Grilling Tips
By: Anonymous
Published: Friday, February 12, 2010 - 3:41am

Preparation

1 There is no magic or mystery involved with getting good, consistent results from the grill. The following tips can be applied to most any meat, fish, or vegetable grill outdoors. 2 Always preheat your grill. You should have a hot cooking surface for searing the food when it hits the fire. Before you add the food to the grill, scrub the cooking surface with a brass grill brush to remove any charred bits from your last cookout. For delicate foods such as fish, brush or wipe on a thin coat of olive oil to help protect the food from sticking. 3 Don't turn your food more than you have to. Typically I put the food on the grill and won't turn it until the first side is properly seared. The grill will "release" the food when it's ready to be turned - if you try to turn before its time the food generally will stick to the grates. Sear the second side and when that's done, turn back to the first side, reduce the heat, and cook to your desired doneness. 4 Test for doneness. For most people this is the trickiest task. Many of you like to cut into meats to inspect the color of the juices. Don't do this. First, it dries the meat, and second, it's not very accurate (marinades can mask the natural juice color). There are two methods one can use - touch and temperature. Obviously, temperature is the most accurate and healthy. Insert a quick read thermometer half way into the thickest part of the meat without touching a bone. Remove the meat from the grill 5-10 degrees below the desired doneness because it will continue to cook for the next few minutes. Below is a chart for proper inte 5 Pork: 160 degreesGround Beef: 160 degreesChicken and Turkey: 165 degreesBeef, Lamb, Veal:Rare - 140 degreesMed. Rare - 145 degreesMedium - 155 degreesMed. Well - 160 degreesWell - 165 degrees 6 For some reason, I don't do well with a thermometer (I usually end up overcooking my meat) so I tend to rely on the touch method, and when in doubt, use a thermometer to confirm the results. The touch method simply means you poke the meat with your finger and based on the texture you can judge its doneness. If it feels very tender and springy, it's rare. If it offers resistance with a little spring, it's medium. If it's firm and dense feeling, it's well done. If it's hard, serve plenty of vegetables! 7 Rely on your instincts and your meat thermometer over a recipe's cooking time. I've found that most recipe times overcook meat. Also, keep in mind that cooking times may be reduced if you use an acidic marinade. Acids such as lemon and vinegar will begin to cook the meat before it hits the flame. 8 Let the meat rest before slicing. Resting the meat for five or ten minutes allows the juices to settle into the fibers of the meat creating a moist, tender, grilled food.