Grilling 101

This Sunday is Father’s Day which means firing up the grill and letting Dad do the cooking. Unlike Mother’s Day when we traditionally take Mom out for Sunday brunch and shower her with flowers, this is the day when guys get their grill on, showing off their inner caveman while slaving over a hot fire.

Cooking over coals (or with propane) is a skill handed down through the generations, but not everyone has been blessed with the patriarchal wisdom of the Weber. Today they’re mor e inclined to encounter a Big Green Egg rather than a hibachi.  As with all new toys that come with the capacity to turn a $75 cowboy cut rib steak into an inedible chunk of carbon, it’s best to follow a few simple rules prior to slapping your meat on the grill.

Know what you’re cooking. Don’t bring home the brisket and expect to cook it like a chop. Different cuts of meat have different muscle fibers. With red meats like beef, lamb, and pork, the muscles that get used the most, like legs and shoulders, need to be cooked low and slow with added liquid so they don’t dry out which will make them tough and chewy.  Muscles that support, like those down the back, can take the heat for high temperature cooking. 

Chicken comes with its own basting method called skin and bones. There’s a reason boneless, skinless chicken breasts need marinating otherwise they’ll have the consistency and taste of cardboard.

Fish and seafood are definitely candidates for high heat cooking with their delicate muscle structures.

Preheat the grill. This is a biggie, especially when using charcoal or wood.  If you ever see anyone put raw meat on a grill before lighting it, politely excuse yourself and go out to eat elsewhere, even if it’s your dad who is cooking. Not only will the food be burned on the outside and raw in the middle, but it’s also a food safety issue as grills can harbor bacteria from the last little bits of food leftover from previous cookouts.

Speaking of food safety, no more wire brushes! Use a wooden scraper, a potato, or a pumice stone, but please toss out those old wire bristle brushes. A good hot preheating will burn off most of the crusty stuff, but if you need to scrape use something that won’t end up lodged in your meat and then in your body.

Temperature. Temperature. Temperature. Cooking with fire offers a wide variety of temperatures. Direct heat, meaning the meat goes directly over the heat source is the hottest. This is what’s going to give the crispy outer sear. Indirect heat means the meat goes off to the side of the heat source. Some folks swear by placing the coals on either side of the meat and others like to form a nice little circle. However you do it, it’s the ambient temperature that does the cooking. It’s more akin to baking so don’t look for a crispy sear from indirect heat.  Charbroiled kisses come from the flames, but don’t do this too long or you’ll be eating a meat-flavored briquet.

The temperature of the meat itself also makes a difference, but not as much as one thinks. Solid muscle cuts of red meats, especially thick steaks and chops, can be brought to room temperature prior to cooking, but for ground meats, fish, and poultry, they are best left refrigerated until time to grill.

But the most important temperature is that of the cooked meat. You can leave your beef, lamb, and fish all a little undercooked and all will be fine, actually better. But when it comes to sausages, poultry, and pork, that stuff needs to be thoroughly cooked to prevent food-borne illnesses.  The best way to do this is with an instant read digital thermometer.  You can pick up one for less than ten bucks at the grocery store or you can spring for a nice set of wireless meat thermometers. These fancy gadgets get inserted into the meat and transmit real-time temperatures to your phone. They come with apps that will perfectly time your meat according to species and weight of the cut. This is really the gift that fathers want for grilling. Skip the silly matching apron and heat mitts. Trust me on this one. They’ll turn Dad into a grilling champ.

Take a rest. Father’s Day is all about relaxing with Pops and that includes the meat. After meat has been grilled it is important to let it rest for a few minutes to allow the muscle fibers to contract which pushes the juices to the center.  Juice redistribution can take anywhere from five minutes for ground meats and thinner cuts to ten minutes for a steak. Use that thermometer again because properly rested meat should have a temperature drop of 5°. Then dig in and enjoy with Dad.