At the end of the day, after the yard work has been completed, it's time to relax over the grill preparing some really fine barbecue.  Often, preparing the best barbecue means obtaining the absolute best, freshest cuts of meat possible.  It can be hamburgers not steaks, or chicken not lobster.  Many times it's the techniques that make even a less desirable piece of meat into a tender, delicious morsel.

Today, we wanted to talk about how to get the most out of your meat, grill and outdoor cooking experience through glazing your meat.

Before we get into the details, glazing IS NOT basting, but is done using a sweet barbecue sauce to produce a beautiful glaze prior to serving.  That having been said, let's continue...

Using a pastry brush and over low heat, glaze all sides of your meat 30 minutes before serving. Click For Larger Image

When we glaze our meats, we use a small pastry brush (usually) or other bbq brush and apply a thin coat of barbecue sauce to all surfaces of the meat.  The barbecue sauce we use usually consists of a high concentration of sugars/corn syrups.  We do not use a marinade to glaze the meat.

Many folks, maybe even most, do not glaze the meat as it requires more ingredients (if you are preparing your own sauce) and time. Keep in mind that we ARE NOT talking about drowning the meat in sauce like you might find at a restaurant. 

What we ARE talking about is applying a thin layer of sweet barbecue sauce on the surface of the meat and allowing it to "set" or become tacky to the touch.  Glazing  the meat is usually performed once the pit/grill has subsided from its high temperatures and you are about 30 minutes away from serving. If you glaze too soon, then you risk the possibility of burning, caramelizing or blackening the glaze (because of the sugars/tomatoes in the sauce and the high heat) which you will find detrimental to your efforts.  Once the glaze has a dull shine and/or tackiness to the surface then you are ready to serve.

What to glaze? You would probably choose to glaze most anything that is barbecued (cooked low and slow over moderate temperatures) such as pork ribs, chicken, ham, brisket, pork butt and tenderloins (when barbecued).

A glaze will do several things for you:

• Make the appearance of the meat shiny.
• Add some flavor to the outside of the meat.
• Add a thickness to the outside of the meat ... often enhancing the "Bark" of the meat.

When not to Glaze:

• You would not want to glaze steaks, chops or pulled pork, or veggies.
• Any other meat which you are grilling directly over high heat.

Glazing should be limited to one coating per surface.  Don't try more as it will become a gooey mess and not set up properly.  Again, glazing is a lot about show and a little about flavor.  Judges have come to expect it since one of the categories is "appearance", while family and friends will certainly take note of your "job well done!". 

Making your own?  Try such sauces that might include any of the following:  honey, maple sugar, brown sugar, fruits and juices. (See our sauce recipe below)

Recommended glazes we use:

Enjoy!

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SHOW OFF YOUR UNIQUE BARBECUE'N PIT

Over the many years we've seen literally thousands of barbecue pits of all shapes and sizes.  We thought it would be fun to assemble photos of some of the more unique pits into a photo album for your enjoyment. 

Additionally, we would like to offer our readers the opportunity to place their UNIQUE barbecue pits into the photo album as well.  If you have a truly unique barbecue pit that you are proud of and would like us to include it in our Photo Album of Unique and Classy BBQ Pits send us a picture.  Feel free to add your name to the photo so we know whose it is.

Do you have a photo of your unique cooker and want us to add it to our collection?  Send it as an attachment to info@nottingham.com Click here to email us your cooker photo!

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