This holiday weekend, many people will be grilling out. Here are some tips you may or may not know about grilling.
- When you turn your meats, use a tong instead of a fork. If you use a fork to puncture the meat, the natural juices can escape, leaving you with dried out meat that is tough. For the same reason, you should never press hamburger patties flat with a spatula. If you have ever done that, you have probably noticed the juices leaking out. Also, do not salt your meat before putting it on the grill or while cooking it. Salt will draw out the juices as well.
- To prevent meats or vegetables from burning, brush the food lightly with vegetable oil before placing it on the grill. You can also dip a paper towel in a little oil and rub it on the grill before starting it up to prevent sticking.
- Every time you raise your grill lid, you lose about 15 minutes of cooking time. So, keep it closed to keep cooking your meat and vegetables. However, if your fire is too hot and you want to slow the cooking process a little, open the lid.
- If you like grilled vegetables, invest in one of the grilling baskets. This will prevent you from losing veggies into the flames.
- How can you tell what temperature your grill is if you don’t use gas? Well, you need to be careful with this one, but if you hold your palm over your grill and count the seconds you can hold it there (using the one-one thousand method), it should give you a pretty accurate idea of the temperature. Being able to hold your hand over the grill two seconds should mean your grill is about 375 degrees, three seconds means it is about 350 degrees, four seconds means it is about 300 degrees, and five seconds means it is about 250 degrees.
- If you plan on using barbecue sauce, wait until about 10 minutes before the meat is done before applying it. The sugars in the barbecue sauce will burn if you put it on any sooner and leave your meat charred.