One of the most important things that you should consider in barbecuing is ensuring a well- aerated firebox. This will help you in sustaining the fire and avoiding full blaze. In order to do this, you need to open the exhaust or chimney vents on the firebox while continuously preserving the cooking chamber heat with fire. Remember that the air should have its way in, entering the fire up to the cooking chamber since it is hard to get proper airflow. This seemed to be very complex but still you can get the drill out and create an inch hole through the sides of the firebox.
Keeping a moderate temperature is another formula that contributes to a great and lip smacking barbeque. A low temperature and indirect heat should always be monitored. This will help in properly grilling the meat without having half cooked foods.
There is also a need to properly determine and identify the smoker. Regularly checking the temperature of spots on your grill is necessary. There are meats that taste good and are better and when cooked in high temperature. Bracing oneself with this kind of information is vital.
Purchasing a quality smoker is also a good option especially when you cook ribs. It would be a lot easier doing things on a quality and well built smoker. You may also use a water pan since this will aid you in controlling the heat in the smoking chamber. For added flavour, instead of using water you can pour wine or other beverages that are appealing to your taste buds. Another vital barbecue tip is to avoid putting frozen meats directly onto the smoker especially without defrosting the meat first. Another thing is to avoid poking holes in the meat. This has been prohibited for it diminishes and eliminates the nutrients from the juices. Moreover, meat should be properly cut.
Lastly, you need to identify what good barbecue is all about. This should mainly comprise of quality ribs, brisket, pork, chicken, seafood among others. Although, there are a lot of recipes and homemade cuisines especially made for barbecue, still formulating and experimenting your own barbecue recipe will make your barbecuing worthwhile. Give yourself time to perfect the said grilled meat. You can make use of a digital remote thermometer in doing this. You can also wrap it in a foil to seal its freshness. This way you will get the chance to taste different cuisines on different occasions.
About the Author
A lot more tips and good techniques will be revealed to you at this blog: http//barbecue-tips.info
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
How to Make an Apple Pie Healthier
We all love a warm, home-made piece of pie. If you are like me, perhaps you love decadent desserts a little too much.
But you don't have to cut pies out of your life, altogether. I have found that I can take some simple little steps with the recipe that makes a huge difference in the end. Often, the calories and fat grams are reduced just a fraction of the original recipe.
Let us learn some now. We will start using a traditional Apple Pie recipe. This recipe is fairly consistent with most that are available.
So let's analyze!
First, let's say that a serving is about a 1/8 of a pie. Perfect! That is all we really need of this sweet dessert.
Here are the original ingredients:
Crust:
2-1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup shortening or butter
¼ to ½ cup of ice cold water
Filling:
8 cups thinly sliced, cored and peeled tart apples (about 5-6 large apples)
1/2 cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. butter (melted)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (optional)
This comes to 506 calories and 29 grams of fat per serving, if we use all of the ingredients as they are.
I know you might blink and think that those numbers are for the entire pie, but you would be sadly mistaken. Those large, scary amounts are for one slice of apple pie. At that rate, you can have this pie...for dinner. That is really disappointing. Let's find a way to get this pie a little more reasonable.
1. Replace the butter or shortening with Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread (entire recipe). This will bring down the most of your fat content right here! There is butter in both the crust and filling, so this one step has major impact. You can use the butter substitute of your choice, but note the significant change.
Reduce 137 calories per serving and 15.6 fat grams per serving.
2. Replace sugar and brown sugar with Splenda No Calorie (entire recipe). This one is easily adjustable. You can also use the Splenda baking blend or just make your own blend of sugar. Try 3/4 Splenda and 1/4 sugar, and it will still give you the soft sugar flavor, without as many calories. You can still have the sweet- and keep your peace of mind.
Reduce 75 calories per serving.
3. Make only the top crust with original ingredients. I know- crust is fun. But instead of a pre-packaged dessert baked good, would you not rather have a delicious warm slice of apple pie - even if you only get half the crust. It would be the same amount of calories and you can think of it like a cobbler!
