Need grilling pointers. Everyone join in!

[blu67]

Hey guys. I have such a hard time getting stuff to cook just right on my grill (gas) and need pointers on cooking anything. I'm ok but want to get better. I always err on the side of caution and wind up overcooking stuff many times.
I want pointers from anyone and everyone. I want to become a grill stud by culling all your knowledge. :lol. Hints, tips and techniques from all.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I'm still trying to figure out my gas grill. I just got the thing working not to long ago. It was free from the father in law and needed a bit of work.
I learned real quick not to try to cook anything on full blast, unless you like meat that tastes like charcoal. I usually crank it up to let it get good and hot, then drop the burners down to low before I cook anything.

Like I said, I'm still getting used to the thing. Last cooking endeavor:

 

[Midlife]

I'm only good for quality control inspector, i.e. taster of grilled meat and veggies.

 

[Anonymous]

I grill similar to Giganticapithoillogicalitis, heat the grill up up, clean it off, turn it to med low heat and drop on the food. I have much better luck cooking over low heat with longer cook times.

 

[gotstang]

Everybody I know has gone back to charcoal, but here's what I remember. Use indirect heat (outside burners on low, middle ones off). Watch the thermometer on the grill...I rarely took it over 250*. If you're cooking with the lid up, turn the burners up a little to compensate.

And, a digital meat thermometer is the best purchase I've ever seen anyone make. It makes not overcooking meat easy...especially if you grew up with a mother that overcooked the crap out of everything. :lol I pull the meat off 5* before I'd consider it done, and let it finish cooking as it rests on the platter before we eat.

Giantmonkeyman, how was the pineapple? I've never tried that...always wanted to, though.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Pretty good, but I'd suggest getting the pineapple in syrup. I used the ones in juice, and they weren't as sweet as I like them. The trick is to caramelize the outside without turning it to a charred fruit doughnut. I'm still working on that.

 

[Mach1Mark]

Agreed. Heat up (gas) grill on high, clean grilling surface with spray bottle of water and wire brush, turn down heat to low or med, turn meat every few minutes and apply marinade at each turn. If cooking hamburger the juice coming from inside should be clear when pressed with spatula. If cooking meat, make a small cut all the way through the thickest portion and check inside for done-ness (pink or cooked). its easy, dont over think it just do it and be creative.

 

[blu67]

I think the digital thermometer might be a good idea. I used to keep the heat up pretty high for the entire cook time but have recently been lowering it to medium after initial heat up. I'll have to look into those thermometer meat forks.

 

[Sacbill]

People are hitting the biggies so far:

1. INDIRECT HEAT
2. control the overall temp with a temp gauge on the grille. If you have one that's broken, get a replacement.
3. Use a combo digital timer / thermometer to know the meat temp and know when to pull it. That's right, I said pull the meat! :ecit

----------------
Currently playing on the Rock Show: Diggin' Your Scene

 

[Grabber70Mach]

No meat thermometer? No problem.
The answer to whether a steak is done or not is actually in the palm of your hand. Use the "touch test": Touch your index finger to your thumb and the firmness of the 'pad' under your thumb is the firmness for 'rare.' Touching your middle finger to your thumb will give you medium rare, and your ring finger to your thumb will give you medium. Try it -- it works!

Also let your meat rest 5 minutes after you pull it before cutting to let the juices redistribute throughout the piece.

 

[joesgt281]

Yeah I want in on this grillin knowledge sharing....

I'm finally getting my covered patio into actual usable shape and I've just started experimenting with the gas grill (nat gas, plumbed into the house gas).

Cooked some tilapia using a fish basket last weekend with some olive oil baste with salt and pepper. Came out okay and I was told to just poke the fish with my index finger to get a good idea of the doneness. Just needs to bounce back a little, I was told. When it seemed done, pulled the basket off and actually checked it for flakiness and confirmed it was done.

I'd really like to get more of a grilled flavor and it seems that that really comes only from the flames licking it, rather than the indirect heat. And on a gas grill, seems like the flames really only kick up when the grease is dripping on the burners. Not sure if this is typical, but the burners on mine are below sort of a hood below the actual grills, so the burner flames never really touch the food directly. Is that typical?

