Comments on: help! i need grilling tips

By: SHANI

SHANI — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:51:45 +0000

i opened my grills , one is attached outside to a gas line the other was stored in my shed. the racks are all full of rust and the inside cover of my built in is also peeling , how do you prevent this from happening ?

By: shelterrific » Blog Archive » real life test kitchen: grilled meatball parmesan

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:33:40 +0000

[...] The joy of a new grill. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to look at all those summer grilling-themed issues of [...]

By: shelterrific » Blog Archive » five things we learned last week

shelterrific » Blog Archive » five things we learned last week — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:16:05 +0000

[...] 4. You are grill masters. After Angela M. asked for tips, a bunch of you wrote in with smart advice, including Ellobie, who says: “For grilling vegs: throw an inexpensive cooling rack(s) perpendicular to the grill bars. This turns the cooking surface into a grid and helps prevent the vegs from taking flying leaps into the flames. A few small racks allow you to divvy up the grill area as needed and you’ll get much better results than those trays designed (poorly) for the purpose.” Click here to add your own smart grilling tips. [...]

By: ellobie

ellobie — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:48:35 +0000

For grilling vegs: throw an inexpensive cooling rack(s) perpendicular to the grill bars. This turns the cooking surface into a grid and helps prevent the vegs from taking flying leaps into the flames. A few small racks allow you to divvy up the grill area as needed and you’ll get much better results than those trays designed (poorly) for the purpose.

Before you start thinking about what a clever girl I am, in college I learned the hard way that “tabletop” charcoal grills aren’t really meant for the tabletop, especially glass tables. At least my friends were amused at the garbage bags of shattered tempered glass and brats. Sigh.

And finally, don’t forget to plan a grilled dessert. If you’ve already got the thing cookin, you may as well take full advantage! Mmm, there are few things tastier than grilled sugar-srinkled pears with the sugar all caramelized and the hot pears over vanilla ice cream… Maybe topped with fresh honey? ;)

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:54:05 +0000

I found this article on Cooking Light’s website (also in their current print issue) to be handy and very informative from the cooking & cleaning front.

http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking/cs/techniques/package/0,14343,1808710,00.html

By: Sonya

Sonya — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:29:34 +0000

My favorite method especially for squash and zucchini is to cut long strips of the zucchini lengthwise (I half the zucchini lengthwise and cut each half into three strips). I purposely keep the strips as long as the zucchini itself (do not cut the zucchini in half as this will mean much flipping). Oil and spice them up as desired and lay them on the grill so the metal bars of the grill are in the opposite direction of the zucchini. I guess horizontal is an easy way to say this? I’ve never lost a zucchini to the flames yet! I flip them only once after 3 minutes with tongs and cook for another 3 minutes on the other side—perfection!

This method will work with lots of veg, I guess the trick is to keep the vegetables as large as possible. For example, let’s take an onion—I would cut one onion into say 4 large circles (with the layers still intact) oil it up and place those directly on the grill so you get the nice grill marks. Mmm.

By: chad

chad — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:47:46 +0000

I’m loving this thing! And it was the super cheap grill optio n at lowes. I want to try the wood chip idea. Maybe this weekend? Fathers day steak grill out?

By: NEV908

NEV908 — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:20:59 +0000

Thanks for this post. A couple of years ago I bought a grill, thinking I would use it constantly during the summer, but I really haven’t. For one thing, I have been grossed out by the mess. I do heat it before & after & scrub thoroughly, but it still seems dirty & I can only get the top side of the grates. Everything underneath (esp. those wavy things; I don’t know what they’re called) is disgusting. I hope it really is true that the high heat makes all that crud safe. I have tried cleaning all the parts once or twice, but that is a massive job & seems pointless b/c all it takes is one more grilling session to get them filthy.

I also find that vegetables–what I thought I’d be doing nonstop–are a pain. They take forever to flip over one by one (& a lot fall through the grates no matter what I do). I’ve tried a grill basket (but unless I do tons of batches most of the veggies will be on top of each other) & a flat thing that isn’t big enough & doesn’t always hold slices tight. Skewers: I hate to use wooden ones (have to soak & then dispose of them, right?). The metal ones are hard to clean & harder to turn b/c they get so hot. Plus, it adds a lot of time to thread them….

Any suggestions for vegetables, or is this method just not for me? :-)

By: rachel

rachel — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:09:25 +0000

If you are interested, I’ve been featuring a grill recipe on my blog each Friday.

And we use a grill brush with sort of a fork at the end that really gets the bits off the grill.

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:41:49 +0000

Minimal cleaning is my favorite part of grilling! Just follow the steps above for burning off the gunk. You can get a lot of flavor from using rubs (in the spice section at your grocer’s.) Enjoy!