What To Cook On The Grill

Better Barbecue Side Dishes

Traditional pasta and potato salads can be loaded with calories and carbs. These tasty substitutions won’t leave you feeling deprived:

• Instead of a baked potato with toppings, eat grilled sweet potatoes.
• Instead of potato salad, eat coleslaw with light dressing.
• Instead of iceberg lettuce with ranch dressing, eat sliced tomatoes and avocado drizzled with olive oil and vinegar.
• Instead of pasta salad, eat a whole grain medley salad with beans or quinoa.

Pellet Grill Smoked Pork Shoulder Al Pastor

We love an authentic spit-fired al pastor recipe but sometimes you want the payoff without all the work. Using our favorite pellet grill, we created this easy take that’s just as flavorful and possibly even more juicy from the low and slow cooking time. If you like your pastor extra crispy, crank up the grill at the end and throw some of the slices on before cutting them into strips.

What To Serve With Grilled Carrots

• Grilled Carrots are great served hot or at room temperature.
• I love them with grilled meat such as Grilled Lemon Garlic Pork Tenderloin, or Grilled Lamb Kofta Kebabs.
• For cooler weather this fall try my Moroccan Lamb Shank recipe. It would be amazing with the North African flavors here.
• You could also go meatless and serve these grilled carrots with Gazpacho and Grilled Tofu marinated in My Favorite Garlic Marinade.

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Barbecue Tips And Tricks

• To avoid losing juices during turning, always flip your meat or vegetables using tongs or a spatula, rather than a fork.
• Try to limit the flips. Ideally, you should flip each item once during the grilling process.
• Whatever you do, dont press down on burgers or chicken with a spatula while theyre grilling! This squeezes out the juices and once theyre gone theyre gone! If youre bored and need something to do with your hands, learn to juggle .
• For great smoky flavor, soak some wood chips in water for a while, then throw them onto your charcoal and cover the grill, or if youre using gas, put them into your smoker box following the manufacturers instructions.
• To infuse grilled foods with herb essence, toss herbs directly onto the charcoal while youre grilling. Or, if youre using a gas grill, soak the herbs in water, and place them on the grate before putting your food on top of them.
• If you want to baste your meat or vegetables, save this step for last. That way the sugars in ,your marinade or sauce wont have time to caramelize or burn.
• If this all sounds too complicated, or if its raining or cold outdoors, you can grill indoors with a contact grill or use a grill pan.

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Move Over Burgersgrilled Pizza Has Entered The Building

• Eggs cook to sunny-side up perfection in a smoky, spicy tomato sauce on this delightfully over-the-top, feta-sprinkled grilled shakshuka pizza.
• If youre tight on time, make this four-ingredient grilled flatbread with burrata cheese using fresh pizza dough from your local pizzeria .
• And if youre really, really tight on time, just use store-bought flatbread, and throw this Thai Chicken Pizza on the grill.

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Grilled Flavors From Afar

• This sweet and sticky Korean beef bugolgi is another dish your whole family is sure to love!
• Made with a jar of roasted red peppers, plenty of garlic, and smoked paprika, homemade harissaone of our favorite North African flavorsis the key to this ultra-simple grilled harissa chicken.
• Do you like the sound of a four-ingredient grilled dinner? Yeah, us too. Meet our Asian chopped salad with Hoisin-marinated pork kebabs.

How To Grill Chicken Wings

There are several ways to grill wings, but first, lets look at the wing itself.

Wings can either be left whole or separated into drumettes and flats. With this method, I remove the wingtip, saving them with additional chicken parts for a future batch of chicken stock. Separating the wing creates more work on the grill, but in my opinion, it makes for easier eating one-hand eating especially when the other hand is clutching a beer.

Now, on to the grilling part!

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How To Grill Sliced Vegetables

Vegetables, whether mixed together or solo, are delicious grilled. If youre new to grilling veggies, heed these key tips.

Tender veggies, like mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, and peppers : Grill 3 to 5 minutes on each side.

Hearty vegetables, like onions and carrots : Grill 5 to 6 minutes on each side.

