Your outdoor grill has so much more to offer than simply cooking some meat on a grate. It can actually be as versatile as your kitchen appliances. Of course, most of us enjoy the classic approach to grilling, but sometimes it’s nice to mix things up and experiment with some new cooking methods. Some popular outdoor grilling techniques involve indirect grilling, searing, and smoking. These methods can transform your cut of meat into a whole new experience.
Different outdoor grilling techniques are to be used depending on what types of items you are to grill, for example; direct grilling is best for large cuts of beef and sausages, smoking on the other hand is best for whole fish and meats too. With experience, you will later develop a taste of what goes where in the grill enabling you to be an expert on it.
Even before starting out, you have to be sure that your grill is clean. The worst thing that could happen in a grill is to have a beautiful slice of prime rib and to later have it taste like grilled salmon. In cleaning the grill, make sure that you do it right after cooking and while the grill is still hot. In doing this, use a wire brush and scrub off all remaining residue that is left on the grill, these residue are what causes unpleasant flavoring if you don’t clean your grill well.
More to that, these residues can also fall into the grill and can later cause a flare-up, this of which we would like to avoid. While your grill is clean, you would also want to prevent residue from sticking to it as much as possible. To do this, spray the surface of your grill with vegetable oil every time before you grill. This is even more important if you are using sugar based sauces like the common ones people use to coat ribs and barbecue.
When outdoor grilling, it is also very important that your grill is hot before you place the items on top of it. For most of us especially for those who own gas-powered grills, we put the items in right after we start the fire. This is wrong as we have to wait around 15-30 minutes of having the fire turned on before putting the items to be grilled in while having all the items and cooking tools you will be needing standing by.
Also be aware that the surface of your grill is not equally hot on all sides. There are some sides that are hotter than others and some that are a bit cooler than others. Being good on the grill, you should know where these sides are and use them to your advantage. The most common grilling technique used here is indirect grilling of which you would need to know where the cooler side is.
Even before you start grilling; it is very important that your ingredients are already prepared and ready to be tossed on top of the grill. For steaks, you might want to cut of excess fat and have it seasoned with some salt and pepper. As for chicken, since it is quite difficult to have it grilled, you can pre-cook it in the microwave oven. This will lessen cooking time and as well as make it easier for you to have your chicken brown.
Vegetables on the other hand should already be cleaned and cut for the grill. After all these, you are ready to get grilling.
More articles