Cooking TipsGrill Accessories For Easy Grilling
Grilling your food on an outdoor barbecue can be one of the easiest ways to cook food. But, without a few simple grill accessories, it can also be one of the most frustrating ways to cook food. Below are a few must-have accessories for your grill to make your backyard cookout a snap.
Grill
Of course, to grill food outdoors you need something to grill the food on. Most people would agree that a charcoal grill produces better-tasting food. But, a gas grill is so much more convenient. If you have a gas grill, but want some of that charcoal-grilled flavor, you can add soaked flavored wood chips to a smoker box or foil pouch with holes and sit it directly over the flames.
Fire Starter
Although charcoal grills produce incredible-tasting food, it can be a bit frustrating trying to light the coals. Most people either use easy-lighting charcoal, or douse the charcoal with lighter fluid. What you have to remember is that you have to allow time for the lighter fluid to burn off before putting your food on the grill or your food could have an unpleasant lighter fluid taste.
An easy way to eliminate lighter fluid is to use either a grill chimney or electric charcoal starter. A grill chimney is one grill accessory you shouldn"t be without. It"s a metal container which allows you to light the briquettes outside of the grill with no fluid, and then transfer the briquettes to the grill when they"re ready. Another option is an electric charcoal starter, which are like big prongs you plug in and stick in with your coals while inside the grill. The electric coil heats up the coals, starting them on fire. You do need to have an electrical outlet handy, but it works pretty well.
Grill Utensils
Resist the temptation to use your indoor utensils on your grill. Why? Because the handles are usually shorter, thus forcing your hands over the flames and heat while you"re turning your food items. You can usually get an inexpensive set of 3 or 4 utensils, which include a fork, spatula and tongs.
Grill Wok
Once you start using a gill wok, you"ll be using it all the time. A grill wok is a large heavy-duty steel basket with holes on the bottom and sides, which sits on top of your grill grid. It"s great for vegetables, shrimp, cut-up chicken, or a combination of meat and vegetables. It allows you to cook cut-up vegetables and meat without fear of the pieces falling through the grid.
Aluminum Foil
Aluminum foil is a must when you"re cooking outdoors on the grill, so be sure to have plenty handy. Many outdoor cooks prepare a variety of grilled dishes using aluminum foil packets. And, aluminum foil can also be used to clean the grid. Just take a sheet of aluminum foil, crumple it into a ball and you can use it to scrape off food on the cooking grid. When using aluminum foil for cooking, do remember that food can stick to aluminum, so you may need to open the packets from time to time while cooking to stir the food around to prevent sticking.
Fire Extinguisher
Remember, you"re cooking with fire. So, for safety sake, it"s good to have a small fire extinguisher handy just in case something happens and the fire gets out of hand. It"s also good to follow safety rules while cooking outdoors, which means never cook with a fire outdoors if it"s really windy. And, never leave a fire unattended.