Barbecue secrets revealed

The Newcombe family - Ben, his mum and his siblings - are the team behind the Barbeques Galore store at 175 High Street, Maitland. The family has held the business for decades, with Ben growing up cooking with and selling barbecues and now embarking on the mission to educate Aussies to use their barbecue grill for everything from their favourite meat cuts to roasts and beer can chicken, vegetable bakes, stir fries and even an array of desserts.

Ben's journey to Shush! was born from barbecue classes held on the first Wednesday of the month at their Maitland store and third Wednesday of each month at the family's Barbeques Galore Lake Haven store.

The classes had been held on and off over the years, but kicked up a notch in 2007 when Ben and his mum Lyn started teaching barbecue secrets to sold-out crowds each month. At the $35-a-person classes Ben demonstrates the principles of better barbecuing and sharing family secrets, with heaped plates of food coming off the barbecues to be shared among the punters.

The Newcombes shared their recipes on cards but punters were soon asking Ben to share more of his barbecue secrets. He was happy to oblige and Shush! was the result, with more books already in the works.

For Ben, it's all part of changing attitudes to barbecuing and broadening the dishes people cook on their barbecue.

"My job is to inspire and encourage people to use barbecues how they are meant to be used," Ben told GT.

"We are barbecue enthusiasts, we aren't qualified chefs, and that means our approach is about cooking techniques and educating people how to use their barbecue properly."

It was particularly important to Ben that the book focused on the basic techniques of barbecuing. The book is packed with cooking tips, barbecue care and maintenance, and more than 100 recipes. It includes everything from starters to mains to desserts, with easy step-by-step directions and cooking times. You can also see pictures of the final products - dishes were photographed at Lyn's family home at Maitland.

There is also advice for preparing the meat (which you can even buy at the Barbecues Galore Maitland store), the right marinades and rubs for different cuts of meat and even advice on the increasingly popular method of smoking meat on the barbecue.

But underpinning all the advice and recipes is Ben's mantra of using the grill on the barbecue and cooking with the hood down. In fact, he only has grills on his barbecue at home, and uses a barbecue plate liner for cooking things like eggs, chopped onions and pancakes which are not grill-friendly.

"The average Aussie tends to stick with what they have been brought up with, and what they know is cooking on a hotplate," he said.

"The grill allows juices and oil to drop down through the grill and hit the hot diffuser, then it smokes up through the food and gives that chargrilled taste. Most people cook with the hood up but I cook with the hood down to retain the heat, smoke and flavour."

Ben's advice centres on avoiding the two main mistakes people commonly make when barbecuing: cooking with the hood up and the tendency to continually turn the food.

"You'll save time, and money, when cooking with the hood down. Time, because it's quicker, and money, because you'll use less gas," he said.

"The meat will also taste better in a barbecue rather than in a pan or in an oven because the smoke created by the juices and oils dripping off the meat hits the hot diffuser, creating smoke, which penetrates the muscle mass, tenderising and infusing it with flavour.

"Every time you touch the meat you have moisture loss. Try to just touch it once, which traps in the moisture," Ben said.

Once you have mastered the basics, you can tackle Ben's recipes which even include breads and dampers (in flavours such as beer and French onion), crumbles and Christmas cakes.

"Most people don't think you can cook damper and cakes on the barbecue.

"You can cook cake and roast meat at the same time and I promise you the cake won't taste like meat," he said.

"I want to inspire people to cook differently on the barbecue. If I can educate people to cook better on a barbecue, then they are going to burn through their barbecue quicker and I get to see the customer more often," he joked.

Soon you could be cooking anything - and everything - on your grill, just as Ben does.

"It's hard to pick my favourite dish, I cook on the barbecue every night.

"My missus has it really good," Ben said with a laugh.

Shush! The cookbook that your mate or wife doesn't need to know about is out now, available at Barbeques Galore stores and select independent barbecue retail outlets. Visit shushbbqbook.com.au, facebook.com/shushbbq.

For more information on Barbeques Galore Maitland, and their free loyalty club (dubbed the ‘‘barbie team’’) which includes free gas refills, discounts, weekly email with recipes and an invitation to Ben’s cooking class, call 49331323, email glen@bbqgalore.net.au or visit facebook.com/BarbequesGaloreMaitland.