It’s almost grilling season again! And, let me tell you, Bob, this year it can’t come soon enough. I am ready to stop heating up the house with the electric guzzling stove and move this party outdoors.
I know lots of people grill all year long, but I personally like to savor the season by making it a warm weather sort of deal. It’s like a delayed-gratification sort of thing.
1. Clean the grill
Before the season gets started, I usually go out and give my grill a good cleaning. I could do it in the fall when it is time to “put it to bed” for the winter, but honestly, I don’t feel like it. I usually up to my neck in harvesting and canning, so I just cover it up and wait till spring. I usually heat up the barbie {I really just wanted to say that} before I clean it. It loosens any grime, so that I don’t have to put so much back into the project. After I warm it up, I grab a bbq brush, a small bowl of oil, some tongs and paper towel. I loosen the grime with the brush. We typically brush between each cook-out, so it’s not like there is a ton of crap on the grill. Then, I dip some paper towel in the oil and use the tongs to spread the oil across the grill. It shines ‘er up, and gives me a nice non-stick coating to start the season with.
2. Preheat the grill
I always preheat my grill for 10 minutes or so before I even think about adding the food. Otherwise, I run the risk of drying out the meat–and having a Lampoon’s Christmas turkey on my hands.
3. Stay close, but don’t touch
If it is meat I am cooking, I am really, really strict about not flipping it AT ALL for the first 3-5 minutes. That way, it doesn’t stick and come apart, and I have found that I get a nicely seared piece of meat that way. Presentation matters, afterall. 🙂
4. Safety first
I usually bring out two dishes when I bbq. One for the meat while it is raw, and a new CLEAN plate for the cooked meat. That way, I don’t run the risk of lurking raw meat juices mingling with my cooked meat. I don’t know about you, but diarrhea after a cookout is really a buzz-kill.
5. Food prep
As far as prep goes, I try to marinate my meats first for at least 8 hours {except fish}. It seems to add a little moisture to the cooking process, and really enhances the flavor. Some purists are non-marinators. I support whatever decision you make.
6. Testing for doneness
If you are worried about food safety, you can grab a meat thermometer and test your meat before it is done. Testing with a thermometer rather than cutting it open to visually inspect it means less of those moisture providing juices will escape. Also, I have always allowed my meat to rest for 10 minutes or so before serving. I do it because I read it somewhere a long time ago, and went with it. I have since read a mythbuster on allowing to rest. So, I guess scientifically speaking, you don’t need to. Habits die hard, though, people. Habits die hard.
7. Baste with thick or sugary sauces toward the end of cooking
I know this seems counter intuitive, but basting throughout the cooking process means that sauce {potentially with sugar that can burn} will drip down into the flames and cause bursts of fire called hot spots. Those stinkin’ hot spots can give your meat a tough, burnt exterior really quickly. Try rubbing on the sauce in the final minutes of cooking. The flavor will be there, and you won’t have made a big fire pit out of your BBQer.
Now all I have to do is convince the HH that the BBQ is his job, and sit back and sip lemonade while he cooks dinner. 🙂
~Mavis
Need some recipe inspiration? Check out my full list of BBQ recipes HERE.
Laura says
You might not have all the ingredients with you there now, but next time you get carrots with beautiful green tops like those, you might want to try carrot top pesto. Have you tried making that before? It doesn’t taste like basil, but with the addition of pine nuts or walnuts, some cheese, olive oil, and salt, you’ve got a nice parsleyesque pesto for pasta or bread. At any rate, if I am able to use every scrap of the more expensive farmer’s market produce, it makes me feel better about my purchase. 🙂
Jo says
I just bought my first grill and so far the chicken breasts are turning out hard and dry. What do you marinate them with when you cook? The only thing I’ve successfully grilled is asparagus and that was heavenly.
Cristina Sorina says
Chicken breasts are very fickle. I usually go for boneless skinless chicken thighs and they honestly keep their juiciness much better and don’t dry out. If you have to use chicken breast make sure you marinate it really well. Flip it only once and baste the side that is face up with more marinade. Make sure you don’t over cook, if you have a meat thermometer make sure to take those babies off the grill once they reach 170 degrees farenheit internally, don’t leave them on any longer than you have to. I also let my meat rest covered for ten or so minutes. Then enjoy! Hope this helps 🙂
Carrie says
I grill chicken breasts all the time. I marinate them in Italian dressing for at least 4 hours (sometimes 24 hours). I have a gas grill and will preheat it on high (700 F) for 10 minutes then bump it down to 500F when I put the chicken on. Flip at 10 minutes and then remove after another 10 minutes. I also like my chicken breasts smaller so if I get a pack with huge ones I will cut them in half. I also let them rest for 5 minutes before cutting. I find the “sacrifice breast” (when I cut for doneness) is always drier than the others. Hope this helps! It takes practice. And I agree with the other comment that thighs are better for grilling but I dislike the greasiness of chicken thighs so I use breasts.
Mavis, what is on the chicken in the top photo? It looks heavenly!
Wynne says
If they’re hard and dry, that means you’re overcooking them. Are you worried about not cooking them all the way through? If so, turn the gas down (or move your coals to one side and use the other) so the inside has time to catch up with the outside. If you think this won’t give you enough sear and/or char, preheat really well, start the chicken on the hot side, and then move it to the cooler to finish cooking. Also, I second the recommendation about the meat thermometer. If you take them off the grill at the right temp, they’ll be tender and juicy. There will also be a little carryover cooking to elevate them the last few degrees.
KC says
Note that most of the other tests that “mythbuster” cites indicate that, yes, resting does have a positive effect on juiciness – potentially smallish, but still a positive effect.
Obviously, resting things until they’re cold and unappetizing just to optimize internal moisture is not going to be a winning move, and you can take your pick on how long to rest things or not to rest things at all (and indeed, if someone’s cutting single bites off a piece of meat, it’ll likely be well-rested by the time they get to the end of the steak even if it got served straight onto their plate!). Just pointing out that the mythbuster says he “proved” something very different from what his sources actually say.,,
Kathy Gardner says
Be careful with wire brushes. There have been incidents where a wire bristle came off, got onto the food and swallowed. Very bad!