Direct vs Indirect?

Stuart · April 2000

Can I get an explanation as to the differences between direct and indirect cooking in the egg?[p]Thanks, Stuart

Grumpa · April 2000

Stuart,[p]Simply put direct is the food on the cooking grate directly over the coals. Indirect would be inserting a device such as firebricks, pizza stone, plate setter or drip pan between the food and the coals. I know this is a simple answer to your question and much more elaboration will be offered by others.

Char-Woody · April 2000

Stuart, Bob is correct! The indirect is used more for long term cooks such as Boston Butt or Brisket, altho both can be done direct. I did chicken quarters and breasts indirect tonight at 300 to 350 degrees without charring. Nice golden ti dark brown and juicy interior. [p]And you can do em direct. The drip pans either suspended under the grill, or placed on the grill and then another grill positioned above the first one so the meats have a water or liquid in the pan to absorb the direct heat of the fire.[p]Another method is either the use of firebricks or the BGE ceramic "plate sitter" which can be inverted to hold a grill or setting upright for a pizza cook. It is designed to match the fire-ring perfectly for support.[p]The uses of all three are quite variable from technique to techniqe and recipe.[p]Cheers..C~W[p]

Tim M · April 2000

<p />Stuart,[p]Here is a make-shift drip pan that you can use to cook indirect. Its a double boiler type drip pan and the water helps keep the drippings from burning in the pan - yuck. Going indirect, from either adding ceramic or metal or this drip pan, your basically stopping the infared radiation from the fire reaching the food (the heat we feel from the sun is an example). The object that blocks the radiation is going to get hot and transmit the heat on to the food in time - increasing that time is the ceramics job, it heats slower than metal will and won't pass along the heat as well. [p]Going indirect allows the heat rolling around the food to cook it so it takes longer since your reducing the infared radiation, you can compensate by increasing the dome temp of those swirling gasses and cook at higher temps without burning the food as quickly.[p]Tim -- better cooking through science
[ul][li]--Tim's BGE cookbook & pics ---[/ul]

Dr. Chicken · April 2000

Tim M,
Very nice Tim. Very nicely presented & explained too![p]Dr. C

Nature Boy · April 2000

Stuart,
As always, the other previous responses have provided you with great info. [p]A couple notes on indirect that might help. When you cook indirect, you get the benefits of an oven, along with the benefits of cooking over wood/smoke. Very even browning, and thanks to the moisture retention of the egg, juicy results. Another advantage to indirect is that you don't need to constantly tend to the cook. Leaving humpty closed and maintaining your temps are your toughest duties. Finishing up direct will help if you like a crusty exterior. When using indirect, you can cook at much higher temps, as you don't have the intense direct heat from the coals. Chicken, Ribs, Brisket, Butts, Roasts are some of the things that work well indirect. Hope I didn't repeat too much of what the others said!![p]NB[p]

Direct vs Indirect?

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