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Top 10 Grilling Tips

How to grill on a charcoal fire is one of the questions we get most often, so we’ve put together a Grilling Tips video for you.

There’s nothing like grilling on charcoal, your food is so much better than if it was cooked on a gas grill that there’s no comparison at all.

Charcoal grilling is the real thing!

We’ve listed 10 grilling tips that should make you the envy of your neighborhood when it comes to barbecuing and you’ll surely be invited to everyone’s cookout for your grilling skills.

These tips are for beginners and long time veterans of the back yard barbecue, so let’s get started with our top 10 grilling tips …

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Grilling Tip #1: Purchase a quality charcoal grill. We recommend an Old Smokey Charcoal Grill. They are available in three sizes: small, medium and large. We also purchased the optional long legs to help make the grill high off the ground.

Grilling Tip #2: Charcoal is an essential part of grilling. We are using real hardwood charcoal instead of the regular square briquettes. Real hardwood charcoal is actually made from real wood.

We purchase a bag from Whole Foods that is made from scrap wood from furniture makers. Do you even know what charcoal briquettes are made of? I don’t want chemical laden products cooking my food.

Grilling Tip #3: Charcoal Chimney – is a cylinder made of sheet metal with a grate a couple of inches from the bottom to hold the charcoal. You actually start the charcoal by placing one or two sheets of newspaper loosely crumpled in the bottom of the chimney. Then, light the newspaper.

The charcoal ignites and begins to smoke and heat up. Imagine not using chemical laden charcoal lighter fluid – you know a lighter form of gasoline.

Grilling Tip #4: Smoking Chips give grilled beef, poultry and fish a great flavor unlike just grilling with only the charcoal. There are many varieties of wood chips or chunks: hickory, mesquite, cherry and apple are just to name a few.

We soak a handful of chips in a bowl of water. Once charcoal is ready, we drain the chips and toss evenly over the fire. Soaking the chips prevents them from burning up too fast.

Grilling Tips #5: Spray the Grill. Spraying the grill with a cooking spray oil like Pam helps prevent your meat from sticking. Never spray the grill placed directly over the fire. Remove the grill and spray away from the fire.

Grilling Tip #6: Meat Preparation and Seasoning – place your raw meat on a platter lined with wax paper. We sprinkle on all our meats: sea salt, Tony’s Creole Seasoning and granulated garlic powder.

Grilling Tip #7: To Grill or To Smoke? That is the question. We grill steaks and hamburgers by place the charcoal evenly in the pit. We smoke pork tenderloin and chicken by placing the charcoal on one side of the pit and the meat on the other. Smoking enables a longer, slower cook.

Grilling Tip #8: Use tongs or a flipper; not a fork – tongs allow you to turn meat without piercing the meat and letting the natural juices escape. So use tongs or a flipper to protect your flavorful meats.

Grilling Tip #9: Meat Thermometer – invest in a good quality meat thermometer. There is nothing worse than serving undercooked meat at a dinner party. Meat should at least be 150 to 160 degrees. Eating undercooked meat can be dangerous and unhealthy.

Grilling Tip #10: Let meat sit when done – once you bring in the meat on a clean platter, let it sit for 5-10 minutes in order to seal in the juices. Then slice and serve. Yummy!