5 Tips to Take You From Backyard Chef To Grilling Pro

Cooking outdoors, on an open flame is, admittedly, a guy thing. It fires up the machismo, brings out the caveman and the competitive spirit. But backyard chefs take note, put some expert tips into practice and you’ll be grillin’ like villain in no time.

There are few subjects that can incite an argument as quickly as how best to grill food. It seems that everyone has a preferred, surefire method for grilling the perfect meal. And that’s especially true of guys.

1. Put Down The Fork

We all get them, for birthdays, father’s day…sometime’s they are in a suitcase type case, other’s from dollar store shelves but one thing most barbecue too sets have in common is that extra long two prong fork. Now this is tip one and it is important. Throw that out. Yes, throw it out. Never use a fork to turn over meat.

Each time you pierce that beautifully butchered, perfectly marbled piece of meat with those prongs you let the juices and the flavour run out. That means you end up with a piece of meat that is more like shoe leather than velvet. Throw out the fork, pick up the tongs and gently turn the meat. Your steaks, chops and chicken will be juicer and you will have much more control on the meat.

So now that you are convinced to use tongs, make sure you use regular kitchen tongs and not the extra long ones when turning meat on the grill. Other than for fish, (use a spatula so you don’t break down the flesh) you have greater control and feel for the meat when you are closer to it.

2. Let It Be

Don’t play with your food!

Your mother was right.

One of the top grilling mistakes we make is constantly touching the food before it has had a chance to cook.

The more you move it around, flip it over, inspect the bottom to see if it is done the more you toughen the meat and lose the juices.

Meat should have a chance to cear on the bottom. If you pull it away too soon you won’t be cooking the meat evenly. If you leave it too long you run the risk of leaving some of the meat on grates. Don’t move the meat around and turn it every 10 seconds, let it cook evenly.

3. Hot Chicks

Chicken is one of those meats that at first is tricky to cook on the grill if you’ve only ever cooked burgers and dogs. Expand your horizons and know your meats.

Chicken needs to be cooked thoroughly, no rare or medium rare options here and it does take some time to cook to ensure it is cooked thoroughly.

There is a trick that although some grillers will cringe at, can help the backyard chef ensure his chicken on grill is not charred on the outside and raw on the inside. You can (no backlash please from the pros, our backyard grillers will get there) microwave the chicken first. The reasoning behind this is not to cook the meat but to heat it up enough so that it will cook more evenly and a little quicker on the grill for those that aren’t pros yet.

There is no perfect formula for heating the chicken in the microwave since all microwaves are different.

A rough estimate would be chicken pieces can be headed for roughly 3 minutes per pound on a microwave safe dish in a single layer. If it’s a whole bird you are thinking of tossing on the grill, leave the skin to keep the juices in and microwave on high about 4-5 minutes per pound.

Now that the chicken is on the grill, how are sure it’s done? Even pros keep food thermometers handy for food safety reasons. Test the internal temperature of your chicken and it should be 180 degrees before you even take it off the grill. Pierce the chicken with a fork (not your BBQ Tool kit long fork, a kitchen fork) and if the juices are clear you are ready to serve. If the juices have any pink or red hues the chicken should be put back onto the grill for several more minutes and rechecked again.

4. Basket Case

Today, we grill everything. And why not, that delicious BBQ flavour enhances every food. But delicate foods can present a bit of problem on the best way to grill.

Grilling baskets are the answer for grilling sliced vegetables or fish fillets. these things are typically difficult to grill as they tend to fall through the cooking grates but a grilling basket will keep them all in place and allow you to shake them up or turn them over to even, easy cooking.

The flat, square bottoms and slanted sides for grilling plates allow easier cooking. Perforations in the plates make for even cooking. The flat, rectangular pans that resemble cookie sheets of grilling pans have perforations with dozens of holes allowing the flames to grill the food.

A good tip for backyard chefs is to spray or wipe down the grilling basket with vegetable oil before use so that food won’t stick and clean up is a breeze.

5. Any Way (Not Any Time) You Slice It

Warmer weather means more red meat. That brings out the caveman in all of us.

Once you know how to perfectly grill that steak the first thing you want to do is slice into it and partake in its flavourful flesh.

Avoid that temptation.

Let your grilled red meat sit for 5 minutes once it is off the grill. This will allow the juices to remix throughout the cut. Slicing the meat too soon means losing those juices and along with the juice the moisture of the meat and the flavour.

And slicing too early is also a no no with chicken, lamb, , duck pork and other meats as well. Don’t slice your meat on the grill. Ever. The pros use a meat thermometer to test the doneness of the meat.

A tip for your steak. Before you slice it, drizzle a little olive oil or some butter on it and give it that professional chef sheen and an extra dash of flavour.

Now that you have these five tips, take yourself from backyard chef to Grill Master and enjoy the season!