However, there’s quite a few tips and many different tips that can help everyone, whether you’ve been barbecuing for years or just a few weeks. The best tips can ensure that you get the perfect steak or burger all while ensuring that your food is safe to eat and cooked as efficiently as possible. While having years of grilling over hot coals or burners can greatly help, many barbecue lovers and grillers can gain a lot from the tips in this article.
With enough time and experience barbecuing, many of these tips can eventually become common and second nature whenever you fire up your grill. Soon, not only will you get wonderful ribs, burgers and grilled veggies, but you’ll be tossing food on the grill and serving them up before you even know it. If you need any accessories or tools to help you improve on your grilling game, there’s a BBQ store in Vaughn that has everything you need and more!
1. Start your grill earlier
Preheating your grill before you actually start grilling can be one of the best first steps you can take. In order to grill efficiently, you need your barbecue to reach a specific high temperature first. By letting the heat reach that temperature first, your meat can start cooking from the moment it’s put onto the grates. The high heat immediately sears whatever it comes into contact with while the hot air inside the grill starts cooking the food from the inside out, even reducing sticking.
The preheated grill can also kill off any bacteria that might be lingering on the surface of the food. Like mentioned above, the heat is high enough to penetrate into the food as well, ensuring that whatever any potential health risks are safely removed before serving.
2. Brush oil onto the grill first
It’s also highly recommended that, once you’re ready to start grilling, you apply a bit of oil to the grate before putting your meat and veggies on it. When the heat cooks the food, it can stick to the surface its on, making any movements and flipping incredibly difficult without accidentally tearing off chunks. Not only can this ruin the grill marks many people strive to get, but it can also cause the torn bits of food to fall into the fire or burn to charred bits.
The oil you put on the grate acts as a barrier between the metal and the food, which makes it easier for the food to move without sticking. Any oil that isn’t used can act as a protective surface against rust and dirt; without it, rust can build up and stick to the food as it cooks, which when consumed, can pose health risks.
3. Stay near the grill while there’s food on it
With your grill lit and your meat and vegetables grilling, you might decide to step away for a minute or two to get something out of the fridge or pantry. However, if you do need something from inside your home, it’s a far better idea to ask someone else to do it for you.
Barbecuing often requires a high amount of heat to get the char that everyone loves. High heat combined with the fat and juices from whatever meat you’re grilling can drip onto the coals or burners and lead to flare-ups. If you’re gone for even a few moments when a flare up happens, any food that’s directly above it can get burnt and ruined.
4. Don’t limit yourself to just meat
As great as a freshly barbecued steak or hot dog is, there’s many more kinds of foods that you can put on a barbecue for a delicious dish. Many people new to barbecuing often default to simple burgers and hot dogs, eventually grilling steak and ribs with a bit more experience with the open flames. As much of a staple barbecued meat is, you can also try more exotic vegetables, fruits, breads and even some cheeses!
Often people turn to potatoes and tomatoes as a quick side dish for their steaks, and while that’s just as good, you can also try grilled zucchini, eggplants or even green onions. For desserts, you can grill up bananas, peaches and pineapple chunks to serve with ice cream. As long as you use skewers or a grill basket to make sure the food doesn’t slip through the grate, you can grill whatever your heart and stomach desires!
5. Don’t flip the meat early
But when it does come to burgers or steaks, the smell of the savoury seasonings and the meat itself can really make you hungry. As much as you would want to flip it to see if the other side’s cooked yet or pressing down to cook it faster, don’t do that! Your steak or burgers might not have fully cooked on the other side and flipping it early can actually cause them to tear. Pressing them down can also cause any juices inside to leak out. So, instead, chat with your family and friends or have a drink. Your patience will pay off soon!
Takeaway
With these tips, grilling will become one of the easiest things to do during the summer. Before you know it, you’ll be making all sorts of mouth-watering steaks and ribs for everyone at your table. As a little bit of extra advice, always use a meat thermometer and cook to internal temperatures. You may lose a drop or two of meat juices but it’ll still be incredibly juicy and safer to boot!