Barbecuing with wine?

[Dogwalker]

Hotwine because you build them or anyone else who likes to barbecue. I had a wonderful piece of fish (artic char) while eating out,that had found its way onto the grill the other night. With a little lemon it was great!
My question is I know about cooking with wine, but can you also use it for barbecuing? The spicy, heavy sauces that are often used don't sit well with my stomach. Has anyone tried it on the barbee and if so how did it work out?
Also how successful can it be done on a charcoal grill?
Regards, Chuck

[hotwine]

Chuck, I hope I understood your question. We
serve wine with barbecue quite freqeuntly, with the type being dependent on the type of meat that is being grilled or smoked.
Our seasoning is a dry rub (which I've described elsewhere on the board), and I grill and smoke only with seasoned oak, rather than charcoal.

I have never tried basting any meat on the grill with wine. I think the wine would quickly become scorched, and quite likely ruin the meat.

Gil

[hotwine]

Just recalled that we did try marinating a sirloin in a Bordeaux a year or so ago, and I used the marinade to baste the steak while grilling. The beef was good, the wine was good, but the combination on the grill just didn't work. The wine turned bitter somehow, over the fire, and nearly ruined a good cut of beef.
Gil

[hotwine]

My foggy memory of the "basting" fiasco is slowly returning. The recipe called for blending about 1.5 cups of red wine with an amount of butter in a sauce pan over low heat, and reducing the mixture by half. Then marinating the beef in the reduction for at least two hours, and then grilling as usual, using the marinade for basting. Don't recall whose recipe it was, but the process of reducing the wine turned it bitter. We won't do THAT again; we think too highly of our beef, not to mention the Bordeaux, although it was a 3d tier wine.

[Dogwalker]

Thanks for the info Gil. Hope the memory jogging wasn't too painful. Maybe if I could get the bovine to drink a couple of gallons of vino it would stagger blindly into the barbecue pit and roast itself. Who knows it might be the world's first self-basting slab of beef.
Thanks, Chuck

[Thomas]

Hey Dogwalker--I don't barbecue with wine, but I do often give the meat a wine marinade.

[mrdutton]

I don't baste my beef on the bbq with the wine based marinade I use.

I throw the marinade out, dry off the surfaces of the beef and give it a good rub-down with a dry-rub like Morton's.

Never tasted a bitter flavor using that method!

Pan seared beef is a different story! However, I also don't use the wine marinade. I always throw that out. I pan sear my beef steak, finish it in the oven. Once finished and removed from the pan, I allow the meat to rest.

I then add wine to the pan, some previously sauteed mushrooms, a lot of toasted garlic and some shallots (sometimes I'll cast in a bit of red wine vinegar or a touch of balsamic). I allow the residual heat to cook this off a bit, put the pan back on the stove top and reduce by about 1/2 to 2/3's. Off the heat then, stir in some cold chunks of butter. Great sauce for the beef!

[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 08-10-2000).]

[chittychattykathy]

Yum!!!!!! I'm on my way to the store!

[Garbo]

Hey there! We BBQ all the time with wine. Have found no trouble using reds for red meat, but we tend to use lighter and fruitier wines or meritages. Also, a cookbook of mine recommends always "cooking" the marinade first, then cooling it before marinating the meat. Otherwise the alcohol will make the meat tough. If you are feeling lazy, Williams Sonoma has a great red wine sauce; you just add a few key ingredients.
As for fish/white meat, we've found good luck using dry vermouth/lemon/butter/olive oil, blended with herbs/spices of your choice. Horseradish works especially well on pork, dill for fish.
We never baste. Too much trouble. A little charcoal is good for the digestion.