If you're planning to fire up the grill at home over the coming weeks, check out these expert tips from chefs and pitmasters to ensure your meats and veggies are cooked to perfection.
Don’t leave it until the last minute to spark up your grill, advises Brad Farmerie of New York City’s meat-focused Saxon + Parole restaurant. He told Men's Health: "Start your coals a while before putting your meat on, so the fire has time to burn down and the heat is nice and even. This will prevent you from burning your meat on a bed of hot flames."
Many pros advocate wood over charcoal for the flavour it gives. Speaking to Fox News, author and barbecue champion Melissa Cookston recommends: "Stick with more mellow woods like apple, peach and cherry." She explains "You can overpower a lot of products with hickory, [especially] pork and chicken."
While smoking relies on indirect heat and cooking food low and slow, grilling is the opposite. Matt Lee, one half of TV chef duo The Lee Bros, told CNN, "Grilling is all about getting that quick sear with high temperatures." You'll need some extra patience if you choose to smoke but, done right, the result will be fall-off-the-bone meat with a pack-a-punch flavour.
Barbecue aficionados may want to invest in a smoker but you can get similar results from your grill. Pitmaster Pat Martin told Bon Appétit how: "Slowly add the coals until [the grill] gets up to 120°C (250°F)," then pop your meat on the opposite side of the hot coals and close the lid. If your grill has a 'damper' (vent), open it right above the meat to help direct the heat.
The quality of meat you cook can make all the difference. Barbecue expert and cookbook author Jess Pryles advised Thrillist: “Higher grade meat with more marbling means the cut is going to be more tender and flavoursome.” Brad Farmerie concurs: “Grain-fed beef tends to taste slightly creamier and richer and can also withstand slight overcooking.”
"Knowing your cooking temperature and keeping it consistent are two of the most important factors in barbecue," according to pitmaster Aaron Franklin, owner of Franklin Barbecue in Austin, Texas. In an interview with Esquire he explained that often smokers and grills come with cheap, inbuilt thermometers but it's best to discard these and invest in something more reliable.
Some more hi-tech grills and smokers will come with an inbuilt water pan, otherwise you can add one yourself beneath the grates. Aaron Franklin told Esquire: "It adds humidity, which is constantly being whisked out by convection, to the cooking environment. It helps hasten the cooking process while slowing the drying process of the meat."
There are lots of things to consider when barbecuing but food hygiene and safety should always come top of the list. Presenter and chef DJ BBQ suggests using two pairs of tongs. He told The Happy Foodie that you need “One to handle the uncooked meat and a clean pair to deal with the cooked meat.”
A juicy steak can be a true barbecue treat and Brooke Lewis, co-founder of The Shed BBQ in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, recommends the reverse-sear approach on larger cuts. She informed Thrillist: “Reverse-sear is simply the method of cooking at a lower heat until the protein is 90% to desired temperature, then finishing it off on the grill at a high temperature.”
"When you burn the bones on your meat, it’s amateur hour," says Josh Capon of Bowery Meat Company, a steakhouse in New York City. "Black and brittle bones" can really take away from the enjoyment of your barbecued meat, he told Bloomberg. “Wrap those bones in foil, even for something major like a tomahawk chop. Just remove the foil towards the end of the cooking to give them a little colour."
While barbecue beginners might douse the grates in oil before lighting up, Elizabeth Karmel, a renowned Southern cook and barbecue expert, says that’s not best practice. "A thin layer of oil on the food holds in moisture," she told Food & Wine. Not to mention, if your grill is dripping in oil, "that’s a big fire hazard."
The last thing you want is your meat sticking to the grate but remember that adding oil where it’s not needed can be detrimental too. "Most cuts of lamb, for example, will require no additional fat," Bryon Burger’s head chef Fred Smith advised Good Housekeeping. "A well-made hamburger will also have enough fat content to require no oil, as will pork and most beef cuts."
Check out our tasty tips for cooking lamb perfectly every time
British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay recommends starting burger prep the night before for best results. He suggests rolling seasoning round the edge of the patties to give them extra flavour and told ABC News, "If you get this done the day before, set them in the fridge so they stay nice and firm – that way they don't fall apart on the grill."
Bobby Flay has a nifty trick to nail perfectly-done steak – remove the guesswork by checking the temperature with a meat thermometer. He says medium-rare is 51°C (125°F) and medium is 60°C (140°F). Take the steak out from under the grill or pan before it reaches this as the meat continues to cook. Bobby also allows the steak to rest before serving.
The meat shouldn’t have to do all the work – putting a little time and effort into your buns will also yield great results. "There is nothing worse than a soggy bun," explains Gordon Ramsay. "I'm a firm believer in toasting both sides of my bun.”
To get your meat cooking quicker, four-time World Barbecue Champion Myron Mixon suggests wrapping it in foil. He told Thrillist to wrap "after the protein has absorbed adequate smoke and caramelisation has taken place on the outside. Generally a liquid such as water or apple juice is placed in the foil with the meat and wrapped tightly. The steaming effect from the liquid speeds up the cooking process.”
