Anyway part of the Xmas lunch was Chicken thighs that had been marinating in a wet marinate overnight to feed 5 adults and 3 kids.
So he took a while to heat his coals, was using hotshots and they are a pretty big briquette so took a while to get fired up, I suggested he buy a chimney as they will light quicker than just being heaped in the Kettle. He had a Weber Compact kettle but it did the job well.
I just watched what he did and he was going to spread the hot coals all over the charcoal grate so i suggested that he banked up the coals a bit to provide a cooler safety area of the grill and pre-cook the chicken on the cool side till they began to brown a bit then place over the coals for a final char. He said he didn't ever seen that done and will do that in future as he reckoned it's the best chicken he ever cooked and so did the kids, they noticed a difference. His wife however questioned if they were cooked through enough as they weren't black enough as usual lol.
So just by suggesting rather than taking over gave him a much pleasing result and he was stoked. He said he takes advice in BBQ from those who know a bit more as he hasn't a lot of experience in charcoal cooking only for roasts.
It 's great when some people listen and learn, let them do it themselves so they know how to do it next time and makes a lot of difference to their own family BBQs.
Just a few simple techniques that I had to learn myself, mostly from this forum that makes a huge difference in the results as before that, any meat was good as long as it was black
but I can actually see the meat I cook these days. I'll get him over to my place soon to show him a few more simple techniques to help him enjoy the Charcoal experience much more.
One rule is, don't be a know it all and be subtle about it, say things like "I've found over the years that if you do......it just makes life a bit better and gives a good result, have you seen this done and you want to give it a try?" if they yeah mate, then make them perform the technique so they understand the reason behind the process. If they say yeah, nah, been doing this for years, let 'em go and shut up!!
Never take over!! I've found that teaching a simple technique such as a reverse sear technique is a light bulb turning moment for a BBQ friend if they've never experienced it before. It's important that they understand the process and why.
Have you ever helped out a mate with BBQ technique? what technique and how did they go with it?
Hope everyone is having an awesome BBQ season.
brumby33