Summer Grilling Tips

It?s almost summer ?? time for swimming, camping and outdoor grilling. Three out of four U.S. households own a barbecue grill and families grill out over 3 billion times a year _[1]. One of the most rapidly rising competition circuits in the country is competative bbq championships. While watching one can be facinating and you can actually learn a few pointers for your own grill, most of us are nowhere near that level of bbq expertise. Like any other cooking method, it requires practice and know how.

Prepare the Surface
Before you start cooking, mist your grill top with a nonstick cooking spray. This should stop your meats from sticking to the grill. Each time you allow your meats to tear or rip you lose valuable moisture that keeps your steak, chicken etc tender.

Be Patient
Wait for the grill heat to adjust before you start cooking. The variation in temperatures will result in dried or burned food. If you work with a charcoal grill, make sure your coals are entirely gray before you put anything on to cook. Not only does this allow more even cooking, but it also gives time for the fluid (and fluid taste) to burn off.

Speaking of Lighter Fluid?cooking with it can be fine?or not so fine. ?Depending on how long you allow the fluid to burn off and how much you use, it can cause your food to taste odd; unlike grills which don?t require it. On the other hand, if you prefer a charcoal grill, opting to go without lighter fluid can be a trial in patience since it?s nearly impossible to get going without it.

Preparing the Meats
You should not try to cook meat on the grill if it is still frozen; even partially defrosted. Allow your meats to thaw in the refrigerator a day or two before hand (depending on how cold your fridge is) or by using the microwave on the defrost setting right before cooking. Grilling Myth: steak cooks best when it is at room temperature. Never leave raw meat of any kind sitting out to warm up ? any extended time outside of refrigeration can create bacteria growth.

Get Cookin?
Always have two obviously separate plates or platters when grilling; one for uncooked meat and one for cooked. Never use the same plate to store both because you can cross contaminate your food. The same precaution should be used for your utensils as well; have one for placing the meat on the grill and turning it, and another for removing cooked meat after it is done.

No Peeking
Just say NO to poking (or cutting) your meats while they are grilling. It?s hard to resist taking a peek to measure how cooked the meat is, but creating holes will result in the juice leaking out and pooling in the bottom of your grill. Not only does this increase the chances that your food will be dry, but it can possibly do damage to your grill and, in the least, create a huge mess you?ll have to scrub out later.

Once you?ve placed all the food on the grill, you should also avoid opening the lid too often. Any time you open the grill, you alter the temperature inside of it. A frequent change in temperature will result in your meat losing moisture rapidly.

Hotter isn?t always Better
Higher heat isn?t always the way to go. It?s natural to want to cook your food quickly when you have 10 people asking, ?Is it done yet?!? but, yet again, this is an easy way to end up with dry, or burnt, food.

If you are planning to use a barbeque sauce, you?ll want to wait until the last few minutes to brush it on. Coating your meats in sauce before placing it on the grill increases the chances that it will burn.

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Need some inspiration? Check out these tasty grill recipes.

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image:?sxc.hu

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