For some it may sound crazy, barbecuing in the winter. But actually, that’s not so crazy at all, because humans have been doing this for thousands of years. Our generation is just a little bit out of touch.
How cool would it be to revive this very cool tradition? Outdoor cooking on fire, in all weathers, only in the year 2020, with a ceramic cooker equipped with the latest gadgets when it comes to barbecuing on a
kamado bbq.
Kamado Winter BBQ
A winter bbq is actually not much different than a summer bbq, only with a thick coat on, and maybe with an umbrella in your left hand, and your bbq tongs in the other hand.
And of course you adapt your bbq dishes to the season, because you missed that delicious
stew last summer, didn’t you?
Preparing your kamado
The winter is ideal for nice low and slow, your kamado bbq on, occasionally go outside to see how your stew or slow cooking meat is doing. Just put your nose under the lid, smell the food that you can only finish in a few hours. You prepare yourself mentally while the water is already in your mouth.
The right charcoal
Making a low and slow dish requires a
charcoal that lasts, the quebracho (break the axe) charcoal from
Pittmaster or
Black ranch is ideally suited for low and slow. Because the pieces of charcoal are so extremely hard, they burn for an extra long time. Especially useful if your session starts early in the morning and doesn’t finish until late in the afternoon.
“You aint cooking or you’re lookin'”
Not too much peeping, especially when it’s cold and windy! Yes we know the temptation is great, but patience is a virtue. Because every time you open the lid of your kamado your delicious dish cools down and it takes a while before the inside of the kamado is warm again.
Dutch Oven
A typical low and slow dish is the stew. A
Dutch oven is a thick cast iron pan with a lid that retains the heat for a very long time. Ideal for making stews, you can even use it to make bread and other oven dishes such as cakes.
Prepare several courses?
Get ready! Plan ahead and start with the dish that has the longest cooking time and or lowest cooking temperature. Then do the dishes that are prepared a bit hotter and shorter on the bbq. The reason you do this is because it is easier to get the temperature up than down again.
Take is easy, prevent damage to your kamado
Winters are cold, and damp. Keep in mind that moisture that has been drawn into the ceramic of your kamado must first evaporate before you take the kamado to temperatures above 180 degrees. If you don’t do this and the temperature rises too quickly, the moisture absorbed by the ceramics will expand, and you guessed it, this will increase the risk of damage.