Los Angeles chef and restaurateur Bruce Kalman has a special secret for adding some extra texture to your barbecued chicken. He revealed to Bloomberg: “To make chicken skin especially crisp and the meat juicy, rub a little bit – not a lot – of mayonnaise under the skin before throwing it on the grill. You can also add a mix of softened butter, garlic and herbs."
To really kick your flavours up a notch, get creative with a basting brush. Billy Durney of New York City's Hometown Bar-B-Que suggested to Thrillist: “Incorporate a basting brush made of herbs by attaching whole stems of thyme, rosemary and sage onto a wooden spoon with butcher twine. Use it to baste meats throughout the cook with butter, a good oil or sauce."
While it's tempting to slather your food in sauce early in the grilling process, doing so is a bad idea, says Canadian pitmaster and host of popular TV Show BBQ Crawl Danielle Bennett. She explained to Global News Canada, "If you add it too early it’s more likely to burn. Instead, brush it on during the last five to 10 minutes of cooking."
Steak may look inviting straight off the grill but allow some time before you dig in and it will taste all the better. Richard Turner of British steakhouse Hawksmoor explained in The Guardian, "Take the meat off before you think it is ready and let it rest: it will continue cooking in the residual heat and the tissues will relax, meaning what you serve will be juicier and more tender. A 20-minute rest at 60°C (140°F) will improve your grilling no end."
While a marinade will add extra flavour to your fish, it will likely compromise texture too. TV chef and barbecue expert Rick Browne revealed to Today, “I don’t marinate fish at all – if you do, it’s likely to fall apart.” He swaps a marinade for a dash of olive oil and perhaps a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
To make perfectly charred burgers, do as Bobby Flay of Boy Meets Grill, Throwdown with Bobby Flay and Beat Bobby Flay does. Use a meat mixture that's 80% beef and 20% fat, then give patties a generous coating of salt and pepper, create a small dent in the middle and fry in a cast iron pan. But the most important thing of all: only flip the burger once.
If you want a more traditional meat next holiday season, you can even barbecue your turkey. Not only will it give you a beautifully browned, smoky bird, it'll free up any oven space you need too. Elizabeth Karmel told Real Simple that indirect heat is key so the bottom of the bird doesn't burn. She also warns that stuffing the turkey will add a lot of cooking time and suggests placing the bird in a shallow pan (like an aluminium pan from the supermarket) to catch the delicious drippings.
With a little barbecue magic, vegetables can be more than a side dish. Chef and author Steven Raichlen told Tasting Table how different grilling styles are required for different vegetables: "Use direct grilling for high-water-content vegetables like peppers, onions, mushrooms, asparagus and corn on the cob. Use indirect grilling for dense vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and beets."
Colourful vegetable kebabs are a treat for the eye and practical too. Steven Raichlen advises, "When grilling skinny vegetables like asparagus, snap peas and okra, skewer multiple pieces together crosswise so they don’t slip between the bars of the grate."
You'll get the most from your veg if you coat them in oil prior to popping them on the barbecue, Byron’s head chef Fred Smith explains. He told Good Housekeeping, "Generally, vegetable or sunflower oil are good choices." But “Use olive oil for aubergines (as they will absorb it) and butter for mushrooms and corn, as it enhances the flavour."
“If you haven’t tried red peppers on the barbecue, you should," continues Smith. They're perfect for barbecuing due to their soft texture and sweet flavour, he notes. "Barbecue them from raw, and then peel off the black skin from the outside, leaving a lovely sweet and smoky flesh to eat."
You might not think to put fruit on the grill but bananas make for a brilliant barbecued dessert. Elizabeth Karmel explains to Food & Wine, "The heat of the grill intensifies the natural flavours of any food.” She seasons them with a dessert rub – a combination of cinnamon, sugar and a pinch of salt.
There's no need to let your vegetable scraps go to waste when barbecuing. Celebrity chef Chris Cosentino of upscale Acacia House in Napa Valley has a special use for them. “You can throw vegetable scraps like corn husks, corn cobs, onion and garlic skins into the flames of an open-fire grill," he revealed to Bloomberg. "It adds another layer of smoke flavour to whatever it is that you’re grilling."
A sure-fire way to cook your food to perfection is to carefully control the temperature of your grill – vary how many coals you pile in different areas to create a range of heat zones, from searing hot to moderate to more mild. TV chef and author Steven Raichlen told Tasting Table, "If your food catches fire, or you’d like to keep it warm once it’s cooked, simply move it over to the cool zone."
So you’ve pulled the grill out and it’s looking a little dirty. Steve Smith of The Latymer in Surrey, England, suggests waiting until it’s preheated to give it a scrub. He told Good Housekeeping: "It's best to clean the grill just after preheating it. This way the grease and food scrapes off easily." Watch you don't burn yourself, though.
Smith has some novel cleaning ideas too. He suggests sticking a fork in an onion and rubbing the grill with it to help clean any little bits of grit that the brush may have missed. Or, “Pour half a bottle of beer over a heated barbecue then rub with newspaper to clean.” Your grill will be sparkling in no time.