How do you prepare dishes on a ceramic BBQ?
All of available cooking techniques on a kamado
Kamado BBQs are known for their diverse character. It's a barbecue, grill, pizza oven, and steamer. All under a single ceramic lid. All of these possibilities are awesome, but in practice, barbecuing proves to be a bit of a challenge. That's because you need to use different cooking methods for all of the different preparation methods. There's a difference in the amount of charcoal you need, the temperature, and how to place the grill rack inside of the BBQ.
Grill directly or indirectly
Searing, frying, or steaming
You can grill directly at high temperature form 175 to 230°C. Fill the fire bowl of the kamado with charcoal up to the edge. Both ventilation grids are completely or partially open and place the grill rack directly above the fire. Let the grill rack heat up well before you put anything on it. Watch out when you open the lid of the hot kamado, because the oxygen can cause flames together with the charcoal.
Slow cooking
Indirect grilling or slowcooking doesn't offer instant satisfaction, you need to take your time for it. In order to reach a temperature between 120 and 175 degrees, you need to fill the fire bowl for about two thirds with charcoal. The lowest ventilation slider needs to be slightly open, while the daisy wheel needs be almost fully open. You can adjust the daisy wheel to accurately set the temperature. Use a ceramic disk in between the fire and the grill rack to prevent heat from directly reaching your food.
Smoking and oven effects
Smoking and steaming
Do you want to smoke a salmon? Or served up a smoky chicken? For this, you need the smoker setting. You can warm or cold smoke ingredients between 60 and 150 degrees. This means you need to fill about half of the fire bowl with coals. Once the charcoal has reached the right temperature, you need to sprinkle some smoking sawdust on top of it to create smoke inside of the kamado. Both the lower ventilation slider and daisy wheel need to be nearly closed if you want to smoke ingredients on your kamado BBQ.
Baking pizza or bread
To turn your kamado into a stone oven, you need a pizza stone or a bread pan, grill rack, and ceramic plate. Bake in a ceramic BBQ at at least 230°C. Fill the fire bowl of the kamado with charcoal for two-thirds. Is the charcoal burning? Place the ceramic plate, the grill rack, and then the pizza stone or bread pan on the grill rack. The pizza stone or bread pan have to heat up well, so your dish won't stick. Open all ventilation grids almost completely.
