With Memorial having just passed I’m sure all you grill masters are out there strutting your best backyard dishes. Since I can admit when it comes to bbq and grilling I’m not that well versed so I turned to some of my experts to gather up some of their best kept bbq grilling tips and tricks. So for you all I’ve put together another edition of Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer around the best BBQ Grilling Tips and Tricks
♥ Light the charcoal with a chimney starter. It’s relatively quick to get some hot coals going and you won’t have to fret about getting nasty lighter fluid fumes in your smoker.
♥ Minimize the amount of times you open it. I know, I know you wanna see how the meat is doing, but opening it frequently will keep the smoker below the necessary heat levels. The old adage says, “if you’re looking, it ain’t cooking” – remember that, kapeesh?!
♥ Temperature is one of the most critical components to great smoking results. The best results will be obtained at temperatures around the 225 to 250 degree range. Too low of temperature with larger cuts can lead to unhealthy bacteria colonizing. See my safety tips below. One of the most difficult tasks up front is keeping a some what steady temperature inside your smoker. Large fluctuations in temperature can produce lesser quality in your smoked products. Water pans are commonly used in many of the smokers these days as a heat sink. Some believe they are there to add moisture. Although they do provide added humidity, they provide excellent heat absorption keeping the chamber from severe heat fluctuation.
Using Charcoal?
♥ Light the coals about 30 minutes before to cooking. If you’re using lighter fluid, make sure the fire is completely out before slapping the meat on the grill, or else you’ll have the nasty fuel taste in your meat. At this time, the charcoal should be mostly an ash-gray color with a little bit of glowing red underneath.
♥ Line the inside bottom of your cooker with a couple of sheets of aluminum foil before you put your briquettes in. This will give you a quicker and easier clean-up of the gray coals and ash once you’re done barbecuing. The only downside to this is that the opening holes in the bottom of your cooker will get covered up. So when you first light your fire, make sure it gets plenty of oxygen to stay lit longer, thereby giving you hotter and longer-lasting coals.
Rules of thumb
♥ Wash everything after handling raw meat, and don’t reuse the plate that you used for uncooked meat.♥ Have a spray bottle full of water nearby your grill in cause of flare-ups.
♥ Don’t leave the meat out in room temperature for longer than one hour. This will make bacteria grow at an exponential rate, plus it will make the meat less fresh. If you need to thaw out meat, do so overnight or all day in the refrigerator.
Marinades and BBQ Sauces
♥ To reduce the amount of browning or blackening of meat, only apply barbecue or other tomato-based sauces containing sugars during the last 10 or so minutes of grilling.
♥ Don’t reply solely on BBQ sauce to flavor your meat. Experiment with different types of marinades, seasonings and rubs to give your food unique and delicious tastes.
♥ Marinades tenderize meat (and addition to giving them some wild flavoring). If it all possible, marinade overnight; but if you can’t, try to give at least an hour of the meat soaking in the marinade sauce.
♥ Go beyond the typical bbq sauce and experiment. Try flavors such as teriyaki, hot sauce, chipotle, Caribbean “jerk”-style sauce, and others. Add a little bourbon, rum, beer, or wine to your standby sauce. Mix in some honey, brown sugar, or paprika. Put in lemon juice, chopped onions, red peppers or chile peppers to perk things up.
Chicken
♥ If you intend to eat the skin, rub the outside with a little butter or oil and then lightly season it. It’ll give the chicken a nice, crispy, savory skin. Not eating the skin? Don’t season the outside, as it can’t penetrate the skin.
♥ If it sticks, it’s not ready to be turned. Let the chicken cook for a few minutes more then try to flip it. It should lift away easily.
Beef
♥ Try to pick a steak with thin specks and strands of fat in between the muscle tissue. At cooking time, these small bits of fat will melt (in a process called marbling) and make the meat juicier.
♥ Thicker steaks require lower heat, and thinner steaks require hotter heat.
Cooking Times
Fish
♥ Salmon fillets, 6 – 8 minutes per side
♥ Salmon or halibut steaks, 5 minutes per side
♥ Trout fillets, 4 minutes per side
♥ Small whole fish, 7 minutes per side
♥ Large fish, 15 minutes per side. If your whole fish are stuffed, give it a few extra minutes per side.
Chicken
♥ Breasts and wings, 15 – 20 minutes
♥ Thighs and legs, 30 minutes
♥ Chicken halves, 40 – 45 minutes
♥ Whole chicken, 75 – 90 minutes. On individual chicken pieces, apply sauce and turn every 5 minutes
♥ Whole birds, grill breast-side down and turn over after 45 minutes
♥ Half birds, cook skin-side down for 5 minutes and then flip over and grill for remaining amount of time. If you’re in doubt as to whether or not the chicken is done, the center of the meat should read 170 to 175 degrees on your meat thermometer.
Steak
♥ Filet Mignon (1 inch thick)
Medium Rare: Grill 4 minutes per side or to 140°F internal temperature
Medium: Grill 7 minutes per side or to 155°F internal temperature
♥ New York Strip (1 inch thick)
Medium Rare: Grill 7 minutes per side or to 140°F internal temperature
Medium: Grill 10 minutes per side or to 155°F internal temperature
♥ Ribeye (1 1/4 inch thick)
Medium Rare: Grill 8 minutes per side or to 140°F internal temperature
Medium: Grill 10 minutes per side or to 155°F internal temperature
♥ Sirloin (1 1/4 inch thick)
Medium Rare: Grill 8 minutes per side or to 140°F internal temperature
Medium: Grill 10 minutes per side or to 155°F internal temperature
Vegetables
♥ Vegetables dry out when they hit the heat without a little oil. Before they hit the grill, toss them with a light coating of oil. Don’t use too much—it not only adds unnecessary calories, but dripping oil causes flare-ups and off flavors. Plus tossing them in oil helps your seasoning stick more uniformly.
♥ Cherry tomatoes are great on the grill, but they’re a little unwieldy. To keep smaller vegetables like cherry tomatoes from rolling around and falling though the grate, put them on a skewer or use a grill basket. If you don’t have a grill basket, fold a 24-inch-long piece of heavy-duty foil in half and crimp up the edges to create a lip; this “basket” will prevent the food from falling through.
♥ Grill your vegetables in foil packets! Place a 24-inch-long piece of foil on the counter and lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange thinly sliced vegetables a single layer, slightly overlapping, on the foil. Leave a 2-inch border on all sides. Fold foil over and pinch the edges together, making a packet. Place the packet on the grill. Cover the grill and cook until the vegetables are tender (about 12 to 15 minutes, for potatoes). When you open a packet to check doneness, be careful of steam.
Maintenance
♥ Keep your grill grate clean with a stiff wire brush or a piece of crumpled-up foil (with a subsequent wipe with a dry paper towel). When it’s time for cooking, grab the grate with an oven mitt and clean it after the grill heats up after started your fire and also after you’re done grilling. Dip a folded paper towel in oil and apply to the bars of the grate. This is to ensure your meat won’t stick to the grill AND you’ll get awesome-looking grill marks.
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