Grill basics
Okay, I reached the ripe old age of 45 before I learned to use a (gas powered) grill. I'm old and senile and figured it out, so I'm confident all readers can do this. My instructions presume a gas grill. If you have a coal grill, you need to burn your coals nice and gray and mellow and adjust your temperature by adjusting the height of the grill, or so I'm told. Can't guarantee how that works.
With your grill, you basically have four variables:
1. temperature (whi*****ludes grill distance from heat)
2. cut of meat (how marbled/fatty or not)
3. size-o-hunk-o-meat
4. moisture
You influence #1 in obvious ways--for gas, turn the heat up or down. For coals, add more coals, burn 'em down more, adjust distance from heat.
You influence #2 in equally obvious ways. Look up any instructions about grill times for thickness of meat and, in my experience, add a few minutes.
Influence on #3 is kind of funky.....hard to explain. Start with burgers and half chicken breasts and work up in size from there.
#4 is easy to influence. See that bottle of beverage in your hand? If meat looks dry or flamy, pour beverage on it. Welcome to the big secret of grilling life. If you are the kind of beer snob I am, open a can-o-cheap-crap with which to moisturize the meat, so as not to waste the yummy stuff that way.
I follow this post with examples for beef, pork, chicken and fish.
With your grill, you basically have four variables:
1. temperature (whi*****ludes grill distance from heat)
2. cut of meat (how marbled/fatty or not)
3. size-o-hunk-o-meat
4. moisture
You influence #1 in obvious ways--for gas, turn the heat up or down. For coals, add more coals, burn 'em down more, adjust distance from heat.
You influence #2 in equally obvious ways. Look up any instructions about grill times for thickness of meat and, in my experience, add a few minutes.
Influence on #3 is kind of funky.....hard to explain. Start with burgers and half chicken breasts and work up in size from there.
#4 is easy to influence. See that bottle of beverage in your hand? If meat looks dry or flamy, pour beverage on it. Welcome to the big secret of grilling life. If you are the kind of beer snob I am, open a can-o-cheap-crap with which to moisturize the meat, so as not to waste the yummy stuff that way.
I follow this post with examples for beef, pork, chicken and fish.
Let us begin with the quintessential grill experience, beef burgers.
This starts with how you handle your burger. Rule of thumb = MINIMAL HANDLING. Burger is fragile and will turn to leather if squished too hard. So let's assume you have burger on a foam tray. Take your tray, cut off the plastic and dump the burger onto a cutting board that will hopefully fit into your dishwasher.
Grab a table knife and use this to divide your burger into preferred raw patty sizes. Whack whack whack. Be generous here because burgers shrink significantly. No more than four per pound, prerably three per pound. Squish them in as few movements as possible into burger shape and size.
Got seasoning? There are lots of mixtures for this. Sprinkle seasoning on up side of burgers. Place burgers on Plate Number One and carry them to the grill. Stop there and either IMMEDIATELY throw your cutting board into the dishwasher that will boil it, or spray it hard with lots of bleach. Do not skimp on any disinfecting step.
Heat your grill way way hot to sear the burgers. This seals in juices and makes yummy grill marks. Throw burgers on the grill. Douse flareups with the cheap beer or other liquid (Coke is good here too). Grill HOT for about a minute then turn the heat down or raise them up higher. Continue to supervise them closely as they cook, feeling the cold raw tops. You'll get an inspiration to flip them in a very few minutes if you're doing it right. The juices will be rising, the edges will brown and you'll just know, in a visceral ancient way, that the meat is COOKING. Throw a bit of seasoning on the top sides and flip the buggers over.
Continue to supervise and douse flareups with beer or beverage of choice. In a few minutes, semi-cut a burger and look at its innards. If it's gray, it's done. You have survived the initiation and are ready to proceed to other grill projects.
This starts with how you handle your burger. Rule of thumb = MINIMAL HANDLING. Burger is fragile and will turn to leather if squished too hard. So let's assume you have burger on a foam tray. Take your tray, cut off the plastic and dump the burger onto a cutting board that will hopefully fit into your dishwasher.
Grab a table knife and use this to divide your burger into preferred raw patty sizes. Whack whack whack. Be generous here because burgers shrink significantly. No more than four per pound, prerably three per pound. Squish them in as few movements as possible into burger shape and size.
Got seasoning? There are lots of mixtures for this. Sprinkle seasoning on up side of burgers. Place burgers on Plate Number One and carry them to the grill. Stop there and either IMMEDIATELY throw your cutting board into the dishwasher that will boil it, or spray it hard with lots of bleach. Do not skimp on any disinfecting step.
Heat your grill way way hot to sear the burgers. This seals in juices and makes yummy grill marks. Throw burgers on the grill. Douse flareups with the cheap beer or other liquid (Coke is good here too). Grill HOT for about a minute then turn the heat down or raise them up higher. Continue to supervise them closely as they cook, feeling the cold raw tops. You'll get an inspiration to flip them in a very few minutes if you're doing it right. The juices will be rising, the edges will brown and you'll just know, in a visceral ancient way, that the meat is COOKING. Throw a bit of seasoning on the top sides and flip the buggers over.