Reduce your recipe 191 calories per serving and 13 grams of fat per serving.
4. Make the top crust, replacing butter with Smart Balance Buttery Spread and sugar with Splenda no calories. Oh, we are on a roll now! This step is a huge impact on the final numbers.
Reduce 265 calories per serving and 20.8 g of fat per serving
If you combine all of the tips together (half crust on top, smart balance butter and No Calorie Splenda throughout) you will have a pie piece that is only 161 calories and 6.6 grams of fat per serving. The original pie 506 calories and 29 grams of fat per serving! So, get baking!
Find more great Light and Tasty Pie Recipes at Pie-Supply.com!
About the Author
My interest in pies began with learning that I was lactose intolerant. I found that there was one last ray of hope in my dairy-less world. Pies! I found that pie recipes were the easiest to manipulate and were often without dairy.
I also found that if you still substituted a few more ingredients- you could make them healthier, or sugar-free, or even vegan! This versatile little dessert became a hobby.
But you don't have to cut pies out of your life, altogether. I have found that I can take some simple little steps with the recipe that makes a huge difference in the end. Often, the calories and fat grams are reduced just a fraction of the original recipe.
Let us learn some now. We will start using a traditional Apple Pie recipe. This recipe is fairly consistent with most that are available.
So let's analyze!
First, let's say that a serving is about a 1/8 of a pie. Perfect! That is all we really need of this sweet dessert.
Here are the original ingredients:
Crust:
2-1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup shortening or butter
¼ to ½ cup of ice cold water
Filling:
8 cups thinly sliced, cored and peeled tart apples (about 5-6 large apples)
1/2 cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. butter (melted)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (optional)
This comes to 506 calories and 29 grams of fat per serving, if we use all of the ingredients as they are.
I know you might blink and think that those numbers are for the entire pie, but you would be sadly mistaken. Those large, scary amounts are for one slice of apple pie. At that rate, you can have this pie...for dinner. That is really disappointing. Let's find a way to get this pie a little more reasonable.
1. Replace the butter or shortening with Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread (entire recipe). This will bring down the most of your fat content right here! There is butter in both the crust and filling, so this one step has major impact. You can use the butter substitute of your choice, but note the significant change.
Reduce 137 calories per serving and 15.6 fat grams per serving.
2. Replace sugar and brown sugar with Splenda No Calorie (entire recipe). This one is easily adjustable. You can also use the Splenda baking blend or just make your own blend of sugar. Try 3/4 Splenda and 1/4 sugar, and it will still give you the soft sugar flavor, without as many calories. You can still have the sweet- and keep your peace of mind.
Reduce 75 calories per serving.
3. Make only the top crust with original ingredients. I know- crust is fun. But instead of a pre-packaged dessert baked good, would you not rather have a delicious warm slice of apple pie - even if you only get half the crust. It would be the same amount of calories and you can think of it like a cobbler!
Reduce your recipe 191 calories per serving and 13 grams of fat per serving.
4. Make the top crust, replacing butter with Smart Balance Buttery Spread and sugar with Splenda no calories. Oh, we are on a roll now! This step is a huge impact on the final numbers.
Reduce 265 calories per serving and 20.8 g of fat per serving
If you combine all of the tips together (half crust on top, smart balance butter and No Calorie Splenda throughout) you will have a pie piece that is only 161 calories and 6.6 grams of fat per serving. The original pie 506 calories and 29 grams of fat per serving! So, get baking!
Find more great Light and Tasty Pie Recipes at Pie-Supply.com!
About the Author
My interest in pies began with learning that I was lactose intolerant. I found that there was one last ray of hope in my dairy-less world. Pies! I found that pie recipes were the easiest to manipulate and were often without dairy.
I also found that if you still substituted a few more ingredients- you could make them healthier, or sugar-free, or even vegan! This versatile little dessert became a hobby.
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