Barbeque and Grilling Blunders


by Sarah Massey


Your average yard cook is no expert in the barbeque or barbecuing field. He hasn't any television shows on the Food Network. He has no grilling cookery books out. Nor have any of those been part of his lifetime goal

No, your average outdoor cooking enthusiast makes more mistakes with bbq griddling than you could ever imagine. The meat ends up dry and troublesome time after time, despite marinating for a while. Or the meat is burnt or cooked too long.

These mistakes are made time and time again because your average backyard cook customarily does not know any different. He does not automatically know How to Barbeque.

These are some of the more common mistakes and do's and don'ts made in bbq griddle cooking:

1) If you started with frozen meat, ensure the protein is thawed utterly. Trying to prepare the inside a still-frozen piece of protein is virtually impossible without burning the outside.

2) When employing a charcoal grill, attempt to lay the fire without charcoal lighter fluid. Lighter liquid taste will always get into your protein no matter how much you cook the coals down first. A chimney starter makes setting the fire a breeze. It also enables you to add charcoal along the way should the coals burn out on the way.

3) Never poke the bbq protein with a fork after cooking has started. This is one of the commonest mistakes and one of the most deadly for your barbeque. When poking with a fork, the juices will run right out of the meat and right into the base of the barbeque pit or grill. Your protein will be dry and less tender. Use a long set of tongs to turn the protein.

4) Lower the heat. Excepting griddled steaks, which need a quick searing, cook slowly over low to medium heat. Lower heat is way more manageable and it'll make the meat tender and luscious.

5) Give up lifting the lid to test the protein. Each time you do that it changes the temperature within the bbq grill or pit. Air from you opening the lid acts like a sponge and dries the meat up. Opening the lid also increases your odds of flare-ups.

6) This is more of a food safety mistake. Don't put the cooked protein back on the same plate or platter the raw protein was on without washing it first. Mixing the cooked with the raw just begs for someone to become sick.

7) After removing the protein from the bbq griddle or pit, let it rest for at roughly 5-10 minutes. Cutting into or cutting the meat right after pulling it from the cooker will cause all the juices to flow out of the protein and onto the platter.

Naturally, these are not all of the mistakes made by the greenhorn outside cook, but are examples of the more common. But if you will stop doing this yourself, you'll eliminate many of the things that cause barbeque mess ups.

Your visitors and family will wonder how come your grilled or barbequed food is so much better than it used to be. And, who knows... Perhaps the Food Network will come trying to find you.

Hey there! Why don't you click on Barbecue grilland read more!




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