Want to be the master of the grill this summer?
These 5 grilling tips and tricks will tell you everything you need to know to make the most delicious meals on the grill!
- Always make sure your grill is hot. Adding food to a hot grill will give it a wonderful sear on the outside, while keeping it perfectly juicy in the center. It will prevent food from sticking to the grill, and it’s important for cooking safety.
Adding meat to a hot grill will help kill bacteria. Always heat your grill with the lid closed, so that it will heat quickly to your desired temperature. Depending on the grill and temperature, it will take 10-15 minutes to heat up a grill, so plan accordingly.
So what temperature do you want? Follow this guide for grilling temperatures based on what you’re cooking.
- Start with a clean grill.
This will allow the flavor of whatever you’re cooking to shine through and not mix with flavors left behind from whatever you cooked last on the grill. It also helps prevent food from sticking to the grill. - Oil the grill grates.
This will help prevent lean meats from sticking to the grill. Since spraying cooking spray on a grill can cause flare-ups, I recommend against using it on the grill. Instead, pour oil on a paper towel, then use tongs to rub the oil on the grill grates. - Don’t move food around and don’t open the lid on the grill!
Most foods only need to be flipped once during the cooking process. Moving the food around the grill while it cooks can cause food to be unevenly cooked and can add to the total cooking time. - Use an instant-read meat thermometer to check for a safe and desired temperature.
Food safety is extremely important. You always want to make sure that food on the grill is cooked to a safe temperature.
Use an instant read thermometer to make sure meat is cooked to the proper temperature on the grill.
Rare Beef – 125°F / 50C
Well Done Beef – 160°F / 70C
Ground Beef Burgers – 160°F / 70C
Pork – 145°F / 60C
Chicken – 165°F / 75C
