BY MARYGRACE TAYLOR/ Prevention Magazine
The days are getting longer, the birds are chirping more, and the buds are poking out from the trees. Yup, barbecue season has officially begun.
If you haven’t manned the grill in a while, it’s totally understandable that your technique might be a little rusty. Still, a botched meal is never fun. So before you fire things up, check out these common barbecue blunders—and how to keep your cookout from going up in flames.
You didn’t clean your grill.
Those old, crusty bits from your last cookout aren’t just gross. They can cause food to stick to the grill and fall apart. (Not to mention taste kind of funky.) If you forgot to clean the grill last time, get rid of the gunk ASAP with a coil grill brush. Experts agree they’re safer than wire brushes, whose bristles can dislodge and get caught in your food. Don’t feel like shelling out for a new brush? Crumpled aluminum foil gets the job done, too.
You didn’t marinate the meat.
Giving those steaks or chops a pre-BBQ bath doesn’t just add flavor. Cooking meat, poultry, or fish at high temperatures leads to the formation of carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs). The heat of the grill makes it tough to prevent these compounds from forming completely, but findings suggest that soaking protein in an herb- and spice-rich marinade can slash the formation of HCAs by as much as 88%. Antioxidant power!
You didn’t preheat the grill for long enough.
A screaming hot surface is key for a deliciously crisp outer crust. And just as important, it helps keep your food from sticking. So resist the urge to slap those burgers on the grill after just a minute or two of preheating time, even if the grill feels pretty hot. Instead, give your grill a good 10 minutes to fully preheat. Your patience will pay off.
You forgot to oil the grill grates.
If you want your food to fuse to the grill grates, by all means, skip the oil. Otherwise, dip a paper towel in a neutral-flavored oil with a high smoke point (like peanut oil) and use tongs to lightly coat the grill. A little bit is all you need—too much fat could cause the flames to flare up.
You let your food sit directly over the heat.
Sure, your inner cavewoman might be telling you to put that protein directly over the fire. But doing so will cause the outside of your food to burn to a crisp before the inside gets a chance to cook through. Go and put the food over direct heat for a minute or two to sear. Then, move it to a less intense spot on the grill so it can finish cooking without turning black.
You keep lifting the lid.
It’s fine to take one or two quick peeks while you flip the meat. But more than that, and you run the risk of messing up the grill temperature—and your meal. Lifting the lid of a gas grill will lower the heat and make your food take longer to cook. And if you’re cooking with charcoal? Every time you open the lid, you’re letting in more oxygen to feed the fire and make your grill hotter, which can cause your food to overcook.
You forgot to use another platter for the cooked food.
Nothing kills a dinner party like a case of food poisoning. Raw meat and poultry are teeming with bacteria that can make you sick, so never put freshly grilled food on the same platter that held it when it was raw. Bring a fresh platter out just for the finished goods, every time.