CONNOISSEUR:How do you know when a piece of meat is cooked? Prod it - with a finger or a meat probe, writes Hugo Arnold
THE IDEA OF using the barbecue as an instrument of education was not really what I had in mind. Top of the wish list was cooking a juicy mackerel on it, or even a whole salmon, given the season. Seared meat was probably next on the list, butterflied leg of lamb marinated with whole fennel seeds, lots of garlic and paprika being a perennial favourite. Part of the mystery of cooking lies in what you don't see happening, either in the pot or the oven. But on a barbecue, all is to play for. With rudimentary heat and a pair of tongs, there it all is, happening before your eyes. It was with this in mind that I skipped from teaching the skills of fairy cakes and cookies (all now thoroughly mastered) to the skills required to cook meat, fish and vegetables.
One of the oft-repeated questions on cooking is: "How do you know something is done?" To which the chef's response is usually, and unhelpfully, when it is cooked. With a barbecue you can start to explore this with ease.
Touch the end of your nose. Now push gently. That is what a steak will feel like when it is cooked medium-rare. And so I found myself holding an impromptu cooking lesson for half a dozen children.
We started with grilled vegetables - peppers, aubergines, red onions and courgettes. Having built our fire to a glowing grey, these did not take long to cook and were transferred to a bowl with some olive oil, garlic and thyme. Each child then chose between whole mackerel or steak, and having established how they wanted the steaks done, the squeals of delight and excitement began as fat hit the coals, creating firebombs.
But we prodded along the way, too, touching steaks and noses to try and establish what was going on with our meat. To this we added the extra information provided by a probe, looking for the magic figure of between 52 and 57 degrees to signal what we hoped for - juicy, tender meat. Remember, meat tends to go on cooking once it leaves the heat source, going up by one or two degrees more. You will need to experiment to see what works for you. And keep in mind that if you are using a probe on a roast, the temperature climb will be even more pronounced if it comes out of the oven and then rests on top of a warm cooker in a well-heated kitchen.
Fish needs to be cooked to 52 degrees, so we used the probe on it, too, but to be honest, it is easier to pull the flesh from the bone and see that it is flaking, rather than using a probe.
Camp fire and barbecue cooking must involve the essential safety aspects associated with meat cooking. Raw meat, limited washing facilities and, inevitably, a heightened sense of hunger can lead to dangerous shortcuts being taken. With this in mind, we ran through the basic procedures, resorting to a bowl of water to replace the kitchen tap.
Although everything was cooked to the same specification, a tasting session revealed marked differences between the meat, which was a useful way to explain how difficult this area of cooking is. Steaks can all look the same, but cook up differently, for no apparent reason. And just to prove the point, mine ended up somewhat tougher than the others. If you want to experiment, a digital probe costs around €20. harnold@irish-times.ie