Recipe Basic grilling tips, tricks, and suggestions.

I started a thread asking for people to share what they use to grill, and/or to post pics of their set-up.

But I'd like this thread to be primarily about the lessons you have learned while grilling that you'd like to share. I grill constantly and have found that many of the very basic things that I've learned through research and experience, that can translate over to almost anyone trying to grill out, aren't as common of knowledge as I thought they were. So I thought I'd share some of those basics in the hope that some who may be intimidated, reluctant, or who have been unsuccesful in the past, might benefit.

1) Prep is important. Letting the meat sit out at room temperature prior to grilling has a huge impact. For steaks (unfrozen, but still wrapped or covered), I usually let them sit on the counter for 4-6 hours prior to grilling. This allows the center of the steak to warm up to almost room temperature. If you pull a steak straight out of the fridge and throw it on the grill, or even if you let it rest on the counter for an hour, the center is so much colder than the surface that it cooks at a different rate. This leads to the outside of the steak being done, but the center being cold and flavorless, or tough and chewy. For chicken, pork, or fish you might want to reduce the time to sit out by half, but still let it warm up significantly before grilling. It will make a huge difference. Also, if you are buying chicken, or less tender cuts of beef (flank steak, sirloin, or low quality steak with little marbling) let it marinate over night. Italian dressing, lemon/lime juice, or even olive oil can work wonders with your favorite spices. Even pouring a beer on a cheap/tough steak for a couple hours prior to grilling can work wonders on it. You don't have to buy the $16.99/lb Porterhouse from the butcher to have a good steak dinner if you know what you are doing. You might have to work harder and plan better to get that $3.99/lb sirloin special to taste good, but it can be done!

2) Sometimes less is more. If you get a really good piece of meat, try going very easy on it. If I get an excellent cut of ribeye, porterhouse, or filet, I season it minimally. Some sea salt, some fresh ground pepper (I actually like white pepper over black, try it sometime), maybe some garlic powder. Then try cooking it one step less than you usually do. If you like medium well, try it medium. If you like it medium, try medium rare. If honestly like the flavor of beef, you have a really great cut, and you season it right, you might surprise yourself by "undercooking" it. But make sure it's a good cut when you try this. Here's the thing, really good steak has a lot of marbling, which is fat flecks that impart flavor. If you cook these to rare or medium rare, it's enough to break them down and let them flavor the steak. If the cut is mediocre or poor, it's going to have less flecking and often will just have big lines of fatty tissue running through it. Undercook that and you are stuck with chewy, weak tasting meat. So when you trust me to try "undercooking" something, please try it with a nice cut. But again, if you choose a great piece of beef, it doesn't need a fancy marinade, tons of spices, or to be cooked to a crisp. Go easy on it, and enjoy.

3) Let it rest. No matter what meat you are cooking, how you like it, or what you seasoned it with, give it a few minutes after pulling it off the fire before cutting it. When you cook meat, all the fats and juices are reacting to the heat and that's part of what disperses flavor. If you cut into a piece of meat while it's still on the grill, or right after pulling it off the grill, much of those juices pour out immediately. When you see that, you are watching the flavor disappear from your meal. Always let your meat rest. For something like a steak, porkchop, burger, or small piece of chicken, give it 5-7 minutes to rest. The juices will redistribute and settle into the meat, leaving all the flavor intact. For something big like a whole chicken, a rib roast, or a turkey, you might need to wait 15-30 minutes. But wait, it's worth it! If you cut into your meat and get a puddle in your plate, you didn't wait long enough. I know, you are hungry, you are excited to taste your hard work, but I promise, if you wait it'll be better!

Finally, a tip for you brave hearted ones out there. The guys or girls who like living on the edge, trying new things, and are willing to try something they are just sure won't work, but some stranger on the internet assured them it would be ok! This is for you charcoal grillers only though. Go buy a good steak (or a couple, if you are grilling for more than just yourself). Get a ribeye, a porterhouse, or similar cut, whatever you like. Go buy some lump charcoal (not the Kingsford briquettes that are so popular, it MUST be lump charcoal, you can find it at Menards). Pull your steaks (unfrozen) out of the fridge a good 5-6 hours before grill time. Season them with a bit of sea salt, some fresh pepper, some garlic powder, and maybe a touch of chipolte pepper powder (shh, don't tell anyone, that's my secret ingredient). Get a nice fire going with the lump charcoal (take the grates out of your grill, just have the fire with no grates), get it nice and glowing hot, so hot you can't hold your hand over it for more than a second and a half or two seconds. Then throw the steaks straight on the glowing coals. Yes, straight on the fire. No grates at all. They won't burn, I promise. Yes, I know you don't believe me, but I'm telling the truth. I didn't believe it either, but it works. Leave them there for anywhere from 90 seconds to 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of your steaks and the doneness you prefer. Then flip them over and put the other side straight on the coals. When you do this you'll see that, even though you KNOW I'm wrong, the bottom side didn't burn like you knew it would. Leave them on that side for another few minutes (again, depending on your preference for doneness and the thickness of your steaks). Let them rest, and enjoy.

Ok, those are some of my basics. I'll add more as time goes on, but I wanted to get this conversation rolling. Please feel free to add your tips, tricks, and suggestions.

 

If you have cast iron grates, I say don't clean them ever. Get the fire nice and hot and use a wire brush just to brush them off.

 

I did a couple of steaks on my grill a couple of weeks ago. My veggie husband asked me why I had the steaks sitting out. Um...duh, you grill meat at room temperature.

My advice: don't touch them. People get obsessed with using their tongs and moving shit around on their grill. Just don't.

 

Yes!! Absolutely.

Also, when making burgers, don't press the patties so hard. It just compresses them and makes it so the juices created by the fat cooking have nowhere to go but out, leaving you with a dried out burger when finished. Be gentle!

 

If your steak is thin, it doesn't need 15 minutes, 5-7 is enough. A thick cut or a small roast may need 15 minutes. You don't let it rest until it gets cold, if you are doing that it is resting too long for the size piece of meat it is. Also, for best results put it in a confined space to rest. I like leaving it in the microwave (sometimes even wrapped in foil), or sometimes the oven.

 

Plus, resting for that long allows you time to get the sides done and on the table.

 

something i've always done with my new york strips (not sirloin, not delmonico, not filets) is, after i hit it with whatever rub i use, i 'fork' it through and through on both sides. this tends to tenderize the meat even more than just the seasoning...

 

The only beef that I'll cut the surface of before grilling is sometimes if I make something with round steak and I need to tenderize it, or maybe a flank steak that I'm marinading (and always before it sees any heat). Anything more tender than that and I personally prefer to leave it be.