Expert Advice on How to Avoid the Top 3 Grilling Gaffes
With these tips you can go forth and grill with confidence.
— -- Let’s face it -- grilling ain’t no picnic.
Cooking anything over high heat in front of all your family and friends is stressful, and the inexperienced are prone to make mistakes. In fact, you’re probably bound to make one of these three most common blunders, according to the Kansas City Barbeque Society’s survey of more than 4,000 of its members of their most made mistakes.
If even the experts are screwing up, you shouldn’t feel embarrassed if it happens to you. What would help, though, is being armed with info on how to fix the fallout.
We spoke with Mike Peters, president of the Kansas City Barbeque Society and award-winning barbecue champion about his best advice for battling the top three grilling gaffes. With these tips you can go forth and grill with confidence.
Mistake #1: Forgetting to Season or Marinade the Meat
“Life is too busy and we tend to forget things. McCormick’s five-minute marinade [technique] is fantastic,” Peters told ABC News. “Just throw some chicken breasts or whatever in a plastic bag, add marinade, squeeze out the air and massage for five minutes. You can see that marinade and flavor going right into that piece of meat. It works out really nice.”
Mistake #2: Mishandling the Meat
“Don’t overpress your burger patties. You don’t have to do that. It doesn’t have to be a rock going onto the grill -- that’s what frozen burgers are for,” Peters said. “Gently mix a wet or dry rub in with the meat; that way you get flavor on every bite.”
Mistake #3: Grilling on Too High of Heat
“As the Kansas City Barbeque Society, we like doing thing slow and slow. We use the reverse sear method. Grilling over high heat cooks it hot from the outside in and it overcooks the outside,” Peters explained. “Instead, slowly cook the inside over indirect heat, get it up to temp and then turn up the heat and char the outside. You save more flavor and natural juiciness of meat that way.”
“Especially with pork and chicken that are low fat, you don’t want to put it on high heat because you’ll ruin a nice piece of meat that could be a nice flavorful dinner,” he said. “Chicken breasts typically take 20 to 25 minutes at 250 to 275 degrees over indirect heat. The last five minutes or so, crank it up to high heat for about three to four minutes per side for a nice char on the outside. It does take a little longer but that gives you plenty of time to enjoy company with friends and family.”
Related Stories
ABC News Live