GRILLING TIPS
- Be sure your grill is hot enough before starting.
- Grill meat and veggies about 4 inches from heat source and chicken about 6-8 inches away.
- To add more flavor, try adding pre soaked chunks of natural hardwoods like Hickory.
- Make sure grill is clean before cooking.
- To prevent sticking, brush or spray a light coating of oil on grid.
- If your grill has a top, close it to allow smoke to add it’s flavor.
- To keep poultry from drying out, grill with bone in and baste continuously.
- Poultry dark meat takes longer than white meat so start it sooner.
- Sear chicken on the skin side first.
MISCELLANEOUS TIPS
- To slice meat into thin strips, partially freeze and it will slice easily.
- A roast with the bone in will cook faster than a boneless roast – the bone carries the heat to the inside of the roast quicker.
- For a juicer hamburger add cold water to the beef before grilling (1/2 cup-1 lb. of meat).
- It’s important to let a roast; beef, pork, lamb or poultry, sit a little while before carving. That allows the juices to retreat back into the meat. If you carve a roast too soon, much of its goodness will spill out onto the carving board.
- Microwave garlic cloves for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off.
- Use a gentle touch when shaping ground beef patties. Overhandling will result in a firm, compact texture after cooking. Don’t press or flatten with spatula during cooking.
- When browning ground meat, brown several pounds and drain. Divide evenly in freezer containers and freeze. Unthaw in microwave for quick fixing next time.
- Poke a hole in the middle of the hamburger patties while shaping them. The burgers will cook faster and the holes will disappear when done.
- Chefs pound meat not to tenderize the meat, but to help even the meat so it cooks evenly.
- If you need only 1/2 an onion, save the root half. It will last longer.
- Drain deep fried foods on brown paper grocery bags as opposed to paper towels to retain crispness.
- Thaw frozen meat and poultry in the refrigerator and not on the kitchen counter where bacteria can grow.
- A simple way to sharpen kitchen shears: cut a piece of steel wool.