5 Mistakes Every Beginner Makes When Grilling for the First Time

During spring and summer, many people set up barbecues to start grilling delicious dishes for lunch and dinner. In fact, after getting all the needed appliances for a new house. Many families invest in a grill to make it truly their home. As a result, Barbecuing has become one of North America’s and many other countries’ summertime staples. Especially when it comes to home entertainment during the warmer months.

But along with every new summer that comes by, many young couples and newly settled families get a grill that they aren’t as experienced with using. Unfortunately, with little experience comes frequent mistakes that many beginners are barbecuing make. The good news is that even more experienced experts can make similar mistakes and have even put together tips on what to avoid, all so that everyone enjoys using their barbecue grills.

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Not oiling the grill before cooking

When it comes to making sure your food doesn’t stick to the grill, many people brush a layer of oil onto the food. The oil acts as a barrier between the two surfaces so that even as the meat or vegetables cook, the denatured fibers of the food don’t accidentally bind to the grate.

One way to make sure that the food doesn’t stick – especially if you use sauces or wet marinades and seasonings – is to oil the grate instead of the food. You can’t entirely rely on the wet ingredients in the marinade to prevent the food from sticking, since it’s more than likely going to dry and get absorbed into the food. Adding oil to the grill instead creates the barrier there. And to make it even better, the oil that remains on the grate that isn’t used by the food can act as a barrier against rust, especially if your grill’s heat is high enough.

Rushing when grilling meats

Sometimes, when it comes to grilling, people with less experience using it end up rushing their meat’s grilling process. Even though the outside is charred and looks ready, you might cut into it and find that the center isn’t nearly cooked to how you want it to be. This is primarily due to the fact that different kinds of meat need different cooking times and have different safe internal temperatures.

Not preheating the grill

One of the most common mistakes that many people make when barbecuing is not letting their grills properly preheat before cooking. At minimum, turn the grill on and let the heat build for at least 25 minutes. Though longer amounts of time are far better. The preheating process provides a number of different benefits. One of which is killing off any bacteria that’s on the food.

While the cooking process does much of the same things, putting meat onto an already hot grill instantly kills off anything that might be on it. Putting the food on the grill while it’s still heating up instead allows some bacteria to grow on the meat. Potentially leaving a few lingering behind even after you finish cooking. A preheated grill doesn’t allow this to happen.

Of course, one of the simplest reasons that you should preheat the grill is that it starts cooking the food you put on it right from the start. Much like when you bake a cake or cookies, the heat builds up inside the grill and gets absorbed into the metal in it. Starting to cook the food from the moment you put it inside.

Putting too much food on the grill at once

Another common mistake that’s made when barbecuing is putting too much food onto the grate at one time. A lesser known fact about barbecuing foods is that it actually needs a proper amount of room to cook well. When cooking vegetables or even certain meats, marinades and other liquids can leak out, potentially ruining the flavor of your other food.

If you happen to have a few vegetables near your meat – which often need less intense seasonings or smoking.  The meat’s juices can change their taste. And while this might actually be welcomed if you’re roasting vegetables, tomatoes and other fluid filled veggies can burst. Leaving their juices to soak into your meat as well.

Not using a meat thermometer to check the temperature

Having a meat thermometer is one of the most important tools you should have on hand. Many barbecue experts use different methods to test. How well cooked meat is without the need to pierce through the outer crust that forms. The main issue. However, is that many of the methods require far more experience at grilling than most beginners would have. Something like using the base of your thumb to test a steak’s doneness would only work. If you’ve cooked a large number of steaks to that level before.

There are also many sources that say that poking or piercing the meat with a meat thermometer will release all the juices. While some amount is released, it isn’t nearly enough to make the steak or burgers dry. The primary purpose of a steak thermometer is to check the meat’s internal temperature, a task often impossible with various alternative methods. Given that barbecues usually sear the exterior of foods, ensuring the proper cooking of the interior becomes crucial.

Cutting into the meat right after cooking

To people with less experience when it comes to barbecuing, letting the meat rest after it’s done isn’t a very well known fact. Instead, people cut into the meat while it’s still hot, accidentally releasing quite a large amount of the juices that are inside. In order to let the meat retain the juice and its flavors. Barbecue experts let it rest for a minimum of 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Takeaway

There are many more common mistakes that beginner barbeques tend to make. With a bit more experience and taking proper care of your grill. Creating great dishes can become far easier and fun. Do remember to avoid these errors, though, since even masters can make mistakes.