How to make the perfect kebab

First, choose the perfect meat for barbecue
To start cooking barbecue, you first need to choose meat. It doesn't matter if it is a pig, a bird, a lamb or a calf. There is only one rule: the meat must be fresh and young. To make the dish especially tender, you should choose pieces with a minimum of fat. For the preparation of a classic kebab, the kidney, back part of the carcass is used, as well as the flesh of the hind leg (ham) of the best quality lamb. Pork kebab is a more popular and widespread option, because it is tender and soft. Also, many people opt for poultry, beef or fish.

You should not use frozen meat for barbecue, because there are practically no important nutrients left in it, which are contained in excess in fresh. It will not give in to pickling or beating, remaining completely tasteless and tough. Also, do not cook a shish kebab from fresh meat from an animal that has just been slaughtered. You should let him lie down for at least a few hours to drain the blood from him.

If you decide to make pork kebab, choose the part of the carcass located on the neck along the ridge - it is the most tender. It is called a neck or collar. When choosing pork, focus on the pinkish tint of the meat - this is an important indicator of freshness. You can still feel the piece, while keeping your fingers dry! If you press on fresh meat, it will quickly return to its previous shape, and clear juice will emerge. It is also worth looking at the fat - in fresh pork, it has a pale pink and white tint.

If you prefer to make beef kebabs, remember that beef fat is quite hard and has a yellowish, creamy or white color. The fat in fresh lamb is usually dense and completely white. When buying meat for barbecue, you should also sniff at its smell. A fresh product, respectively, smells fresh, no impurities are heard in the aroma.

Young meat has a light red hue, fat is almost white. It is very easy to process. The meat of adult animals is usually red in color and quite juicy. Its preparation also does not differ in any difficulties. But the meat of old animals is colored dark red, while the fat has a yellow tint. It is difficult to cook dishes from it, it will take a lot of patience and some skills.

Poultry kebabs are also extremely popular. Poultry meat contains a minimum of saturated fat, so it is much easier to digest than the same beef or pork. Having made the decision to cook a kebab from poultry meat, opt for a fresh carcass, which should have a plump breast and clean skin without a single spot. If you decide to buy frozen poultry meat, then make sure that there are absolutely no ice crystals on it. Only in this way will you understand that the carcass was frozen for the first time and it has never been defrosted.

Marinades for every taste
Mixing onions with various spices makes a great marinade. You can also add lemon juice for a nice sauce that can soften the meat.

Beef kebab will be perfectly softened by mineral water, in which it is necessary to thoroughly soak the meat. But one cannot do with mineral water - you need to add various spices and spices so that the kebab does not turn out to be bland.

Lemon juice with olive oil can also be a good marinade.

In the East, meat for barbecue is marinated in kefir with the addition of mint, lemon, pepper, cilantro, ginger, curry. This marinade will be good for poultry.

A shish kebab in the Chinese manner will turn out if you mix soy sauce and dry wine for the marinade, adding garlic, pepper, ginger, honey.

For a Greek marinade, you need pomegranate juice and vodka in a 4: 1 ratio.

For the mayonnaise marinade, you need to take 200 grams of mayonnaise per 1 kg of meat.

A marinade made from tomato juice with the addition of chili ketchup will give the kebab an excellent taste.

The meat will have an unusual taste if you mix mustard with kvass and pepper and soak the meat in this marinade.

The main subtleties and secrets of cooking barbecue

In fact, making a juicy, but at the same time fried kebab, covered with an appetizing golden brown crust, is not at all difficult, you just need to follow some rules.

Rule 1
Pieces of meat should be placed over hot coals at a distance of at least 15 cm. It is best to use a cast iron brazier.

Rule 2
For marinating food, it is advisable to choose glass, enamel or earthenware. In no case should an aluminum pan be used for these purposes, because the oxides of this metal can react with liquids and foods, significantly spoiling their taste.

Rule 3
Both meat and fish, intended for roasting on a wire rack or skewer, must be young, and must also be juicy and fresh. If you are planning to make pork skewers, make sure that there is not a lot of fat on the pieces. The fact is that the lard will melt and burn, and this will give the meat an unpleasant aftertaste.

Rule 4
Before cooking, we advise you to thoroughly grease the skewers or the grill with sunflower oil, then heat them a little. While the meat is cooking, it should be periodically watered with liquids such as fat, a mixture of pure water with lemon juice, or marinade. The proportion is 50x50. In order to give meat or fish more juiciness, you can put a little butter on pieces of warm kebabs.

Rule 5
Do not cut the meat for barbecue too coarsely. The ideal piece should be approximately 2-2.5 cm thick, otherwise it will not be completely fried. On a skewer, the meat is strung along the fibers, placing larger pieces in the middle (they are fatter), and those that are slightly smaller at the edges. In this case, you need to make sure that none of them hang down or dangle.

Rule 6
Shish kebabs should be alternated with rings of onions or bell peppers. It is advisable to place the layer of vegetables between the meat so that it practically does not look out. Often in places where the pieces are pressed too tightly, the kebab remains poorly cooked. To make it fried as evenly as possible, periodically separate the stuck together pieces.

Rule 7
Skewers with meat should be stacked as tightly as possible next to each other. This allows the fire to burn weaker, more smoke is emitted, making the kebab even tastier. While the meat is cooking, the skewers must be turned over once or twice, but not more often, so as not to dry out.

Finding out if the kebab is ready is very simple. To do this, you just need to carefully cut a piece. If the meat has given clear juice, you can safely serve it to the table. But pink indicates that the kebab is not ready yet. If there is no juice at all, the worst thing happened: the meat is overdried and you can safely throw it away. Consider your mistakes and start preparing the next portion.

Rule 8
Shish kebab is never cooked on a fire from pine, fir, spruce, elm, maple, ash, aspen, larch, mountain ash, alder, acacia, willow and poplar. During the burning of these trees, a number of carcinogenic substances are released into the air, which easily penetrate into the food languishing over the fire. The most harmless thing that can be expected from such firewood is that the shish kebab will acquire a disgusting smell and taste.

Dry fruit trees are best suited for such purposes. In the south, the absolute favorite is the apricot, during the smoldering of which the meat acquires a sweetish aftertaste and the most delicate aroma. Plum wood produces fairly persistent coals, famous for their excellent combustibility. Apple and cherry, on the other hand, are prized for their ability to give meat a truly magical aroma. One has only to throw a couple of cherry logs into the blazing fire, and your future barbecue will be saturated with a wonderful, incomparable smell.

Things to know (Q&A)