IT’S ONLY MEANT FOR DRINKING
Who doesn’t love beer?
Ok we won’t make that strong assumption because we know that beer can be an acquired taste. However, there are so many different things you can do with beer besides having a good Friday night. Well, in this case you can do both but take it easy as you always want to be clear and sober when operating a grill. Safety first!
Whether its marinating your meat or simply having a cold one while you fire up the grill, cooking with beer can be a great culinary experience.
Let us show you the many ways you can grill with beer.
Your Wood Chips Are Missing Something
Wood chips are often soaked in a medium to give them more flavor so when they hit the grill, they give off a boom of extra flavor making the grill contents absolutely delicious.
Consider soaking your wood chips in beer next time. Beer can slow the combustion rate of the wood chips, so you get a smoldering flame that creates the best smoke taste. Beer also reduces the burning risk and provides a hint of flavor when added at this level.
Marinade
Beer has a variety of ingredients that make it great for a reason. Although all beers are different, there are still some relatively base ingredients that exist in all of them. These ingredients add unique flavor to a variety of meats like pork, beef, chicken and even seafood. Always remember to marinate your grill contents at least 24 hours before making contact with the grill. Ideally, 48 hours is even better as you allow the meat fibers to absorb all of marinade flavors.
The hoppy and malty nature of beer adds a level of complexity that even non-beer drinkers can appreciate.
Mop It Up
You’re not a true grill master until you have an official grilling apron and one of those special famous basters or mops chefs use to seasons large slabs of meat.
It may look like an old hand mop to you, but grill masters all over use these tools to marinade or baste large amounts of meat.
Beer can be used as a fantastic basting sauce that you can mop on pork or beef in heavy loads. You can mix beer with melted butter, garlic, honey and ginger to make a quick but tasty marinade for your next barbecue.
Humidifier
Beer literally has a variety of uses when it comes to cooking. We are truly happy to bring attention to what chefs and grill masters have known for years.
Some experts state that you can even use beer to act as a humidifying agent. What this means is you can use beer to keep the environment surrounding your grill contents, moist and flavorful.
At your next barbecue, add your favorite beer to the drip pan to keep the meat tender.
Barbecue Sauce
Now, go easy on this one.
Especially go easy if you love a super strong or wacky flavored beer.
You can make a delicious barbecue sauce using beer in addition to everything else we’ve listed. Again, you still need to be careful because the oddball flavors or hoppy nature of strong beers can totally throw off the taste of your sauce and make it bitter.
Beer Can Chicken
We had to do some heavy research on this, but this is indeed a thing. A big thing.
Beer can chicken is very popular, especially in the US as its deemed extremely flavorful. A partially filled beer can is placed in the chicken cavity before placed on a grill. The indirect grilling apparently produces a tasty bird. It may sound like a crazy way to grill chicken, but it has a cult following for a reason.