Continue to supervise and douse flareups with beer or beverage of choice. In a few minutes, semi-cut a burger and look at its innards. If it's gray, it's done. You have survived the initiation and are ready to proceed to other grill projects.
Having grilled an edible burger, you are now ready to proceed to a boneless pork loin. These are more forgiving than steaks and generally cheaper as well unless you have a sis and BIL who have a big freezer full of beef upon which to experiment.
There are two ways to grill your boneless loin chops. Variation one: Sprinkle them buggers with meat tenderizer on either side and them throw 'em on the grill, skipping straight to grilling directions.
Variation two: Make a marinade that consists of one part acid stuff, one part seasoned stuff and two parts extender. Example: half cup lime juice, half cup soy sauce, one cup beer. Season with a pork seasoning mix or with something like garlic, onion, pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika and oregano. Other options would be orange or lemon juice, regular Coke, & Up or Sprinte, vinegar, tomato or V8 juice, barbecue sauce, ketchup etc.
Submerge your meat in the marinade (Ziplock bags are good for this), chilled, for a couple of hours.
Now to the grilling: Heat your grill very hot. Throw meat pieces on the grill to sear on each side. Turn the heat down some and supervise the grilling till they feel kinda firm to the touch. Then cut into one piece and make sure it's cooked all the way through. Pork is WHITE MEAT.
If you want to baste your pork with marinade, you need to boil the marinade well first. My rule of thumb is to reduce the marinade by half. Then bru**** on the meat.
Any time you cook meat, do NOT EVER put cooked meat back on the conveyance with which you brought raw meat to the grill. ALWAYS clean conveyances of raw and cooked meat to death with stuff like bleach and mega ho****er. Do not EVER mix the tools with which you handle raw and cooked meat. Wash your hands like a fiend when handling meat.
There are two ways to grill your boneless loin chops. Variation one: Sprinkle them buggers with meat tenderizer on either side and them throw 'em on the grill, skipping straight to grilling directions.
Variation two: Make a marinade that consists of one part acid stuff, one part seasoned stuff and two parts extender. Example: half cup lime juice, half cup soy sauce, one cup beer. Season with a pork seasoning mix or with something like garlic, onion, pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika and oregano. Other options would be orange or lemon juice, regular Coke, & Up or Sprinte, vinegar, tomato or V8 juice, barbecue sauce, ketchup etc.
Submerge your meat in the marinade (Ziplock bags are good for this), chilled, for a couple of hours.
Now to the grilling: Heat your grill very hot. Throw meat pieces on the grill to sear on each side. Turn the heat down some and supervise the grilling till they feel kinda firm to the touch. Then cut into one piece and make sure it's cooked all the way through. Pork is WHITE MEAT.
If you want to baste your pork with marinade, you need to boil the marinade well first. My rule of thumb is to reduce the marinade by half. Then bru**** on the meat.
Any time you cook meat, do NOT EVER put cooked meat back on the conveyance with which you brought raw meat to the grill. ALWAYS clean conveyances of raw and cooked meat to death with stuff like bleach and mega ho****er. Do not EVER mix the tools with which you handle raw and cooked meat. Wash your hands like a fiend when handling meat.
Okay, you've grilled a burger and a bit of boneless pork loin. Think next step is a steak? Well, you could do that. Follow directions for pork loin if it's something boneless and well marbled. If you want round steak/skirt/flank steak, marinate it for about 48 hours first. We'll cover that later though.
NEXT step in the grilling primer a la EN is a boneless roast like rib. ribeye, round tip, sirloin tip, or tri tip.
Thaw your frozen hunk o meat. Throw it in a marinade of choice in proportions as mentioned for pork, or if you want it super simple, in two bottles of good beer and a crapload of garlic. Submerge said hunk o meat for 24 hours.
Heat your grill to mega freaking hot. Throw hunk o meat on the grill and sear all sides. Takes a couple minutes per exposed surface at truly mega freaking hot. Don't be shy on the HIGH heat.
Then grab a pan that you're willing to put on the grill, put hunk o meat in the pan and pour in a cup or two of marinade. Put pan on grill and turn down to lowest possible option. Cover grill. Implant meat thermometer in hunk o meat according to instructions. Stay with the grill and montior progress, making sure that nothing flames up, that the heat stays even and that the thermometer is well submerged in the meat. Add more marinade as needed if it seems to be getting dry.
Follow any directions for internal temp of roast for your desired doneness, including resting time. This is so incredibly easy it's scary.
NEXT step in the grilling primer a la EN is a boneless roast like rib. ribeye, round tip, sirloin tip, or tri tip.
