MYCookstown top 8 tips for a good BBQ

MYCookstown top 8 tips for the BBQ this summer

1       Don’t cook cold meat.
If you change one thing about your BBQ habits, make sure you always bring your meat back to room temperature before cooking. The biggest struggle with cooking on the bbq is to get the heat from the outside of your steak into the middle without burning the surface to a cinder. The warmer things are in the middle before it goes onto the fire, the easier it is to cook

2       Get your BBQ hot first
If you’re going to get a good crust on your food and that lovely BBQ flavour, you need your bbq to be hot before you start cooking. One tip is to leave the lid down as much as possible when cooking

3       Thin cuts are great
The thinner your meat, the less far the heat has to travel to cook the middle, so the easier it is to get the inside right without burning the outside. I like to start with steaks about 1cm (1/2 in) thick then push them out  to about 1/2cm it makes them so much easier to cook.

4.     Don’t keep turning.
It takes time for your BBQ crust to develop and this won’t happen if you’re continually flipping your steaks or burgers. Only turn once or twice. And definitely don’t squash everything down as this forces the juices to run out and leaves you with sad dry meat. Sausages are also best left alone – piercing the skins dries them out.

5. Don’t fuel the BBQ with fat
I used to pour the marinade over my meat on the grill and wonder why the flames flared up and turned everything to charcoal. It took me a while but I finally figured it out. Now I make sure my meat is well drained of excess marinade.

6      Remember food hygiene – it’s so important
It’s funny how the outdoors can make some people forget the basics. Always put your cooked food on a clean plate or chopping board and never add marinade that was used for raw meat to cooked meat.

7       Let your meat rest for a while after cooking.
If you don’t let your meat rest for a while after cooking this happens. The ‘unrested’ sample has juices running out everywhere whereas the sample that had sat for a while before being cut is lovely and juicy on the inside without any juices on the plate. It’s all about letting the muscle fibres relax and take back the juices after the intensity of the heat.

8       Enjoy the weather and the BBQ

Use the opportunity to invite friends and family around to your BBQ. It’s a great way of catching up and ask them to bring some food/drinks along so you can share the cost.