 

[sigtauenus]

I have a cheapo grill and always have problems with excessive flames, not from the gas, but from juices/marinades leaking down and igniting. The flames cause a charred look faster than regular cooking. I don't have a problem with that but my young boys do. A spray bottle of water helps to keep the flames down. Not sure if it is just putting the flames out or washing the ignition source further down into the grill, but either way, it works.

Concur with all the above. High initially, clean, then low setting before the meat goes on.

Hotdogs are too easy, heat them up to personal preference. Steaks I cook to the rare side. If its too rare, you can always throw it back on. Chicken though, I have a tendency to overcook. If a recipe says 25 min I cook it for 30, if the temp gauge says 175, I cook it to 180, etc, etc. Not sure why, I just don't like messing around with chicken (risking undercooking it) even though we eat it just about every night it seems.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

From someone who has experienced salmonella poisoning, I completely understand the chicken paranoia.
Chicken and pork have a tendency to turn to leather if you cook them just a tad too long. Carryover heat is the only way I've found that keeps chicken and pork done, but still juicy and tender. I pull them as soon as they're done and let the residual heat due the rest of the cooking.

 

[sgtjunior]

I'd really like to get more of a grilled flavor and it seems that that really comes only from the flames licking it, rather than the indirect heat. And on a gas grill, seems like the flames really only kick up when the grease is dripping on the burners. Not sure if this is typical, but the burners on mine are below sort of a hood below the actual grills, so the burner flames never really touch the food directly. Is that typical?

Heat it up high, clean it off, rub it down lightly with olice oil, turn it down to med/med high, sear the meat then turn it down and cook it slow. I'm always afraid when it comes to chicken as well.

 

[abrahamfh]

Go back to the charcoal! :nk I have had my gas grill for over ten years now and I'm done with it, my pops likes using it only because it means the food gets to be eaten faster. I currently try to grill outside at least 2 to 3 times a week (thanks to the beautiful year round California weather). I have switched back to charcoal and have really enjoyed Craig's "Cowboy Lump Charcoal" suggestion.

Best tip I can give, when it comes to grilling on gas, slow cooking equals better cooking (at least it does to me unless you just want to devour whatever it is your cooking).

Hopefully your grill will have two burners, I always set the left burner hotter than the right one so I have some way of controlling the temp on the grill depending on where I need to have something cooked. Usually I will begin by cooking the item on the hotter side and slowly work it over to the warm side of the grill to cook it through without loosing the moisture within.

The main reason for the switch is due to flavor, personally I just don't enjoy the flavor of food so much when I use the gas grill.

 

[opentrackerSteve]

I've lately been doing a hybrid of sorts. Our grill has 3 burners in it. I lay a piece of mild steel (18 ga) that sits right on top of two of them, and dump a load of charcoal on that steel plate. I then use the 3rd burner for indirect heat and usually put things like squash or corn on the cob on that side.

When this unit fails tho, I am off to spend some bucks on a big green egg....

opne other piece of advice for ya, Chris. Let SWMBO cook it! Problem solved!

 

[Horseplay]

I too was in the crowd of buying a cheap gas grill every couple years and having at it. I would constantly find myself fighting flare-ups, hot and cold areas, etc. Finally decided to invest in a better grill and went shopping. Just as I was about to plunk down a nice chunk on a Weber I came across the latest tech...infrared.

In a nut shell, take a standard gas grill and between the burners and cooking grates slide in a piece of perforated steel. This puts an end to any chance of a flare-up and accidental burning/charring. Absolutely perfectly even heat across the full surface. It will also enable high heating near that of a true searing burner. It's also very fast (high BTU). Crank it up and go.

The downside...cleaning. Instead of a traditional grate, mine has formed stainless pieces that are formed much like the corregated inner wall piece of a cardboard box. This gives the abiltiy to produce "grill lines" on the food. These pieces are meant to go in the dishwasher if you like. Just wipe them with oil before cooking and after cleaning...like a cast iron skillet.

You can also spread out some wood chips and get a smoker effect as well.

So far I've done steaks, chicken, chops, lobster tails, burgers and dogs and various veggies. Once I got the hang of it (you need to cook at higher temps than expected) I have had great results.