With Memorial Day weekend mere hours away, it’s time for a quick grilling review and some tips and tricks to ensure a successful grilling season. At Chefsline, we get many questions regarding grilling and I thought it might be most effective to answer some of those here.

Grilling Tools
The best place to begin is with grilling tools. While there are lots of grilling “toys” on the market, a few good essentials are all that you will need to be fully prepared. Here is a list of the tools that I keep at the ready.
Grill Time

  • A good quality instant-read thermometer, analog or digital (your choice).
  • Stainless steel hinged locking tongs, preferably a long and regular pair.
  • A good basting brush, silicon recommended for heat tolerance.
  • Two sets metal skewers- one thicker for meats and one thinner for vegetables, ideally the skewers should be flat so the meat or vegetables won’t rotate.
  • Wider spatula – necessary for fish.
  • Sturdy cleaning brush.
  • Optional but useful: grilling basket for veg/fish.

Prepping the Surface
Brush a hot, not a cold grill, to clean off debris from previous use. Do this prior to oiling the grill. Always oil your grill lightly before putting the food on, but ONLY oil the area that you plan to use. Oiling an unused area of the grill can lead to gummy buildup. Easiest and least messy way to oil grill, is to pour a little oil on a folded cloth (just enough oil to be visible, but not drip) and grasp with tongs. Brush oily area quickly over the grill grate. Never spray anything with propellant (i.e. pan spray) directly into a lit grill.

The Right Grill Temperature
A key to successfully grilling meats is to begin their cooking at the right temperature. Preheating is essential. Generally, gas grills need about 15 minutes to be heated to hot, and charcoal requires about 30 minutes. To check your grill temperature, hold your hand above the grate and above the coals or heat source. If you can only hold it there for around a second or two, your grill is “hot.” If you can stand it for 4 or 5 seconds it’s medium. Although most gas grills and the better charcoal grills have a built-in thermometer, these gauge the temperature inside the grill (like an oven) rather than the grilling surface so use the hand trick. The right grill temperature to start with is almost always hot.

Advance Prep: Marinades and Rubs
Another question we see frequently is regarding marinades: “What is the right proportion of oil to vinegar for a marinade?” In general, a marinade will need about 1 part acid (vinegar or citrus juice (lemon, orange, pineapple…) to three parts oil. If you add wine, treat it as an acid. Although an acid tenderizes meat, marinades don’t penetrate deeper than 1/2 inch into the meat at the most – so a marinade isn’t very effective as a tenderizer. Instead concentrate on flavor when making a marinade and match your acid to the herbs and spice you add to the mixture. Brining is a different matter, the high salt levels in brine make it penetrate much more deeply so if you want to get deep flavor into a chicken or pork loin, flavor the brine.

Most wet marinades will work just as well for all meat and vegetables. One instance where you may want to consider a lighter or milder marinade with less acid if you are grilling a mild fish. You will want to choose a marinade that doesn’t overwhelm or overpower the fish’s delicate flavor. Also, make sure that whatever you’re marinating is fully covered, it takes about a ½ cup of marinade per pound of meat.

For a dry rub, use one to two tablespoons of spice rub seasonings for a pound of food. When using a dry rub, you will need to gently shake off any excess, especially if it contains sugar, as that will burn quickly on the grill, leaving behind a rather bitter flavor. To apply a rub, sprinkle it over your foods then lightly rub into the surface with your hands. Alternatively, you can toss your rub into a storage bag, add your food, and shake. Let the food sit in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Wait to brush on any sugar-based barbecue sauce or other glazing ingredients until the final 5-10 minutes of grilling. This allows the smoky flavor to penetrate your food first, and prevents the sauce from becoming charred black.

Au Natural
Of course, you do not have to marinade your foods at all! In general, brush almost everything your grill with canola oil (or another high heat oil which has a flavor that compliments your food) and be sure to season your items with salt and pepper. Also, a lot of flavor, nutrients, and “protection” is found in the skins of vegetables and of some meats. Leave them on if you can and then remove (in the case of poultry and fish) before serving.

Grilling 101
You almost always want to start your foods in the hottest area of your grill using direct heat (above the flames). So you will want to heat a fire / area that is wider than the space needed for the things you’re grilling. Searing your meats when grilling doesn’t seal in juices as some think, but it does build great flavor. Searing is done over high heat (between 500 – 600 degrees F) and you will be ready to flip your food when it releases easily from your grill and the food’s grill marks are a deep brown. One of the biggest culprits of sticking food is moving it too early. Leave meat (and especially fish) in original placement until it comes up easily with no tugging or pulling. If it’s a thin piece of meat such as a flank steak the entire cooking process may be over high heat, but for thicker steaks, roasts (including whole chickens and Cornish hens), and poultry such as chicken you want to sear first, then move it to a cooler portion of the grill to finish cooking. Vegetables and fish should usually be grilled over medium heat, at between 400 – 500 degrees F.

What’s Not to Grill?
Finally, who doesn’t appreciate having their entire meal prepared on one surface? Grilled vegetables and fruit can extend your grilling from appetizer through dessert. Just like meats, getting your vegetables cooked properly and to the right temperature and texture takes skill and practice. Everyone probably remembers having vegetable kebabs on which some of the veggies were overcooked and others practically raw. In general – try to keep your vegetables separate when grilling – you can use grill pans or make separate kebabs of each vegetable so you have much better cooking control. When grilling vegetables, also be sure to cut or slice them evenly and generously, especially squashes and eggplant. Otherwise they will shrink to the point that they may fall through your grate or off of the skewers. Uniform sizes of vegetables also help you to avoid under or over cooking. If you are new to grilling, you can pre-cook vegetables, including artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, carrots, parsnips, potatoes and winter squash to shorten grilling time and ensure that the inside and outside cook evenly. Steam or blanch until just barely tender, then dry. With all vegetables, brush lightly with canola or grape seed oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat and move to the cool side of the grill as needed. Grill until completely tender and lightly browned. Here are some rough guidelines for vegetable cooking times: Squashes: cut end to end in fairly thick strips- 8-9 minutes, Onions: thick cut whole slices- 10+ minutes, Bell peppers: halves – 8+ minutes, Corn (very outer husks removed) 9+ minutes, Mushrooms: small button 9+ minutes. Grilled fruits including pineapples, strawberries, and mangoes are prepared just like your veggies but I like to use a high heat.

Is it Done Yet?
Most of us do not and cannot know by time, touch, smell, or instinct alone when anything is cooked to perfection on a grill. Conditions when grilling and cooking outdoors are always changing – just as much as every cut of meat, unique marinade, and brand of charcoal can change your cooking “elements.” Cooking is an art that takes a lot of practice and even the most experienced of us will face a bad grill day. To learn your life lessons in grilling and continue to be a creative grill cook – do a few things. Buy yourself a nice instant read thermometer, comfortable tools, remember your cooking fundamentals, and be willing to taste consistently along the way! Cook beef to 130 degrees F and remove from grill for medium rare, chicken to 155 degrees F and remove, pork to 140 degrees for medium, hamburgers to 135-140 degrees and fish for 4 to 10 minutes total and until it appears opaque and flakes. Seafood will really depend on the size – small shrimp may take 2 minutes a side while larger shrimp might need 4 minutes per side of cook time.

Have a great time cooking this weekend. Your grill coaches (ChefsLine Chefs!) can be reached by calling at 1-800-977-1224 for last minute recipes and personalized advice.