Mixed vegetables: Toss sliced veggies in oil and your choice of spices. Grill them in a basket until theyre tender, between 8 and 12 minutes in total, tossing occasionally.

Start A Fire Without Breaking A Sweat Or Burning Dinner

One thing we routinely find in our testing of charcoal grills is that the resultshow your food turns outare largely dependent on the skill of the user, who has to be ready to adjust dampers, monitor cooking temperatures, and handle coals to get outstanding results.

Kamado and pellet grills don’t require the same hands-on approach.

But despite all the oversight, charcoal grill enthusiasts think it’s well worth the effort. Smoke is a byproduct of combustion, and the smoke from burning gas and charcoal are different,” says Craig “Meathead” Goldwyn, a celebrated grilling expert and judge on the professional barbecue circuit, on his website, Amazingribs.com. “Charcoal makes more smoke than gas, with a broader range of tasty flavor molecules, because it’s burning complex organic molecules. In other words, the smoke from charcoal makes food taste better.

Below you’ll find our video tutorial on how to cook on a charcoal grill, as well as step by step directions. If you’re still looking to learn more about all kinds of grills, start with our grill buying guide. CR Members can also jump right to our ratings of charcoal grills.

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How To Clean A Charcoal Grill

Clean the grill right after cooking, while its still hot, using a stiff-wire grill brush. Use it every time you grill to remove food particles from the cooking surface.

If you’re looking for an alternative to using wire brushes , rub your grill grates with a peeled half onion,” pitmaster Megan Day told TODAY Food. “Allow the grill to heat up to a high temperature. Pierce the half onion with a fork and rub the cut-side down along the grill grates. The onion’s juices will release and produce steam to remove the bits and charred on debris.”

This post was originally published on May 25, 2016. Related:

Grilled Whole Salmon Filet

Grilled Salmon with Pickled Huckleberry Relish- Hands down one of my favorite salmon recipes ever. The first time I made this Grilled Huckleberry Salmon, Brian wittily called it a bears dream. Wild salmon is grilled until the skin becomes crispy. Then its served with a flavorful & quick, Pickled Huckleberry -Shallot Relish. One of our most raved about recipes in catering.

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Grilled Corn For Days

• Our take on a classic grilled Mexican street corn recipe relies on easy-to-find ingredients to create the creamy, slightly spicy, smoky corn on the cob that we crave when we think of authentic Mexican elote.
• Serving elote for a crowd? Make it a salad instead! This Mexican street corn salad with chipotle crema is always a hit.
• Do you prefer your grilled corn with maple Bourbon butter or slathered with blue cheese butter and chives? How about all of the above? We present: grilled corn, four ways.

Choose The Right Meat

Though the cut of meat doesnt name London broil, other factors need to be checked when selecting the steak. The best types of steak to use for London broil are top round or flank steak, preferably organic or grass-fed. Also, the meat shouldnt be more than an inch thick, or it would sear too much and come out undercooked.

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How To Grill Carrots Without Burning Them

Cuts And Cooking Times For Roasts

Narrow roasts generally need a total cooking time of 35 to 50 minutes at an average temperature of 350°F, as theyre all about the same thickness. The best way to judge the cooking time of a fatter, rounder roast, how-ever, is to figure 15 to 20 minutes per pound. Variables like weather or an uneven fire can affect cooking times, so check the temperature in the thickest part of the meat with an instant-read thermometer. Remove lamb and beef at 125°F for medium-rare meat pork at 135°F. Temperatures rise about 10 degrees during a 10- to 15-minute rest.

• Long and narrow roast : center-cut pork loin, beef tenderloin, beef strip roast, beef tri-tip = 35 to 50 minutes total cookingtime
• Fat and round roast : beef top round roast, beef sirloin roast, sirloin tip, rolled, tied leg of lamb rolled, tied double pork loin roast = 15 to 20 minutes per pound

Private Notes

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Food26 Fun And Flavorful Cookout Recipes To Make For Labor Day Weekend

Start your grill with a charcoal chimney this is the easiest way to get your charcoal going. You do not need lighter fluid.