Thaw your frozen hunk o meat. Throw it in a marinade of choice in proportions as mentioned for pork, or if you want it super simple, in two bottles of good beer and a crapload of garlic. Submerge said hunk o meat for 24 hours.
Heat your grill to mega freaking hot. Throw hunk o meat on the grill and sear all sides. Takes a couple minutes per exposed surface at truly mega freaking hot. Don't be shy on the HIGH heat.
Then grab a pan that you're willing to put on the grill, put hunk o meat in the pan and pour in a cup or two of marinade. Put pan on grill and turn down to lowest possible option. Cover grill. Implant meat thermometer in hunk o meat according to instructions. Stay with the grill and montior progress, making sure that nothing flames up, that the heat stays even and that the thermometer is well submerged in the meat. Add more marinade as needed if it seems to be getting dry.
Follow any directions for internal temp of roast for your desired doneness, including resting time. This is so incredibly easy it's scary.
Next example is chicken. There are three ways to progress here based on your chicken bits: Whole, boned parts or boneless parts.
Whole follows same directions as roast beef, with a little more attention to basting. It's somewhat easier to do a beer can chicken: Take your roaster and impale its ass on a full can of beer and stand it on the can on the grill on medium heat. Squirt it occasionally with more beer, till it's nice and brown and well cooked. The thermometer, properly placed, will help you here again, but basically you gotta be patient so it cooks and cooks, and then cut it once or twice at most.
Boned parts are easy peasy. Throw em on the grill, baste 'em with sauce and cook 'em to death, turning multiple times. Keep basting and dousing any flame ups.
Boneless skinless bits require a little more attention cuz they'll get dry and make DSers barf. Marinate their asses a bunch, like 12-24 hours. Throw 'em on a very hot grill and flip 'em so they sear off on both sides. Turn the heat down and supervise them as they cook, dribbling liquid (beer) on them as you go. It's NOT hard, but requires a little learning curve. Everyone messes up on one end or the other : Not hot enough to sear, or cooking time once heat goes down--too short or too long. Basically it's better to cook too long cuz you're less likely to barf your guts out from microbes. But to make this work you gotta keep adding a little liquid as you supervise the grill. Drizzle your beer or whatever on the meat as you supervise.
Whole follows same directions as roast beef, with a little more attention to basting. It's somewhat easier to do a beer can chicken: Take your roaster and impale its ass on a full can of beer and stand it on the can on the grill on medium heat. Squirt it occasionally with more beer, till it's nice and brown and well cooked. The thermometer, properly placed, will help you here again, but basically you gotta be patient so it cooks and cooks, and then cut it once or twice at most.
Boned parts are easy peasy. Throw em on the grill, baste 'em with sauce and cook 'em to death, turning multiple times. Keep basting and dousing any flame ups.
Boneless skinless bits require a little more attention cuz they'll get dry and make DSers barf. Marinate their asses a bunch, like 12-24 hours. Throw 'em on a very hot grill and flip 'em so they sear off on both sides. Turn the heat down and supervise them as they cook, dribbling liquid (beer) on them as you go. It's NOT hard, but requires a little learning curve. Everyone messes up on one end or the other : Not hot enough to sear, or cooking time once heat goes down--too short or too long. Basically it's better to cook too long cuz you're less likely to barf your guts out from microbes. But to make this work you gotta keep adding a little liquid as you supervise the grill. Drizzle your beer or whatever on the meat as you supervise.
Now FISH is a different creature. See that thick scaly skin on your filet? That's your friend for the grill. It protects the yummy white part from drying out. Here's how it works:
Heat the grill mega hot. Throw some kind of seasoning on the fish (grab a mix that sounds good at the store). Use a basket or grill cover thing for fish cuz the buggers fall apart. Throw the fish skin side UP on mega hot and sear for a minute. Then flip the beasties over to skin side DOWN. Sear for a minute, turn the heat down and supervise, drizzling white wine (no beer on fish) as needed to make it seem steamy. (BTW, wine might flare more than beer. Don't panic.)
Watch the pieces carefully. They are done when you poke a fork into a thick piece and it flakes and looks nice and tan/orange/white/cooked compared to raw color. Scoop them up carefully cuz as I said, they fall apart.
Heat the grill mega hot. Throw some kind of seasoning on the fish (grab a mix that sounds good at the store). Use a basket or grill cover thing for fish cuz the buggers fall apart. Throw the fish skin side UP on mega hot and sear for a minute. Then flip the beasties over to skin side DOWN. Sear for a minute, turn the heat down and supervise, drizzling white wine (no beer on fish) as needed to make it seem steamy. (BTW, wine might flare more than beer. Don't panic.)
Watch the pieces carefully. They are done when you poke a fork into a thick piece and it flakes and looks nice and tan/orange/white/cooked compared to raw color. Scoop them up carefully cuz as I said, they fall apart.
Most Active
Recent Topics
