Things I’ve learned from Teaching Myself How to Grill

 

My first grilling experience!

                I feel like I have mentioned this before, but I think of myself as a confident cook. Very few recipes or ingredients deter me and I have yet to meet a kitchen appliance that I don’t like. That being said I have never grilled before and frankly I was afraid too, for many reasons.

There were first the a million different kinds of grills from gas to green eggs, then there was this whole coal issue that I was not a big fan of, and then the whole business of cooking with an open flame! With a husband that was willing and able, I passed off the grilling duties to him. Then I decided that enough was enough – it was time that took matters into my own hands and learned how to grill. Today I’m going to share with you what I have learned on this culinary venture.

1.       Don’t Shout Out This Is Your First Time Grilling While Buying Coals At Bomgaars

Got my coals and ready to go!

So after a couple times of watching Adam charcoal grill, I knew it was time for my first solo attempt. I knew I couldn’t tell Adam that I was going to fire up the grill, by myself, because he would talk me out of it for the safety of myself and others so I left work early and headed home to grill some chicken.

Of course being my first solo attempt, I didn’t realize we were out of coals so this meant a trip to Bomgaars to buy more. Now I love shopping, but shopping at Bomgaars is another story. Having no idea what or where I should be looking, I called in reinforcements with help from one of the employees.

 I found my coals and explained that I was grilling – for the first time ever! Don’t tell people this. I truly thought they were going to evacuate third ward because there was a crazy lady trying to grill by herself for the first time.

 

 

2.       Patience Is A Virtue And Necessary For Grilling

Once I got my coals home, I fired up the grill. Now I am a big fan of thirty minute meals and fast cooking methods (hence why I love the pressure cooker). I always thought that because grilling involved cooking with high heat that it was also a fast cooking method…it is not. Little did I know that it takes a minimum 45 min for the coals to heat up before you can even start cooking?! I will say this grilling has taught me valuable lessons in patience.

3.       But How Long Do I Cook it for?

Cook ground meats to a minimum temp of 160F
(Image courtesy of USDA image library)

Ok. The other thing I did not realize is that there is no real one time fits all in terms of how long to cook things on the grill! When watching Adam, I kept asking him “When is it done? How do you know when to take it off?” and he would always reply “You just look at it and know when it’s done.” So I tried this method and just about gave Adam food poisoning, as he bit into a completely raw hamburger.

What I have learned is that the only way to truly know if your food is done when grilling is to use a food thermometer. Insert the food thermometer 1-2” inside your food and make sure it hits the correct internal temperature. Poultry need to reach at least 165F, Fish at least 145F, Beef and Pork need to be cooked until at least 145F, and finally ground meats to 160F.

4.       Bring Two Plates

When my chicken finally reached its 165F cooking mark, it was time to take them off. That’s when I realized that I had committed the cardinal sin of grilling – I only had the one plate that I had brought the chicken out on. How many times have you brought your raw proteins out to the grill only to bring the cooked proteins in on the same plate?

This is an easy way to cross contaminate your dinner and introduce harmful microbial bacteria to your dinner. Always bring an additional plate out with you when bringing out whatever it is you are going to grill. You can make it easy to decipher the raw versus cooked plate by using different colors.

5.       The Grill Is Not Just For Protein

Veggies are delicious on the grill!

I am a pretty adventurous cook and so on my first solo attempt with the grill and while the coals were still hot, I grilled just about everything in my fridge. I grilled chicken, steak fingers, and cilantro ginger turkey burgers. Then I thought about my side dishes and so I grilled vegetables like onions, zucchini, and even carrots. I even grilled pita bread after brushing it with oil on each side. Finally for something sweet, I grilled some pineapple.

The grill works great for proteins but also for vegetables, breads, and fruits. Get creative and grill something new! I can’t wait to make grilled peaches this summer and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I am learning that grilling is one of those things that takes lots of practice and lots of patience. Although I am no grill master yet I do feel confident enough to fire up the grill, even if it does still make Adam a little nervous.