Stuff newspaper loosely in the bottom of the chimney , then fill the chimney with charcoal. Remove top grate from grill, place chimney inside, and light the newspaper.

But how long should you let the coals burn? Let the charcoal or briquettes burn until they’re covered with white-gray ash .

Take the top grate of your grill off and, wearing protective grill gloves, hold the chimney by its handles and pour charcoal into the grill. Then take a paper towel soaked in vegetable oil, and spread it over grate with tongs. This is the trick to keep food from sticking to the grill.

Create Direct And Indirect Heat Zones

It is always essential when grilling to prepare a two-zone fire. This is especially true with chicken, as the addition of sweet sauces can set the stage for flareups.

A two-zone fire means creating direct and indirect heat sources. This indirect area can function as a safe place for a fiery grill or the roasting position for a whole chicken on a long cook.

To create an indirect heat source on a gas grill, leave a burner or two turned off. To create an indirect heat source on a charcoal grill, leave an area on the fuel grate without any coals.

A recipe calling for direct heat is akin to using a griddle, while a recipe calling for indirect heat is no different than using an oven.

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Top 10 Things To Cook On The Grill

Warm weather usually brings two things to mind: sunshine and cookouts. If you are a cookout aficionado, you know that nothing beats the smoky flavor that grilling brings to meats and vegetables. You probably already have a list of favorite cookout items, too. It’s important to remember food safety when grilling. You should always keep raw foods and cooked foods separated and make sure to cook foods to the proper temperatures.

How To Grill Chicken Thighs Wings And Drumsticks

Typically sold bone-in, these parts will take longer to cook. Keep them away from direct heat to avoid the meat drying out. Theyll be especially tasty if you marinade the meat first, or slather with sauce as you cook.

Wings: Grill 20 to 30 minutes, covered, over indirect heat.

Thighs and drumsticks: Grill 40 to 50 minutes, covered, over indirect heat. Flip periodically to ensure even cooking.

Temperature when done: 170-175º F

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Prepare The Barbecue Grill

The cooking surface must be clean and oiled so your steaks will have good contact with the grill without sticking. Prepare the grill while it’s finishing heating up.

The easiest way to oil the cooking grate is with an oil-soaked paper towel and the metal brush used to clean the grill. Fold a paper towel in half until it is the size of your grill cleaning brush. Soak it with oil that has a high smoke point, like canola or grapeseed oil. Brush this over the cooking grates evenly. It will smoke some, but enough oil will remain on the grates as long as you don’t let the grill sit at its highest temperature for too long before grilling.

Grilling With Indirect Heat

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Best Barbecued Whole Turkey Recipe

Outdoor barbecuing or grilling is a very easy and efficient way to cook your Thanksgiving turkey. Try making this barbecued whole turkey recipe for your loved ones.

No mess in your oven or the kitchen. Prepare your barbecued whole turkey on either a gas grill or a charcoal grill. This method requires a covered barbecue grill and heavy duty aluminum foil. Your turkey will be crisp outside and juicy inside.

Check out more great Poultry Recipes and how to Brine Poultry for a moister and tastier dish. Learn how to make a deep-fried Cajun Fried Turkey.

*Cook Time is 20 minutes per pound.

• 1 turkey, fresh or thawed, with giblets and neck removed. 1/2 cup butter, room temperature or softened, dividedTurkey Stuffing or your favorite stuffing/dressing recipe3 to 4 slices uncooked baconBasting Juice or use the juices that drain off
• 1turkey, fresh or thawed, with giblets and neck removed
• 1/2cupbutter,room temperature or softened, divided
• Turkey Stuffingor your favorite stuffing/dressing recipe
• 3 to 4slicesbacon,uncooked

• 3cupschicken stockor water
• Saltand pepper to taste
• 1cup sweet Marsala wineor Port wine*
• 1/2cupdry vermouthor white wine*
• Juicefrom 2 lemons

Different Types of Cooking Styles: