The Glossary of Grilling

To grill, or not to grill? When it comes to cooking with fire, there are a multitude of terms that often overlap.

Grilling: Cooking food uncovered, on a rack, and directly over a heat source, usually a charcoal fire.

Barbecuing: Cooking tougher cuts of meat with low, slow heat, often covered.

Smoking: Slowly increasing air temperatures in an enclosed grill (or smoker) to cook meat at a gradual pace.

Convection: Transfer for heat via gases or fluids. Performed at higher temperatures to increase cooking time. Helps regulate temperature.

Indirect Grilling: Food is placed to the side of or above a heat source instead of directly over the flame for a slow and low cook.
Often used for smoking.

Brining: Treating food with brine or coarse salt, usually when smoking, to preserve moisture and seasoning.

Planking: Indirectly cooking food — popularly salmon — on an untreated wood plank that was soaked in water. Combines steaming, smoking, and roasting.

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Jodi Keen
Jodi Keen
Jodi Keen joined Tucker Publishing Group, Inc., in April 2021 as Managing Editor. She previously served as the special publications editor for the Messenger-Inquirer newspaper in Owensboro, Kentucky. A native of Mt. Vernon, Illinois, Jodi is a Murray State University journalism graduate. After college, she spent two and half years in Vienna, Austria, first as an au pair, and then as the publisher’s assistant and events editor for The Vienna Review, a monthly English-language newspaper. Jodi has lived on Evansville’s East Side since 2016 and enjoys reading, walking her German shepherd Morgan, and exploring Evansville. She also serves on the board of directors for Foster Care In the The U.S.

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