Introduction
The grill is an indispensable tool for cooking outdoors. It’s also a great way to celebrate summer, with friends and family enjoying the warm weather and the wonderful taste of grilled foods. But even if you’re a seasoned griller who’s mastered everything from burgers to steak, there are still plenty of ways to improve your technique. In this article I’ll share some tips that will help you get better results when barbecuing: from preheating the grill correctly on up through searing and seasoning cuts of meat for maximum flavor.
Preheat the grill.
Before you put your meat on the grill, it’s important to preheat it. This will give you more control over cooking time and temperature, as well as prevent the food from sticking to the grate. The temperature should be set between medium-high and high–you’ll need at least 20 minutes of preheating time before adding any meat or seafood.
Choose the right meat.
Meat is a major part of any barbecue, so it’s important to choose the right cuts. First, make sure your meat is at room temperature before cooking. If you start with frozen meat or previously cooked meat (such as leftovers), you’ll end up with an unevenly cooked piece of meat that doesn’t taste very good. You should also avoid lean cuts like chicken breasts because they will dry out quickly on the grill and become tough after being cooked through once.
Finally, don’t forget about marinating! Some people think marinating makes their food taste better–and science backs them up: A recent study showed that marinating chicken for 24 hours significantly improved its tenderness and juiciness compared with unmarinated control samples
Use indirect heat.
Indirect heat is the best method for cooking meat. When using indirect heat, you want to make sure that your grill has three zones: hot, medium and cool. The hot zone should be on one side of your grill; the medium zone should be in between those two areas; and finally, the coolest area will be on the opposite side from where you put that first source of heat (direct or indirect).
You’ll want all sides of your food cooked through before eating–but since most people have trouble finding time for this task during busy weeknights or weekend brunches with family members who are running late due to traffic jams caused by road construction projects underway near their homes (or so we’ve heard), this technique helps ensure that everything comes out perfectly cooked without any risk of burning anything over too quickly due to flare-ups caused by direct contact with flames coming up from below while grilling at high temperatures
Don’t flip too often.
Flipping your meat too often will cause it to dry out and cook unevenly. The best way to know when the time is right for flipping is by using a thermometer, which you can insert into the center of your steak or burger while you’re grilling. This will allow you to monitor its progress without having to constantly check on its progress from above, risking burning yourself in the process.
As we mentioned earlier, one of the most common mistakes people make when cooking steak is not letting it rest enough before cutting into it–this allows all those juices that have been released during cooking time (and which are now dispersed throughout) settle back down onto their respective parts where they belong!
Wait until it’s done to take it off the grill.
As with most things in life, there is a right time to remove your meat from the grill. If you take it off too soon, it will be dry and tough; if you leave it on too long (and trust me, I’ve done this), then you’ll end up with an overcooked piece of meat that tastes like shoe leather. To avoid these pitfalls, use a meat thermometer when grilling steaks or burgers–you want them to reach at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit internally before removing them from their cooking vessel.
You can get better results by mastering the art of barbecue.
Barbecue is a skill that can be learned. There are many ways to improve the results you get from barbecuing, including:
- Learning from others’ experience by reading cookbooks, magazines and websites dedicated to barbecue. A great place to start is with our book Mastering The Art Of Barbecue: Tips And Techniques For Grilling Success (http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Art-Barbecue-Techniques/dp/1607748261) which has been published in over 20 languages around the world! You may also want to consider attending one or more of our culinary events focused on grilling techniques so that we can help guide you toward success every step along way!
Conclusion
We hope that you have enjoyed this article about the art of barbecue and have found some useful tips for your next grilling experience. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below!