Topic: Grilling tips

[ober]

I want to get better at grilling.  I'm not all that great at it.  The food usually comes out decent, but not great.  I use a propane grill with 3 burners and I always lay the meat directly on the metal grates and directly above the heat.

Questions I have:
1) Do any of you use tin foil on the grates to lay the food on... and if so, when?
2) I've read a little bit but I don't understand when to use direct heat vs. indirect heat.
3) What temp setting do you use for various meats?  What is better slow-cooked vs. full heat (if any)?
4) Is there a better way to do corn on the cob than wrapping it in butter and tin foil (this seems to take forever)

Any other tips???

[Govtcheez]

1) That's useful if you're having trouble getting the meat off the grill surface, like with fish.  I'll also use it if I'm grilling with a sauce, so the sauce doesn't drip into the flames and cause a flareup
2) Most things you're cooking will take direct heat, unless you're trying to slow cook something like ribs.  Sometimes if I'm grilling different types of things that cook in different times, I'll just move the things done first to an "indirect" part of the grill to keep them warm.

4) Leave it in the husk.  It still takes quite awhile though.

[Mike]

Except for burgers and dogs I took pretty much everything indirect.  High heat to sear sometimes and then low temp to cook.  One reason for the last two is simply ease of cooking.  Indirect & low is a lot less likely to burn if you get distracted for a few minutes.  That and I like thicker meats (like roasts, ribs, or just a thick cut) for grilling.  Thinner cuts I just put on my foreman grill.

[Steve]

I want to get better at grilling.  I'm not all that great at it.  The food usually comes out decent, but not great.  I use a propane grill with 3 burners and I always lay the meat directly on the metal grates and directly above the heat.

Questions I have:
1) Do any of you use tin foil on the grates to lay the food on... and if so, when?
2) I've read a little bit but I don't understand when to use direct heat vs. indirect heat.
3) What temp setting do you use for various meats?  What is better slow-cooked vs. full heat (if any)?
4) Is there a better way to do corn on the cob than wrapping it in butter and tin foil (this seems to take forever)

Any other tips???

1) Never, unless a recipe directly calls for it. Meat will cook differently this way, and some recipes will mention it. I don't think i have ever actually used it. I have never grilled something like fish, though.

2) Indirect heat is exactly what it sounds like. Direct is above/on/near the heat source. Indirect, for example, would be on an upper rack, not above the heat source. Indirect varies based on what you are cooking and how.

3) This is completely dependant on the meat, the cut, the tempature, the state (seasoned, marinated, semi frozen, completely thawed), the grill, etc etc etc

4) Oh yea. http://www.google.com/search?q=corn+on+the+cob+grill+recipes&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

EDIT: govt mentioned fish, so it would be useful for that (#1)

[Govtcheez]

The other thing you could do with fish is throw it on a cedar plank or something.  That'd be preferable to foil in any case

[Jake]

I pretty much do the same things cheez does, but her are my answers

1. Tinfoil for ribs and veggies or anything that could easily fall through the grates. I also use those aluminum containers to cook chicken in. (look below)
2. Direct heat for almost everything like Cheeze said. Indirect if something needs to take a long time: ribs, pork butt, etc....I also use indirect heat if I have too much on the grill and have flame ups.
3. you want to use full heat on almost any beef, especially steak. I get my grill upto 550-600 before throwing steak on. Full heat on burgers too.
4. I do that except for the tin foil. I usually put it in first along with the potatoes. It is just a process bot well worth it!!

A week ago I used a tin foil container to marinate too sets of chicken wings...one hot one sweet. I used a lot of sauce! They marinated for 4 hours. I got the grill to about 400 and put the containers on the flame. the wings "cooked" in the sauce. i had to add some more so they would not stick to the bottom. after about 45 minutes i put the wings directly on the grates to get some color. at that point allready the meat was coming off the bone. 15 minutes later they were ready. best fucking wings i have ever had.

yesterday i did the same with drumsticks...add about 45 minutes to the process and you're done. did these on charcoal though. fucking awesome. they were a hit at the pool party.

[Jake]

I also use a lot of beer when I grill. Beer on notched polish sausages, beer on italian sausages, chicken in beer, beer can chicken...all kinds of different things.

Two other things I live by:

1. when marinating chicken, always use a little bit of lemon juice. It helps open up the pores and gets the marinade inside the meat better.
2. I only do steak one way: lemon pepper and Worcestershire sauce marinade; red hot grill. Done.

[Steve]

beer can chicken rules

[Govtcheez]

2. I only do steak one way: lemon pepper and Worcestershire sauce marinade; red hot grill. Done.

Philistine.

Salt, pepper, done.

[jkim]

2. I only do steak one way: lemon pepper and Worcestershire sauce marinade; red hot grill. Done.

Philistine.

Salt, pepper, done.

You eat it without grilling?!!  You animal.

That's how I usually like my steak too.

[Jake]

2. I only do steak one way: lemon pepper and Worcestershire sauce marinade; red hot grill. Done.

Philistine.

Salt, pepper, done.

You eat it without grilling?!!  You animal.

That's how I usually like my steak too.

hehe. I really like my lemon salt - other than regular salt and pepper lemon salt is the best seasoning do you use A1 or other steak sauce with your salt and pepper steak. After my treatment, you don't have too

[Govtcheez]

Of course I don't use A1 - I eat steak cause I like the way steak tastes, not so I can slather some crappy sauce on it!

[Steve]

Of course I don't use A1 - I eat steak cause I like the way steak tastes, not so I can slather some crappy sauce on it!

+1. I used to be the other way around. Sometimes i will use A1 in a marinate, tho

[Govtcheez]

also if you don't suck at cooking steak you shouldn't need lots of seasoning

do you suck at cooking steak axon

[Jake]

also if you don't suck at cooking steak you shouldn't need lots of seasoning

do you suck at cooking steak axon

dude, you'd fucking love my steak.