Just because it is after Labor Day does not mean you have to say goodbye to your barbecue grill until next Memorial Day. I love cooking on my grill all year round and I live in northeastern Ohio where sometimes I have had to shovel the snow off the deck to find it!
Cooking outside on a cold winter night does require a little patience. You have adjust your approach and use the skills that you developed in the warmer months.
Here are five basic tips and tricks to make a master of your grill:
- I use propane, it is easy to start, heats up fast and is more repeatable especially for the novice grill operator. There are those purists who prefer charcoal and then add hickory wood chips or the like to get just the right flavor. I applaud your attention to your craft, but when I just want a hot dog, I am cooking on propane.
Basic Propane Grill Safety:
Always light the grill with the lid open
Stand back, face pointed away from the grill when lighting
Always turn off the valve at the tank when not in use
- Learn to cook something simple like hot dogs. The challenge with hot dogs is to get them hot on the inside without burning the skin. Do this on medium heat. Put on the buns for a few seconds to brown them too!
- Get to know your grill hot spots and cold spots. No matter your grill there will be hot and cold spots. Learn how to use these to your advantage. If something looks like it is cooking too fast, just move it to a cooler part of the grill. If you have a chicken breast which is not as far along in cooking as the others then move it to the cooler part of the grill so the others can catch up.
- How do you tell if the meat is ready to flip? When cooking pork chops, chicken, burgers or steak after about 2-3 minutes it probably is. You can check it by cutting into it but that will let the delicious juices out the and ultimately lead to your steak to drying out. The best way is to try to flip it over. If it the meat releases when from the grate then it is ready to be flipped. For chicken, if it starts to turn white along the edge then it is ready to be flipped.
BONUS TIP: There is no need to keep flipping what you are cooking. You can just flip it once.
- Use foil packs for veggies. I love cooking the entire meal on the grill. Why mess up the kitchen when you can cook everything outside? A simple way to cook vegetables on the grill is to slice them thin and cook them in a foil pack on the grill. This cooking technique is a combination of steaming and grilling and can be used with a wide variety of vegetables like squash, zucchini, potatoes, and beets. Use Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil
Slice some veggies like onions, squash and zucchini
Unwind an arms span of Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil
Arrange veggies on half of the foil, so you can fold over the other half to make a lid
Add salt, pepper and olive oil
Fold over foil lid and crimp edges
Place on medium grill for 10 minutes, flip and cook for 10 minutes more
Remove from the grill, cut a hole in the foil for the steam to escape then open and enjoy
