Butcher's knot for grillers
Butcher's twine is for all grillers what cable ties and duct tape are for the DIY enthusiast. With its help, the piece of meat is given a uniform shape and therefore cooks evenly during grilling. If you want to stuff meat, poultry or fish, you can use butcher's twine to ensure that everything holds together firmly. The twine is also suitable for portioning vegetables and tying herb bouquets. And what would a rolled roast be without butcher's twine?
Meat is idiosyncratic. Logically, because it is a natural product. One side is often a little thicker than the other. In addition, meat contracts when cooked and changes its shape. This makes it difficult to ensure an even, tender result for the whole piece when grilling. To prevent this, butcher's twine is used skillfully in combination with the right knots.
Strong and heat resistant
This red and white thread - also known as kitchen twine, butcher's twine or roasting twine - is not your everyday twine. Made from pure cotton, it is very difficult or even impossible to tear and only starts to burn when the temperature in the grill rises above 400 °C. It never melts due to warmth and heat, which is important when dealing with food. Polyester fibres are a completely different story, as they lose their shape and disintegrate at temperatures as low as 250 °C. Butcher's twine is mostly two-coloured red and white, which is practical because it is easier to find when the dish is cooked and is to be served without the threads. Forgetting these would be a fatal mistake that could lead to disqualification at a grill and BBQ championship, for example.
The art of knots
You can clearly see the professional knotting skills in a rolled roast that has been tied by a butcher. This has nothing to do with the everyday tying of shoelaces, but with traditional butcher's knots. The threads lie parallel to each other and the knots are neatly lined up. There are different techniques to achieve this perfect result. We asked butcher Klaas Dijkstra to show us and you how to use butcher's twine sensibly. Once you get the hang of it, it's a simple method that even grilling professionals like to use. Like Melanie and Andre Molendyk, for example, who wrote the recipes for "Bunte Bentheimer" in this issue. For those who would rather try out the knotting technique with a nice piece of beef, we have combined the instructions for the knotting skills with a corresponding recipe. Have fun tying knots and grilling!
The butcher's knot in four steps
(Dutch technology):
Place the string under the rolled roast, cross the string over it, make a loop with the loose end and pull the end of the string through the loop from below.
Tie a knot at the outer end of the thread and pull on the other end of the thread that leads to the spool of thread to tighten the loop around the meat.
Tie another knot on top to secure it and cut off the excess threads.
Continue working at intervals of about 2 cm until the entire piece of meat is tied, making sure that all knots are in a row.
Chimichurri roulade
Ingredients for 4 persons):
• 1 bavette/flank steak, approx. 1.5 kg
For the chimichurri:
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½ bunch of parsley
• ½ large onion
• 1 red pepper
• 2 tbsp oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 10 tablespoons boiling water
• 75 ml white wine vinegar
• 200 ml neutral oil
Preparation:
For the chimichurri, finely chop the garlic, parsley, onion and pepper. Mix with oregano and season with salt and pepper. Pour in the boiling water and add the vinegar and oil. Mix everything well. Place the meat on a work board and spread the chimichurri on top. Roll up to form a rolled roast and secure with butcher's twine - see step-by-step instructions.
First grill the roast over direct heat and sear it all over. Then place it in the indirect grill area and close the grill lid. Grill until a core temperature of 50 °C (medium rare to medium) is reached. Then remove the rolled roast from the grill and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
Then cut the meat into slices and serve immediately.
