the flame tamers (when grilling on a gas grill) or onto the super hot infrared emitter on either the RED or Quantum grills. [Note: Extra fat isn't such a big deal when cooking chicken parts in The Big Easy infrared cooker as the fat renders and falls to the bottom of the cooking chamber where there is no direct heat or flame, so it simply drips into the collection pan.]

Here’s a pictorial of the process to remove excess fat from chicken pieces when trimming out a whole chicken.  It only takes a few extra minutes.

Preparation of meat for the grill is more than unwrapping it and shaking some spices on it or submerging it in marinade.

1. Think and plan the method of your cook and what you need to do to maximize flavor for the specific cut of meat in the preparation you will be using.

2. Grilling is the method of direct exposure to higher temperatures in the range of 450F – 650F degrees for searing and 350F – 450F for standard grilling. At these temperatures excess fats and oils will render quickly and drip into the fire or onto hot metal – vaporize and ignite.

3. The only flavors excess oils will add to your food when they burn are those that most folks find undesirable.

Have you got a question or comment?  Please share it below.

Happy Grilling!

Photo credits:
Steaks in grocery case CNBC
Wagyu Kobe Beef: Wagyu Kobe Beef
Smoked Cook: Grill Forum