5 Red-Hot Tips for a Great Grilling Season

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"Grilling, broiling, barbecuing – whatever you want to call it – is an art, not just a matter of building a pyre and throwing on a piece of meat as a sacrifice to the gods of the stomach." ~James Beard

I love everything having to do with grilling season – the weather, the meats, the aroma and the sizzle!

And as May gets underway, the official start of grilling season is just around the corner – Memorial Day weekend.

So let's get ready to head outdoors to wipe the cobwebs and rust from our trusty grills so we can immerse ourselves in the joy that is grilling season.

Between you and me, I don't wait for warmer weather to grill. My wife and I enjoy grilled steak year-round – even when Mother Nature sends snow our way!

And we are not alone. A recent survey found that over 60% of Americans are grilling year-round – and nearly half of us weather the conditions to grill during the winter months.

America is a nation of backyard barbecuers – 8 out of 10 households own an outdoor grill or smoker.

With such a love of outdoor cooking, why does it seem like so many of us continue to do it wrong? Mr. Bad Food wants to put an end to steaks, chicken and kabobs that are grilled into unrecognizable lumps of charcoal.

So put these five tips to use and you'll enjoy your best grilling season ever.

1)  Always marinate your meats. It allows flavor to soak in before you toss the meat onto the open flames. If you want to get fancy, buy one of those injector kits and shoot flavor straight into your thicker cuts of meat.

2)  Always flip your meats with tongs. I used to be guilty of using those long-tined grilling forks but all that does is poke holes that allow the juices to drain from your meat!

3)  Use a small, NEW 1.5" wide brush to apply barbecue sauce to your meat as it grills. A brush will give you better coverage and consistent flavor!

4)  You, too, can wow your friends with those cool-looking criss-cross grill marks that you see on all the cooking shows and food commercials. First, think of your grill as a clock face. Set the pointed end of your steak at 1 o'clock. Keep the steak in place for about 90 seconds. After that, reposition your steak with tongs – rotating it clockwise – so the steak now points to 5 o'clock. It's that easy!

5)  Make grill clean-up more of a breeze by first spraying the rack with a thin covering of vegetable oil. The meat won't stick and you'll have the rack clean as a whistle in less time!

Okay so these may sound like super simple tips... and they are. But Mr. Bad Food has found that this is the sort of stuff that separates a good griller from a meat killer!

Happy grilling!

John McGran has been a writer/editor for about as long as he's been battling his weight. During his 25 year-career, John has written for several newspapers, tabloids and Web sites. You may recognize his name and style from the seven years he spent writing a Worst of the Worst Foods column as Mr. Bad Food. If you have any topics you'd like John to tackle, feel free to write him at jmcgran@diettogo.com  

Archived posts 2009

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