Preheat properly
If you’re going to get a good coating on your food and that delicious BBQ flavor, you need your grill to be hot before you start cooking.
Do NOT cook cold meat
Make sure you always start out with your meat items at room temperature before cooking. With a cold piece of meat you will need to make sure that the inside is cook to its fullest potential without burning the outside. It is always better to start with room temperature. If time has gotten away from you and it is time to grill allow at least 20 minutes to get to room temperature. The warmer things are in the middle of your meat before it goes onto the fire, the easier to cook thoroughly.
The thinner the better!
The thinner your meat, the less far the heat has to travel to cook the middle, so the easier it is to get the inside just right without burning the outside. Tip: If you really must have thick steaks, think about starting them on the grill to sear the outside and get the flavor and then finishing them in the oven. Cook thoroughly in the center and a nice crust on the surface!
DO NOT constantly poke & flip
It takes time for your chicken and burgers to cook to the center and this won’t happen if you’re continually flipping your food. Only turn once or twice is the rule of thumb. And definitely don’t press everything down or you’re going to end up with dried out meat. Hot Dogs and sausages are also best left alone; breaking the skin dries them out.
DO NOT marinate over the fire
Pouring the marinade over the hot grill onto the meat is only going to allow the flames to rise up and burn the food. Make sure my meat is dried of excess marinade.
Is your meat ready?
Use your hands. By touching your thumb to each of your fingers, and then pressing on your thumb muscle as it changes firmness, you’ll get an idea of how your steak should feel, moving from rare to well done as your thumb muscle moves from your index to your pinky finger
Don’t forget to clean your grill!
For light, between-meal cleaning, rubbing a face-down half onion on a heated grill is an eco-friendly way to get in and around the bars without burning your hands or leaving chemical scents for your food.
