Grilling is easy, but truly barbecuing is an art involving technique, even if you’re just cooking beef barbecue recipes like hamburgers! When you’re barbecuing up your favorite recipe, you’ll need to make choices on what sort of meat to buy, what thickness to use, whether to marinade or dry rub, what condiments to add, how long to cook and how to get that perfect texture.

Note that, differences aside, many pit bosses have the same standards when it comes to technique, so listen up to catch their secrets to a good BBQ.

barbecue recipes beef
“I happen to think burgers, fries and shakes work in any economy,” says grill master Bobby Flay, author of a new cookbook called “Bobby Flay’s Burgers, Fries & Shakes” and owner of three Bobby’s Burger Palaces in New York and New Jersey.

He adds that, when cooking up your favorite beef barbecue recipes, you’ll probably want to use a fatty meat like ground chuck, at least 20% fat for a “juicy, flavorful burger.” He advises keeping it simple in terms of seasoning, using just salt and pepper. When forming patties for your barbecue recipes beef, he recommends using six ounces of chuck to form 3/4-inch thick patties. “Make a depression in the center of each burger with your thumb,” he advises, which will prevent “flying saucer-shaped burgers.”

Never, ever press the burger flat with a spatula! “All those little things like making a well (indentation in the middle) add up to the good habits of a good burger,” he said. “Good habits make good food. It’s so much more gratifying to do it with good technique.”

“If you’re looking, you’re not cooking,” says Nelson Colwell, an award-winning pit master from Chesapeake, North Carolina. Despite the temptation to micromanage your burgers, grilling with the lid open increases your cooking time and leads to drier burgers, he says.

barbecues propane
Use an internal thermometer to read that the meat is up to 160, the safe temperature for eating. In your beef barbecue recipes, always go for 80% lean, which leads to juicier burgers than the ultra-lean. Unlike barbones Bobby Flay, Colwell appreciates a good seasoning, using two tablespoons of mustard, one tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce, 1/2 cup of finely diced onion, one egg, salt and freshly ground pepper.

For the best flavor, a barbecues charcoal can produce a distinctive “grilled” taste, although propane barbecues are more convenient during the week. When preparing a charcoal meal, he suggests building up different zones on your grill, piling some up high for a “hot zone,” a medium size in the middle and an empty corner to prevent burning.

If you’re new to beef barbecue recipes, then a good place to start is www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com, where you’ll find a helpful grilling chart, with estimated cook times for all types of ribs BBQ recipes. You can also get preparation tips and get an idea on what is suitable for dry rub and what is suitable for marinade.

You’ll also get hints on what kind of beef to buy at the store; which cut, which size and which grade. While you’re there, you can learn how to make Garlic-Thyme Steak, Sweet Hawaiian Mini-Burgers or Steak and Grilled Ratatouille Salad.

rib BBQ recipes
While beef has received much criticism from the health community, there are still many benefits to eating this type of meat. Rich in essential nutrients, there are, in fact, 29 cuts of beef with less than 10 grams of fat.

“Sorry little Johnny… the charcoal ash isn’t quite white yet” just doesn’t cut it. Click, poof, hot, cook. Gas (propane) is great.

TheNetGourmet.com strongly endorses using propane. Unless you have time after a busy day a work to wait for the coals to get to that perfect temperature, gas is the way to go. Let the purists stand around waiting. We’d rather eat.