BBQ Championship

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Mattias Fuch's Tipps:

1. Make sure your meat is at room temperature before placing it on the barbecue. “Take your meat out of the fridge and salt it at least 15 minutes before you grill it. That way, the meat is more tender and retains more juice.”

2. When in doubt, go large. “When you’re barbecuing, try to use larger pieces of meat—and use a meat thermometer.”

3. But when it comes to smoking, less can be more. “Smoke can also be a seasoning. Utilise the smoking wood in a precise way so that the smoky flavour doesn’t overpower the taste of the meat. When smoking, the first hour is always the most crucial.”

Kim Schultz' tipps:

1. Use the poultry roaster for other things than chicken. Put a nice spicy salsa in the “cup” in the middle and place nachos around it in the lower "plate". Sprinkle with cheese and place on the grill until the cheese has melted. Serve directly in the poultry roaster. Other alternatives could be melting chocolate in the middle cup and then grill some slices of pineapple, strawberries and maybe apple and place them around the chocolate cup and serve.

2. Learn the core temperatures for perfectly cooked meats. If you know that your beef should be medium-rare (54° C) then you simply use a barbecue thermometer to verify that the meat is ready. Same goes for when you bake on the grill. Your bread/ cake should be in the range of 93–100° C in the core when done. Go any higher and it will dry out, go any lower and it will be undercooked.

3. Use smoke as a flavour. The gas grill has become very popular among home-barbecuers, but its simplicity is at a cost. There is no real woodsmoke from the grill anymore and thereby you lose an important dimension of BBQ taste – smoke! Instead you should learn the tricks to using wood chips on your barbecue and find out what wood smoke flavours you like the best with your different meats. The fruit tree smoke is usually more sweet and balanced whereas hardwoods like mesquite, oak, and hickory are quite intense. Cherry wood gives a good smoke colour to the meat and birch gives you a very wood-like taste. If you use a charcoal grill then you can still benefit from using wood chips or chunks for your flavours.

Even desserts like cake can be done on the grill.

4. Try to do the entire meal on the barbecue. It is way too often I see the man grill the meat while the woman does the rest of the work in the kitchen. I would urge you to try to put together a menu that can be made completely on your grill. It might take some time initially, but it just make the whole meal so much more satisfying if you made it that way. Things like vegetables and bread are easy to make on the barbecue, and even desserts like cake can be done there. What you have to remember is that if you learn to control the temperature in your grill like a pro, then you can see your barbecue as a mix of a grill and an oven.

Jean-François´ tips:

Love! My tip: bring those you love together ... Cook for them with love. That’s the first ingredient needed for a successful barbecue: wanting to make your guests happy. I like Weber barbecues because of their generous size!

Fire! My tip: learn how to control the cooking process. Whether you are using charcoal, gas or even electricity, barbecuing is all about controlling the flame. You need to monitor the cooking process at all times and make sure nothing overcooks. I like Weber barbecues because they are powerful, reliable and connected ... which allows for perfect results!

Moisture! My tip: learn how to use the lid! A successful dish needs to grill all while remaining moist, tasty and juicy. With the lid, the food stays moist as its humidity is preserved and flare-ups are avoided. I like Weber barbecues because they invented the lid and are behind the indirect cooking principle.

Add heat and sunlight through spices & sauces.

The Earth! My tip: only grill the best ingredients. It is important to pay attention to what you eat and to pick the best ingredients available, even if that means slightly reducing the amount you’re buying. You’ll notice improvements in terms of textures and taste. This is both good for the environment and the farmers who love the Earth and their animals. I like Weber barbecues because they help bring out the best of the best ingredients and give them an inimitable taste.

The sun! My tip: bring sun to your palate. Add heat and sunlight through spices, herbs and sauces. A good barbecue needs to be tasty by providing great tastes and aromas. Marinating, seasoning, all these processes bring more diversity and creativity to your cooking. I like Weber barbecues because no matter which energy source they use, they really make your food taste like barbecue.

TIPS FROM THE NORWEGIAN NATIONAL BARBECUE TEAM :

1. Think beyond the competition: the best BBQ often happens in the backyard, with friends, not judging panels.

2. The most important boring job: keep barbecues and smokers at even temperature at all the times.

3. Don’t mess with the best: in the first year of competition, Whitson’s team experimented with cloudberries (a Norwegian fruit) in their entry for the Tomato Sauce competition. It did not go well.

4. It all comes down to the basics, take rubs for example. Every good rub boils down to four key ingredients: salt, pepper, paprika, sugar. What comes on top is where you find your flair.

To see pellet grilling in action head to your nearest Weber Grill Academy