Put ice in your hamburger? 27 great grilling tips
Grilling season is well underway, and we’ve got you covered. Before you break out the grill for the Fourth of July, check out these tips from the Chicago Tribune.
Intro
Grilling season is finally here and we’ve got you covered. Before you dust off the grill, check out these tips from the Chicago Tribune.
1. Use a gentle hand
Take care not to overmix burger meat or the burgers may come out tough. Make sure the mix-ins (seasonings, diced veggies, etc.) are thoroughly combined in a bowl, then add the ground meat and gently massage until just combined.
2. Put ice in your burger
If making a burger with lean meat, form the patty around an ice cube, chef and author Elizabeth Karmel suggests in her grilling book “Taming the Flame." The moisture adds juiciness to compensate for the lack of fat.
3. Use high heat for kabobs
Using high, even heat to grill kebabs is the No. 1 tip from Mr. D's Shish-Kabobs owner Mike Antonopolous, who has been manning the chargrill at the Chicago shop since 1973.
4. Trust your gut
It's important to do your research, but according to executive chef Andrew Brochu of Chicago’s Roister Restaurant, don't be timid when it comes to using your newfound knowledge. "Trust in the fact that you know how to cook," says Brochu. "Use your intuition, and keep your confidence." Burgers look done? They probably are.
5. Make chimichurri
Greg Denton and Gabrielle Quinonez Denton of Ox Restaurant in Portland, Ore., top grilled meats with chimichurri. A recipe from their book, “Around the Fire": Combine 1/2 cup minced yellow onion, 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, 1 tablespoon chopped oregano, 1 teaspoon finely grated garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes. Add 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil and 1/2 cup red wine vinegar; mix well.
6. Master the fire
Learn the difference between direct and indirect heat (cooking right over the flames vs. not) and when to use each, writes Jamie Purviance in his book, “Weber’s New American Barbecue." Cheat sheet: Quick-cooking items, like skewers, do better over direct heat, while foods that take more than 45 minutes, like a whole duck or turkey, stay juicier with indirect heat.
8. Slicing made easy
Bryan Mayer, director of butchery education at Fleishers in Brooklyn, likes his burgers thin. "To form the perfect patty, I use two takeout container lids and press the meat between," he says. Note: We also use takeout lids to steady grape tomatoes for slicing. Magic!
9. Butter your meat
Danny Grant, executive chef at Maple & Ash in Chicago, serves his grilled steaks with what he calls "beef butter," which is a combination of butter, beef jus, garlic, thyme and reduced red wine. But even a combination of butter and fresh herbs would work.
10. The perfect patty
For burgers, buy beef with a 70-30 lean-to-fat ratio, keep patties cold and salt right before you cook. "Just salt. It's not meatloaf," says Bryan Mayer, director of butchery education at Fleishers in Brooklyn.
11. Use a spice rub
Marinades need hours of resting with the meat, and even then they penetrate only a few millimeters in. Spice rubs provide stronger flavor, and you can put them on at the last-minute, write Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby in their book, "The Big-Flavor Grill."
12. Grill on a flat surface
TV host Rachael Ray shares her best burger tip: Grill the patty on a cast-iron surface, not directly on the grates. "I truly believe a flat surface is tastier. You get that even cooking," she says.
13. Put down the beer, pick up a cocktail
Prefer liquor to beer or wine? Cocktails made with brown spirits — bourbon, brandy, rum — are the best with grilled red meat, advise Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page in their book, “What to Drink with What You Eat.”
14. It’s OK to burn some foods
Blackening the outside of some fresh chilies, like poblanos or red bell peppers, is the best way to get rid of the tough-to-peel "skin." According to food scientist Harold McGee, chilies are coated with a flammable wax that can be "burned to a crisp before the flesh gets soft."
15. Grilling corn? Make elotes
After grilling, pull back the husk and coat the kernels with mayo. Sprinkle with chili powder and crumbled cotija cheese, and finish with a squirt of lime and a squeeze of Parkay.
16. Choose your words carefully
Sure, “barbecue” is often used synonymously with “grill” but, really, they aren’t the same. “Grilling is hot and fast; barbecue is slow and low,” explain Ardie A. Davis and Paul Kirk in the book “America’s Best BBQ.”
17. Add vinegar to your marinade
Add a bit of vinegar to your marinade; in small doses, the acid helps break down muscle fibers so the meat can more efficiently absorb the liquid, says Michael Trotta, head butcher at Chop Shop in Chicago. Try a ratio of a typical vinaigrette — about 1/4 cup vinegar to 3/4 cup oil.
18. Butter your buns before grilling
“Please do not toast a dry bun on a dry grill; it only produces dry toast,” says Jeff Mauro of Pork & Mindy’s in Chicago. Instead, spread room-temperature butter crust-to-crust, and toast the bun butter side down on the grill until lightly golden.
19. Think beyond meat and veggies
Introduce some new foods to your cookout. “The Flavor Bible” by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg names the following as perfect for the grill: artichokes, eggplant, endive, fennel, garlic, lobster, pineapple, salmon, swordfish, tomatoes and zucchini.
20. Melt cheese with just-grilled pears
A wedge of brie between planks of caramelized pear makes for a devastating dessert. Slice pears the long way into 1/3-inch-wide planks, use a paring knife to punch out seeds, brush on caramel sauce and grill for about 8 minutes, flipping several times.
21. A little wood goes a long way
Celebrity chef Rick Bayless says, “Even a few thick sticks tossed atop your charcoal embers will inflect your food with mouthwatering wood-grilled flavor.”
22. Invest in a chimney
Lighter fluid can impart a chemical taste to grilled foods, so it’s worth buying a charcoal chimney to get the flames roaring sans fluid. Stuff the bottom with paper, pile in coals and light the paper on fire; the flames will funnel upward to ignite the coals.
23. ‘Sealing in the juices’ is a myth
Most recipes say to sear a thick cut to "seal in the juices," then move it to the cooler part of the grill to finish. Do the opposite, says "The Food Lab" author J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. A steak that's already warm from the grill will sear much faster so you don't overcook the outer layer.
24. Prep your grill with salt and water
25. Raw meat doesn’t need to rest
Myth: Meat needs to come to room temperature, so it will cook faster and more evenly. Reality: "Cooking meat cooks meat faster — not waiting hours for it to come to temperature," says Meathead Goldwyn, author of "Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling."
26. Asparagus!
Asparagus is great on the grill. Toss the spears in a little olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and lay them perpendicular to the grates (duh). It takes only two to three minutes, and you really don’t have to flip them.
27. Whole fish don’t need direct heat
Most seafood cooks nicely when positioned directly over the heat source. Large whole fish or fish fillets weighing more than 3 pounds do better with more moderate heat, so use the indirect method (not over the heat).
28. Patience pays off
When cooking with charcoal, wait for the coals to settle down. Can you see flames? Then the coals are still too hot.
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