Many thanks to Kevin Purdy, editor at LifeHacker, who published an informative blog post about the basics of meat grilling in 2009. If you missed the article in the past, or just need to brush up on your knowledge before your Memorial Day BBQ today, here are the top three tips every grill master should know before they fire up their grill for summer.
Tip # 1: Improve Cheap Meat with Salt
It makes your grandmother cry, but totally covering cheap, firm meat with salt, especially cheaper cuts of steak, just an hour before grilling or otherwise cooking is like giving it a really, really deep Shiatsu rubdown. The salt you cover the surface with—and then wipe off, rinse, and pat dry—denaturizes the long protein strands and mixes up the moisture spread in your steak. That turns them, in the Steamy Kitchen blog's words, from cheap "choice" steak into Gucci "Prime" steak.
Tip # 2: Know When Your Meat is Done
Unless you've got a serious instant-read thermometer, it's a pain to keep stabbing your meal-to-be, or, even worse, cut it open, to determine just when it's just at the edge of safe to eat. Skip the torture and use your hands. By touching your thumb to each of your fingers, and then pressing on your thumb muscle as it changes firmness, you'll get an idea of how your steak should feel, moving from rare to well done as your thumb muscle moves from your index to your pinky finger. Whole chickens are a similar matter of intuitive touch, or, actually, a twist of the chicken leg. If the leg won't move, it's not quite ready—you want there to be a slight amount of tension, and then feel the joints release as you apply soft pressure.
Tip #3: Make Your Own BBQ Sauce
You've already put the time and care into tending to your flame, your meat, and your sides, so why settle for a bottle of stuff found next to the ketchup, laced with corn syrup? The BBQ Recipe Secrets blog runs down three basic sauces, covering the traditional tomato sauce, a Carolina-esque vinegar version, and a basic mustard variant.
To continue reading Purdy's article, please click here.
Photo Source: Fotoos Van Robbins
