It's the official first weekend of summer! If you’re planning on firing up the grill this weekend, keep these tips in mind:
Preheat The Grill
You need to start your grill 15 to 25 minutes before you start cooking to make sure it reaches the right temperature. And those temps should be 400-450°F for high, 350-400°F for medium-high, 300-350°F for medium and 250-300°F for low heat.
Be Food Safe
Keep these 3 rules in mind to ensure nobody ends sick: use separate cutting boards, utensils and platters for raw and cooked foods (color coordination works best); refrigerate foods while marinating; and never baste with the marinating liquid.
Place your meats on a clean platter, tented with foil, for 10 minutes before carving or biting into so the juices can be evenly distributed.
Burgers tend to puff in the middle as they cook making the top round and hard to pile with toppings. Press a little indentation into the top of each raw patty with your thumb or the back of a spoon. Then, when the center pushes up, the top of each burger will be level.
Marinate, Marinate, Marinate
Everyone knows that marinating adds flavor to your food, but did you know it can also help inhibit the formation of a potential carcinogen? By marinating poultry, red meat and fish, you reduce the formation of HCA by as much as 95%.
Make Your Own Grill Brush
Crumple a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil until it's the size of a navel orange and pick it up between tongs which act as the handle. Holding onto the ball of foil, brush away.
Don’t Touch
Or poke or stab or flip your food. Leave your food alone so it has time sear and develop a crust. Want to know when you should turn it? Only touch and turn when grill marks form.
Be Adventurous
Just about anything can be thrown on the grill so don’t just settle for burgers and dogs. Try different fruits, vegetables or even pizza. Just be sure to add a little olive oil to add flavor and prevent sticking if cooking directly on the grill. And believe it or not, desserts can also be made on the grill. Just make sure you use the right type of heat (direct vs. indirect) and temperature regardless of what is on the menu.
