Tag: Grills

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.

New Recipes For Outdoor Grilling

What We Know

If we are not too into barbecues, the only types of items in the grill we might know could be those lovely racks of ribs our parents used to make with tomato based barbecue sauce. While that recipe is very much lovely no doubt, if that is the only recipe that you know then you are missing out a lot. Nowadays, there are a lot of new recipes for barbecue sauces made out of whatever it is that you can think of. From strawberries, mangoes, apples and even mustard are now used as bases for barbecue sauces.

If you are only using your grill for direct grilling, then you sure dont know a lot yet about how versatile your grill is. An outdoor grill can be used for virtually anything you can do inside your kitchen and more than that. With an outdoor grill, you can grill, smoke, sear and do a lot more stuff on your outdoor barbecue. With all the new things you can do, it is sure that the way you view your outdoor grill will be way different than how you always used to.

New Barbecue Sauce Recipes

Most people who barbecue would result to having sauces that are ready for pick up at their local grocery shelves. While these sauces might taste good too, nothing beats the experience of being able to make your own barbecue sauces or any outdoor grilling recipes. Not only is it more fun to do yourself but you also get to adjust the taste according to how you want it to be. Like if you think a sauce needs more spice or more lemon juice, you can adjust it yourself.

Keep in mind that there are no limits when it comes to making your own outdoor grilling recipes. In fact, all the things most of us might consider weird are used by many on the grill. A barbecue with mustard sauce is in fact getting more popular by the minute because of its nice taste. Whatever pleases the tongue is good to go on the barbecue.

New Ways Of Cooking

Because it is an outdoor grill, we would usually stick to the old outdoor grilling recipes, ways of using it and many other traditions we follow when it comes to it. If that is our mindset, then we are definitely missing out on a lot because there are numerous ways of enjoying when we are grilling outdoors. One way of it is smoking which is best on fish, sausages and meats. This method of cooking gives grilled food a distinct and lovely taste apart from any other methods of cooking.

You can also put an aluminum foil pan on top of the grill and cook meats on top of that to make it soak in its own juice. This method is more famously known as roasting and it is now commonly done on top of an outdoor grill. While all those are new and lovely ways of cooking in the grill, you can still have grilling the classic way ever once in a while after all, it never tasted too bad.

Things To Keep Traditional

While there are many new things we can do on top of our outdoor grills and a whole lot of outdoor grilling recipes you should try the next time you would have to, we have to keep in mind that safety rules are still to be kept as always when it comes to outdoor grilling. Make sure that the grill is away from everything that could catch fire and the kids or the pets dont come playing near it until it has cooled of completely.

Also make sure to have a fire extinguisher always ready. With a lot of new things with traditional safety, experiences on the grill are sure to be much better than before.

Grilling Outdoors The Safe Way

Keep It Safe

Because outdoor grilling is undoubtedly fun and enjoyable for everyone, a lot of people fail to see the importance of outdoor grilling safety and the dangers that outdoor grilling can impose to a lot of people involved in it. They are not aware that simple outdoor grills have caused a lot of sever accidents, some of them being even fatal, a lot of structure fires and a lot of outdoor fires. This is very contrary to the common image of outdoor grilling which is supposed to be fun for everyone.

However, these disasters would only happen if concerned people fail to abide by some outdoor grilling safety methods, these of which are considerably very simple and basic for every person who has grilled. So for you to get more in depth with those outdoor safety guidelines and what they can do for you, here are some important things you should do every time you grill outdoors.

The Grilling Area

Make sure that your outdoor grill has its exclusive area in the backyard and would not share it with other items especially those that could catch fire easily such as the house itself, paper, bushes, trees, shrubs and long grass. That designated outdoor grilling area should also be a no play zone for kids and pets especially while you are grilling or while it is still hot. Make sure that the kids and the pets do not go near the grill at all times as they may do a lot of things with it that could cause dangers.

Also make sure that the grill is not near any electric wires, devices or plugs as exposing these objects to extreme heat could make them explode and cause fires. One of the most basic guideline for the grilling area is never to have it indoors, it is called an outdoor grill because the name itself already spells out where it should be place, forcing it indoors could also cause a lot of accidents.

The Grill Itself

It is very important to check how the grill is every time before you start grilling. You have to make sure that it is completely safe to avoid accidents. If you are using a gas-powered grill, make sure to check that there are no leaks in the pipe and never do this with the use of a match as it can make the tank explode. Take note that gas tanks are very sensitive when it comes to fire so you should be extra careful with it.

Also check that the grill stands firmly on the ground, especially if you have one that stands on 4 legs. This is very important as you do not want the grill to later topple over and cause a lot of accidents later on. Make sure that you only start a fire if the grill itself is ready and is safe enough.

