BBQ grilling is a regular activity for family and friends, especially during weekends and holidays. This is why BBQ grilling tips will always come in handy for everyone. Here are a few tips that you need to know in order to make the task easier than ever.
1. Preparing the Grill
Never reuse the plate that you used to place raw meat. Wash every plate and utensil that you used to handle raw meat for hygienic purposes. If you like to use charcoal for grilling then you need to line the inside bottom of your grill with aluminum foil before putting the briquettes. This will help you clean up the griller once the process gets done. The only problem with this is that there will not be enough oxygen when lighting the charcoal because the holes are covered up.
Having a fan by your side should easily fix the problem. Keep a bottle of water nearby in case the fire becomes uncontrollable. Better be safe than suffer accidents. When using a smoker, do not keep on opening the cover in order to maximize the heat gathered inside. If you are wary about the meat’s condition then just remember the old saying that goes “If you’re looking, it ain’t cooking.”
2. Preparing the Meat
If you want to have a crispy and savory skin when grilling chicken, then apply some butter or oil on the skin along with some seasoning before putting it on the griller. The grease will help cook the skin but will help avoid it from getting burnt. When cooking steak, keep in mind that lean steak cuts are tougher to cook when well done. They are much designed for medium rare or rare cooking. Take advantage of marbling to make the meat juicier.
Marbling is the process of melting small bits of fat when cooking so that its oil will add up to the meat flavor. This is why there are steak cuts containing fats in between the meat. Bacteria can easily gather in raw meat, so you should not leave seasoned meat out of the refrigerator if you are still not about to grill the meat. When thawing, it is advised to take the meat out of the catering freezer and keep it in the refrigerator overnight.
You can also choose to submerge it in water as long as it is not seasoned. Avoid piercing the meat when grilling because the flavor and seasoning inside the meat could spill out during the grilling process leaving the cooked meat with fewer flavors. When grilling vegetables, coat them with butter and sprinkle a bit of salt before wrapping them with an aluminum foil. This will securely cook the vegetables on the griller without worrying about having them overcooked.
3. Proper Grilling and the Marinade
Apply barbecue or tomato-based sauces that contain sugar in the last minutes of grilling. This will avoid blackening of meat but still retain the flavor that you want to achieve out of the sauce. A lot of people love to munch on rare or medium rare steaks but the same concept of grilling cannot be applied for hamburger patties. Burgers should always be well done because bacteria could be present in ground beef, it is not advisable to leave it half-cooked.
There are different BBQ Grill sauces and marinades available in the market these days. However, you should not rely on them alone in order to have tasty barbecues because you would still need the help of natural spices and condiments to compliment the packaged sauce or marinade. Salt will eat up moisture so it is not advised to add salt to the meat while it is being grilled to avoid it from getting tough and dry. There are no set standards when it comes to marinades and flavorings for a barbecue, so feel free to experiment until your desired flavor is achieved.
Featured photo credit: Hamilton Beach via hamiltonbeach.com
