Free Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons by Colleen Rush, Gary Wiviott Page A

refrigerate meat while it marinates.
    • If you plan to baste with your marinade or use it as a condiment, set aside ¼ to ½ cup of the marinade before you pour it over the raw meat to prevent cross-contamination.
     

DEAR STUDENT,
     
    YOU’VE LEARNED A FEW THINGS, GRASSHOPPER. AT THIS POINT, YOU SHOULD understand the fundamentals of building a clean-burning fire in your cooker and maintaining it for at least two to three hours. Hopefully you learned something about the chemistry of a marinade and how to make your own from scratch, too. You’ve laid a foundation of low and slow skills on which you will build with each lesson in the program.
    Notice that I am not giving you a roster of sauces and condiments for your smoked chicken. You’ve learned enough already, and making barbecue sauce is a task you’ll take on in Lesson #2 (page 104)–when you fully understand when and how to use one. In the meantime, I figure you probably have a favorite go-to sauce. If you need to douse your beautifully smoked chicken in something, use that one. Or try the Alabama White Sauce (page 105)–it’s like an un-barbecue sauce.
    Right now, I want you to practice more cooks and let what you’ve learned so far sink in slowly. Do it enough times so that it becomes second nature to you.
    Congratulations,
    Gary Wiviott

LOW & SLOW QUIZ: LESSON 1
     
    There is no grade curve for this quiz. If you get more than two answers wrong, re-read chapters 1 through 3 and complete the first cook at least two more times before proceeding to Lesson #2.
    1. Every time you open the cooker for no good reason, the stabilized temperature drops and the cook time is extended by . . .
    a. 5 to 10 minutes
    b. 15 to 20 minutes
    c. 30 minutes
    d. 1 hour
    2. Why is it important to use three sheets of loosely rolled newspaper to light the chimney starter?
    3. Charcoal briquettes burn faster and cleaner than any other type of charcoal. True or False?
    4. Most barbecue “experts” recommend soaking wood in water to extend its burn time, but adding wet wood to a fire also . . .
    a. causes the wood to smolder and produce tar
    b. decreases the temperature in the cooker
    c. smothers the fire
    d. all of the above
    5. What should you do if thick, dark smoke is billowing out of the cooker after you close it?
    6. Where are the “hot zones” on a cooker?
    a. in the middle of the cooking grate
    b. around the edges of the cooking grate
    c. the region on the grate closest to the lit charcoal or hot airflow
    d. at the top of the cooker, where hot air rises
    7. If smoked chicken has a pinkish tinge under the skin, it’s probably undercooked. True or False?
    8. The basic oil to acid ratio in a marinade is . . .
    a. 2:1
    b. 3:1
    c. 1:1
    d. depends on the type of meat
    Answers: 1) b. 2) Packed paper smolders. The loose rings allow sufficient airflow to fully light the paper and ignite the charcoal. 3) False! Briquettes contain many chemicals. Natural lump charcoal burns cleaner and faster. 4) d. 5) Open the cooker until the clouds of dark smoke die down. When lit and unlit charcoal mix, it takes at least 5 to 10 minutes for the charcoal to catch and stop billowing smoke. 6) c. 7) False. Properly cooked, low and slow meat often has a smoke ring (page 54). 8) a.

4.
     
    LESSON N°2 BRINED CHICKEN
     

DEAR STUDENT,
     
    SO YOU’VE LEARNED THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON: HOW TO MAKE A CLEAN, non-smoldering fire in your cooker. It’s a vital step, but please don’t skip ahead to another, tastier-sounding dinner because you think you’ve mastered all the necessary skills. You have not. If you completed Lesson #1 and continued practicing the cook with different marinades, I don’t doubt that you’re tiring of chicken. The solution to your poultry ennui is in chapter 10: Smokin’ Leftovers—a collection of my favorite recipes using smoked meat.
    You still have much to learn. In this dinner, you will cook brined, air-dried chicken in almost exactly the same way as you cooked the