Tips: Grilling your favorite meats on the BBQ

There’s a difference between barbecuing and grilling, we all know that, right? The terms can be used interchangeably, but generally speaking, barbecue is meat cooked low and slow over smoke, and grilling is meat cooked fast and with that great brown exterior. Yum either way. Today we’re going to talk about grilling your favorite meats.

1. Keep the raw foods away from the cooked foods. Safety first! On that topic, read the grill manual before starting things. Let’s stay safe out there, we’re grilling meat, not ourselves.
2. Clean that grill! Let it get nice and hot, then clean it with a brush or a large ball of smashed tinfoil you hold in some long tongs.
3. Oil the grates. Once it’s clean, use a paper towel soaked in oil (Again using those tongs) to oil the grates.
4. Flip once – You’ll want about a one-inch steak, any more and you’ll have to get fancy and cook it for a while over lower coals, who has that time? Put that steak on there (after seasoning it), let it cook on one side about 4 minutes, flip it, and cook it another 3 minutes for medium-rare, 4 for medium. I won’t even talk about well-done. Don’t do it!
5. Cook chicken long and slow – one of my favorite things is to spatchcock a chicken (use sharp kitchen shears to cut out the backbone, then flatten it). I smash a few garlic cloves, add some salt and rosemary, and rub that mixture all up under the skin. Then cook it on the cool side of a wood-fired grill. (on indirect heat) Make the fire under one side, cook the chicken on the other. Flip it after about an hour and a half, cook it another hour and a half, and it’s a beautiful thing.
6. Best Burger Tip – Add water to the mixture. Check out this excellent article on the best burger tips.
7. Use an instant-read meat thermometer – You can guess at whether meat’s done, and using the finger test, but a meat thermometer’s the surest way to know you’re food’s at the right and safe temperature.
8. Let it rest! You’ve finished cooking, the sides are ready, and you need a little rest before eating, maybe a cold beer. Let the meat rest under loosely tented foil for 5 minutes, too. It will allow it to stop cooking, and the juices won’t flow out when you cut it, meaning the meat will stay juicy and flavorful.

Whatever you do with your meats, grill them, cook them indoors or smoke them, may you have a wonderful summer, and happy eating!