With just one month left in summer, now is the ideal time for grilling. You do not have to worry about soggy spring storms or harsh autumn winds, but it is still pleasantly warm and sunny. Though grilling season might be coming to a close, you still have quite a bit of time left to enjoy your grill. To get the most out of the last remaining bit of grilling season, be sure to follow these five tips!
Be Versatile
If you are just using your grill for giant hunks of meat, you are really missing out on a lot of fantastic dishes. You can actually use the grill for every aspect of a meal, from appetizers to desserts. For example, you can sprinkle peaches with some cinnamon and brown sugar and grill them. The heat of the grill helps to caramelize natural sugars and bring out the rich flavor in fruits. You can also cook many other things, such as pineapple or bacon wrapped jalapenos stuffed with cheese on a grill. If grilling so many dishes seems too complicated, get your family involved as assistant grill cooks.
Upgrade Your Furniture
The ideal cookout includes the whole family having fun outside and nibbling on appetizers before digging into the main course. However, most of your family may prefer to remain isolated indoors if your background is a barren area. Get some outdoor sectionals for all your friends and family to sit on together and enjoy the meal outside. This will provide room for everyone while encouraging everyone to gather together and chat. You may also want to invest in a few umbrellas to provide cool shade for everyone.
Plan Ahead
Nothing is more stressful than carefully marinating and seasoning your meat for hours only to discover ten minutes before cooking that your grill is out of fuel and your tongs are broken. Make sure you have everything you need to clean your grill, fuel your grill, and utensils to cook items on the grill. The grilling experts over at Serious Eats recommend that anyone who wants to get into grilling should at least have two heavy-duty spatulas, a 12 inch pair of tongs, and a sturdy grill brush.
Serve Good Drinks
When you are spending a lot of time outside right by the heat, it is important to stay hydrated. Of course drinking water is helpful, but you can also have fun while grilling. Add a sense of relaxation and fun to any cookout by mixing up some icy pitchers full of lemonade or iced tea, or have a cooler full of ice and assorted sodas available to suit anyone’s taste.
Try a Brine
Most grill cooks are well versed in using marinades and dry rubs to season meat. However, with just a month left to grill, you might want to try the cooking technique that has suddenly become all the rage on trendy food blogs. Brining is a technique where you soak a cut of meat in a mixture of salt and water for at least six hours before grilling. Adding roughly one cup of salt to one gallon of water provides the ideal concentration, and this mixture causes muscle fibers in meat to pull in a bunch of moisture. This allows you to get the juiciest, tastiest possible meat when you grill.
It is of course possible to use the grill in the winter, but the best time to use the grill is now before windy, cold weather makes it hard to stay outside for too long. The next few months are perfect for relaxing outdoors with your family and friends by your grill. Don’t be afraid to try new things and mix up your traditional grilling routine. You still have plenty more time to experiment and have fun with grilling.
