Tag: Charcoal

Eliminate Outdoor Cooking Mistakes

As humans, we all make mistakes. It is human nature to do so, and cannot be prevented each and every time. When it comes to barbequing, this rule is no different. We often make mistakes that we do not even realize until we taste our food, or something potentially dangerous happens.

Some mistakes just mean that the food you cook is not going to taste very good, while others could potentially mean a trip to the hospital, or a visit from your claims representative on your home insurance policy. No matter the severity of the mistake, you should do your best to try to avoid them whenever possible.

Cooking Mistakes

You must properly prepare the meat you are cooking, before cooking it. You should never attempt to cook meat on a grill when it is still frozen, or even partially frozen. Thaw your meat by sitting it out about 12 to 24 hours before you plan on cooking it, or by thawing it in a microwave.

Once meat is cooked, never put it back in on the same plate you had it on when it was raw. This could cause the spread of many unwanted illnesses.

Cooking with charcoal lighter fluid can be good or bad. The lighter fluid will cause the food you are cooking to taste different then with other types of grills. Alternatively, attempting to not use lighter fluid may cause a lot of frustration due to the fact that charcoal can be difficult if not impossible to light without lighter fluid.

Never poke you meat while it is cooking. Poking holes in meat will cause the juice inside to leak out into the bottom of the grill. Not only will this make your food dry and unappealing in the end, but it also could potentially ruin your barbeque grill. At the very least, it will cause a buildup of unwanted grease and juices on your grill, which will make cleanup harder.

Once the meat is on the grill, try not to open the lid to many times. Each time you open the lid, you change the temperature in the grill. The constant change in temperature and the air flow will cause your meat to dry up quickly.

While using tin foil or aluminum foil will make cleaning easier, it will cause your food to have more of a fried taste then a grilled taste.

Dangerous Mistakes

Never, under any circumstance, should you leave a grill alone when it is in use. Grilling does have fire involved, and accidents can happen. Fire spreads quickly, so being aware of your grill could mean the difference between a small fire that is quickly extinguished, and a visit from the fire department.

Never place a hot grill against a wall, even if the fire is already completely out. A hot grill can heat up an exterior wall to the point of combustion. Also, do not put the grill cover back on until you are sure that the grill is completely cool.

You grill should be cleaned after each and every use, no exceptions. While no one likes cleaning the grill, it is essential for the life and safety of your grill. If you allow your grill to sit dirty, not only are you causing a potential fire and health hazard, but you are ultimately making it harder on yourself when it does come time to clean your grill.

Different Types of Barbeque Grills

Summer is here, which means that it is time to begin grilling and preparing awesome barbeque parties. The only problem is, you have not bought your barbeque grill yet. When purchasing your first grill, you will find that you have a large array of options available to you. It may seem overwhelming at first due to the almost endless amount of possibilities and options available. The best way to decide on what type of grill is right for you is by educating yourself about them.

Cost

Barbeque grills can range from extremely cheap to very expensive depending on the type and features available on it.

If you are looking for a cheaper grill, then you should probably consider a charcoal grill. While larger charcoal grills are available, smaller grills can be purchased for as little as $10 to $15 at your local department store. Fancier, large charcoal grills can be purchased for about $60 to $75. Charcoal requires purchasing charcoal and lighter fluid each time you, so you must remember this when considering the cost.

Propane grills are slightly more expensive, starting around $100 dollars.

A smoker grill is slightly more expensive then a propane grill at about $130 each.

Natural gas grills on the higher end of cost. The mechanical part of this grill make it larger and more complex. The Natural gas grills are meant to be hooked up to your home line. Typically these types of grills start at about $300.

Multiple fuel grills are the most expensive at about $450 and up. Multiple fuel grills allow you to grill using one or a combination of fuels.

Ease of Use

The easiest grill to use is by far the natural gas grill. Natural gas grills are designed to hook directly into your homes natural gas line, eliminating the need to provide the fuel source. Natural gas grills are also one of the easiest grills to clean since you do not have to worry about cleaning out the charcoal or wood.

The next in line would be the propane grills, as they have similar features of the natural gas grills. The only issue keeping Propane grills from being equal to natural gas grills is the fact that you must provide the propane somehow. This usually means hauling and handling propane tanks.

The hardest grills to use are charcoal and smoker grills. Both types of grills require additional purchases of supplies, and then requires extra cleaning once grilling is complete.

Flavor

If you are concerned with flavor, you first choice should be a charcoal or smoker grill. Both of these grills allow you to replicate a true smoked flavor. Smokers are especially nice because you can also control the flavor by changing the type of wood or wood chips you use. This is good if you are wanting to slow cook your meat.

If you are wanting to cook something a little quicker, you may want to stick with the charcoal grill. A Charcoal grill will cook quickly if you want it too, and it will still provide a good smoked taste.

Space

Finally, the space you have available should be a consideration. When you grill is not in use, you must have a proper place to store it. Charcoal and Propane grills are ideal for smaller areas such as apartments and city homes. If you have a large amount of space available, then you may want to consider the larger options.

Barbeque Maintenance Tips

When purchasing your barbeque grill, think of it as an investment rather then just another item for your outdoor entertainment. You should expect this item to become a large part of your outdoor activities for many years to come. But like any other investments, proper maintenance and care is needed to ensure that your barbeque grill will work for you for many years to come. While some maintenance and cleaning is specific to the type of barbeque grill your own (gas, electric, charcoal or smoke barbecue grill), the majority of maintenance that should be carried on does not change from grill to grill.

Step 1- Gathering The Necessary Items

You will need some common household items on hand when it comes time to clean your barbeque grill.

Brass wire grill brush
Steel wool pads, preferably that contains soap already.
Mild dish soap
Sponge or dishcloth
Spray cooking oil
Dry baking soda
Aluminum foil

Step 2- Brushing Your Grill Off

The first thing that should always be done to your grill is a routine brushing. Using your brass wire grill brush (or other brush suitable to your type of grill) you should brush off all the surfaces. By routinely brushing your barbeque grill, you will prevent any type of buildup. If buildup from food is left to long, it can become increasingly difficult to remove.

Step 3- Spray Cooking Oil

Once you are sure that your grill is free of all buildup and debris, and that your grill is completely cooled off, you will want to spray it down with a light layer of cooking oil. Spraying it down with cooking oil will prevent your barbeque grill from rusting. It is especially important to make sure your barbeque grill is completely cold, as spraying cooking oil on a hot surface may cause the oil to heat up and ignite, which could be potentially dangerous to you and your barbeque grill.

Step 4- Use Baking Soda and Aluminum Foil on Your Grill

Baking soda is a very nice cleaning and polishing agent. Once you have removed any extra debris and buildup, lightly scrubbing your barbeque grill with baking soda will give it that extra shine, similar to the day that you brought it home from the store. This can also be used on handles and knobs to remove any extra buildup that cannot be taken off with a wire brush.

Aluminum foil can also be used to keep your grill looking nice. Gently rub the aluminum foil on your grill, and you will notice that it removes grim and buildup.

Step 5- Clean Your Racks

The racks in your grill are especially important as this is where the food touches when it is cooking. You will have to use the wire brush to remove as much buildup as possible. Once you remove as much as possible, start washing the racks with dish soap. If the racks are really dirty, you may also want to use the steel wool pads. Be sure to completely rinse off all soap and residue before cooking on these racks again.

Step 6- Preventing Problems

The majority of problems that arise from barbeque grills comes from lack of cleaning and maintenance. That means if you notice something does not seem quite right with your barbeque grill, chances are it can be fixed with just a simple cleaning. Even if you clean it, and still find that it is having problems, at least you saved yourself the potential embarrassment of taking it to a professional only to find out all it needed was to be cleaned.

Safety Tips When Grilling Outdoors

The Many Wonders Of Grilling

Whether it is Thanksgiving, New Year, Christmas, someones birthday bash or just a family gathering, nothing beats having a backyard outdoors. Just think about having the best meats, fishes and vegetables sizzling on the grill while you and whoever you are with would later enjoy the wonderful flavors produced by it. While that is true, people who are into grilling should also be careful, that is safety should also be an issue since there are risks involved in grilling.