More Guidelines

When you are grilling, you have to be focused on it. That is you should never leave the grill while the fire is on and especially when there are items on top of the grill. Aside from having your steak burnt, there are a lot of things that could happen if you dont watch the grill carefully. It would also be much safer if you had a fire extinguisher on stand by at all times as well as access to call emergency. You will never know what could happen so you might as well be prepared.

Grilling Fish Outdoors

Fish On The Grill

Fish, no matter what type it is has always been one of the most favorite items on the grill along with steaks, ribs and vegetables. For an outdoor grill, it would always be better with a few slices of salmon steak or sea bass. No matter how you cook, season or serve it, fish would always taste great on the grill most of the time. However, you should be aware that there are different cooking methods that are right for different type of fish.

You can classify fish according to size, whether it is firm or not and whether it is fillet or whole. This is because not all types of fish would fit into a single grilling method; different approaches are for fish depending on how it is classified. So for you to learn more about fish and how exactly you should grill them, here are some tips and tricks.

The Right Type Of Fish

While a lot of different types of fish would taste great on the grill, most of them are cooked differently and have different approaches to one another. Firm fish such as swordfish and tuna cook easier than other types of fish and are much better of cooked in steak cuts. The firm and meaty composition of these fishes make it easier for you to turn them every once in a while and make it harder for them to break apart and fall right into the grill.

When grilling fillets, make sure that it is at least 1 inch thick and reasonably large for consumption. When putting them on top of the grill, do not forget to turn them every 2 minutes or less. You will know if you are doing this right if you have a nice set of grill marks on the sides of the fish, this of which is the sign of a grilling master.

Keep Good Hygiene

There are just three things to keep in mind when it comes to grilling hygiene; that of which is it should be hot, it should be oiled and it should be cleaned. You can start of by having the grill cleaned every time before you start grilling. Make sure that you scrub all residues off the surface since these can fall inside the grill and cause flare ups or induce a different flavor into the items being grilled. You would not want to grill fish and have it taste like prime rib.

After that, you should make sure that the grill is pre heated even before throwing in the items to be grilled. This is the most common mistake people make especially for those who own gas grills as they would tend to throw items in the grill immediately after starting the fire. The last one is you have to make sure that the surface is oiled well enough to keep residue from sticking to the grills surface later on. You can do this by spraying small amounts of vegetable oil on the surface before grilling.

Grilling The Fish

You can use a lot of accessories for grilling fish. Accessories are made to make fish cook faster and make it cook evenly on all sides. These would include a wire basket, a metal skewer and a seasoned plank for causing a different pleasant taste to the fish. Take note that fish, unlike meats has to be well cooked but not overcooked to make it dry. To test if a fish is cooked, you can use the poke test to find out.

This involves having the top part pushed with something. If it crumbles or breaks, it is well cooked.

Choosing The Perfect Outdoor Grill

Because of its versatility, the fun it would give to you and your family, the exquisite flavors it would give to different types of food and the many memories you could have with one; it is no wonder that the outdoor grill has already become an essential part of the American backyard. So if you are planning on getting your own, you must be aware that you will have to look at a lot of things before buying to make sure you end up with one that you would really enjoy.

The most common disappointment for people who would buy outdoor grills is that the grill is either too large, too small, too much features or too little features. This is because they do not plan carefully before they buy it so they end up with one that they are not satisfied with. When buying outdoor grills, you must consider that you have a whole lot of options and this would require you to plan a lot for you to end up with the perfect grill for you and your family.

Plan Carefully

Weeks before planning to buy an outdoor grill, you should already have solid plans or ideas of what you would need to buy. When doing this, take note of how large or small you want your grill to be, what features you need and if there are any other objects that you would want your grill to have. Taking a look at the available options you have on the market might also give you more ideas as to what you would really need.

Take note that outdoor grills are definitely not cheap and would cost a little more expensive than other outdoor house appliances. Consider that the main factors that would affect price are the brand name, the features and the size. With this, think of what you want and what you can afford and try to look for a good balance in between. You are sure to be delighted with what you will have if you plan carefully.

The Grills Size

The bigger a grill is, the more it can cook in less time. That is the main advantage of having larger grills however, if you have a small family and dont really use the barbecue that often then you might not really need a big one. If it is for family use, try to go for the smaller ones. These grills are made specifically for that purpose and would effectively and efficiently do that job.

If you have backyard parties often and invite friends to your place every once in a while then you should definitely go for the bigger ones. These would really do a lot in less time plus these are most likely decked with features that would cook the food easier and make it taste much better. Take note that size is one of the key factors you should consider when grilling.

Features

Along with the improvement of technology, the classic grill has become more than a metal box that makes barbecues. Some outdoor grills now would come complete with 4 burners, a smoker, steamer and many other fancy features. While these are undoubtedly amusing, take note of what you just need. These are also a major influence to price so you must be extra sure that you really need it.

With careful planning, buying outdoor grills with the right features should not be too difficult for you.