BBQ bourbon/sugar=burn

[Vanessa]

Hi:
DH usually BBQ no problem. Recently I tried a recipe for my parents and very dissapointed. The chicken thighs maarinated in bourbon brown sugar ginger basically became black. The taste was fine but the precentation got an F. DH says its the sugar in the marinade. They get marinated then BBQ. What do you think???

[Ralph]

DH is right! Any sweet or sugar-based marinade (tomato sauce, wine/alcohol, molasses, etc.) will char if the grill is too hot or the meat is cooked too long.

DW & I actually like it that way - as you said, it tasted fine. To us, it gives us the illusion of crisped skin, particularly when using chicken.

Next time, either lower the heat, or keep the food pieces moving so they're not over-exposed to the heat.

[blazedog]

I'm not an expert but from what I've read the sugary/tomato based sauces are actually put on towards the very end of the cooking cycle for those reasons -- i.e. the burning of the sugar in them.

I would think you could watch them carefully and actually cook them over indirect heat -- the gas grills I'm familiar with have three independent controls so that you can put the food over a lower setting or an off setting for some things.

I think you can achieve the same thing with coals -- as least per the cooking shows I've seen.

I also think you would need to be very vigilant to avoid burning the outside.