Risks Of Danger

People, especially those who are quite new to the grill may not be aware of the dangers that they are exposed to when grilling. While the most common would be having your finger burned, if neglect other factors too much it can cause more serious cases. In fact, some cases have involved structure fires and outdoor fires. So to help you avoid those cases, here are some outdoor grilling tips that would help you not only be safer when grilling but some of these could even make food taste better.

Keep The Kids Out

If you often grill with your family and have kids, make sure to keep the kids out of the grilling area especially when already grilling. Making the grilling area a no play zone will keep the kids and the one who is grilling out of danger or of accidents that could happen. It is also very important to make sure the kids are away until the grill is cool. Along with that, pets should also be kept away since they could also bring up the same accidents that kids can do.

Even when setting the grill, make sure that you are at least 10 feet away from objects that could easily catch fire such as the house, bushes, trees and shrubs. Also make sure that you are standing by the grill at all times when grilling, you need to be aware of what is going on and what could happen and doing this could also make you watch the food and avoid having it getting overcooked or burnt. Since grilling involves fire, you have to be aware of what it could do.

More Safety Tips

When grilling, you also have to take into heavy consideration the starter fluid, where to use it and the proper way of using it. Be aware that you should only use this on charcoal grills and never on a stove-type grill. Before you start using a gas grill, make sure that you are able to check the connection between the stove top and the gas tank to make sure that it is not leaking and make sure not to do this by the use of a lighter as this could also impose danger.

Also be aware that a barbecue is to be used outdoors, that means that it should never be brought inside the house for it to be used in. Not only would this impose danger to your house but even if done safely, the smoke caused by grilling can make your house smell for days even after grilling.

Now that you already know some helpful outdoor grilling tips for safety, what you need next are mad skills to be the next god of the grill. With that, you can grill like a master and be completely safe while doing it.

Safety Tips For Grilling

Grilling Outdoors

When grilling, there is no better place to do it rather than outdoors. The lovely food that is produced when grilling is complimented by the wonderful ambiance of simply being outdoors. However, grilling outdoors is not completely safe as it could pose some hazards to safety in fact, there are already some serious cases attributed to outdoor grilling, structure fires and outdoor fires are also some serious cases that is why in grilling, safety is an important issue.

So to make your grilling experiences much better and much safer, here are some important tips you should consider the next time you go out to go grilling. Always remember that the pleasures you get from any experience is not worth your life.

Check Your Grill

If you are using a gas grill, always check for leaks every time before you start grilling. Leaks can also catch fire from the grill top and could cause very serious cases so make sure there are exactly no leaks. When doing this, make sure not to use a lighter to see where the leaks are. Take note that lighters are only to be used to start charcoal-type grills and never on gas grills especially when testing for leaks. This would save you from a lot of danger if you follow this.

Also make sure that your grill is standing stable and not shaky and does not show any likeliness of toppling over. The fire on the grill top can cause a lot of dangers if the grill topples over. When grilling, also make sure that fire extinguishers and first aid is always ready, you will never know what could happen during a barbecue so you should better off be safe and get ready.

Check The Area

Make sure that your outdoor grilling area is safe and by this, you will have to take a few measures. Mark the grilling area as a no play zone for your kids and only allow them to get near only if the grill has completely cooled down. Also make sure that pets are away from the grill at all times. Since it is an outdoor grill, the name itself already explains where it should only be used. It should only be outdoors at all times and never indoors.

The grilling area should also be away from objects that could catch fire and spread it easily such as the house itself, bushes, trees and shrubs. Make sure that the grill is about 10 feet away from any of those. The grill should be isolated and ideally should stand alone away from everything else in the backyard. Electric cords and outlets should also be away from the grill, having these exposed to heat can have them explode or cause fire.

Other Guidelines

When grilling, never leave it alone while the fire is still burning. Even if a long process would not have you on the food, you should still make sure that you are carefully watching the grill at all times. Also make sure that you use long utensils when grilling, not only are you more versatile while on the grill with them but you are also safer from burns you can get from the grill. Make sure you also watch what you wear.

Shirts or aprons with tails, frills and are hanging can catch fire. As much as you want to enjoy grilling, you would also want to be safe. The guidelines provided should be of great help to you.