Food safety tips and techniques
We want to enjoy healthy and safe grill cook-
ing, so here are some tips for basic barbecue
hygiene:
Bacteria are living organisms that grow and
multiply rapidly in warm moist foods. Marinate
meat in the refrigerator and take it out one half
hour before grilling, if you want to grill your pre-
pared meat at room temperature.
A marinade should never be saved for a later
day. If you want to use this marinade to serve
with your meat please bring the marinade to a
boil before using.
Professional grilling requires high heat to brown
and sear the meat to seal in the juices. Most
foods will be cooked on "hi" setting through the
entire cooking time. Some large cuts of meat
may require the heat be turned down after ini-
tial browning to ensure the cut is cooked with-
out burning the outside. Also, foods that need
to be cooked for a long time or foods that have
been basted in a sugary marinade may need to
be cooked slower and longer in order to stop
the cut from being burnt on the outside.
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Before grilling, check to be sure the drip tray
is in place. Light the grill according to the light-
ing instructions. Turn the control knobs to "hi"
and preheat the grill for 15 minutes with the lid
closed. Place the food to be grilled on the cook-
ing grids until desired doneness, adjust the
heat setting if necessary. A meat thermom-
eter is helpful in determining how long the food
should be cooked. Cooking time is affected by
shape and type of cut as well as thickness.
To achieve the juiciest meats, use a spatula in-
stead of tongs or a fork to turn the meat, and
only turn the meat once during cooking. Turn
the meat just when the juices begin to bubble
to the surface. Add seasoning or salt only after
the cooking has been completed, add sauces
only at the end of the cooking time, this will
prevent the sauce from being burnt.
Trim excess fat from the meats prior to grill-
ing, this will help prevent flare-ups. Cutting the
fat at 5 cm intervals will prevent the cuts from
shrinking during the grilling time.