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We know the groundhog saw it’s shadow and we have a longer winter ahead of us, but hear us out! Grilling can be done anytime of year! While many people may not enjoy getting the grill started in colder weather, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy your favorite recipes on the grill now!
Along with the thought, or myth, that you can’t grill in the winter time, we’ve compiled some other grilling myths to debunk so you can confidently cook and enjoy your grill all year round!
Myth: Grilling Takes Too Long
While it does take some time to heat up, grilling is actually a faster way to cook than other methods like baking, sautéing, and broiling. Everyone needs time to warm-up and with a grill, once you’ve reached your preferred temperature, you can cook very quickly.
For example, cooking chicken breasts in the oven may take upwards of 40-50 minutes (and that doesn’t include time for the oven to warm up). If you’re using a grill, especially a gas grill, which takes less time to turn on and heat up, you can cook chicken in under 15 minutes!
Cooking Tip: You don’t need to thaw out your meat either! Not only can thawing your meat out be a bad idea for bacterial growth, but your grill is hot and will thaw out frozen food quickly without adding more time. In fact, cooking cold meat will produce more smoke and result in more flavor.
Myth: Light It All Up
One of the most important lessons in grilling is temperature control and understanding how best to cook each piece of meat or even vegetables and other foods.
The whole grill shouldn’t be hot, but rather, you should create two-zone heating. The hot side is for radiant heat and the other side (that doesn’t have direct heat) is your convection heat.
Your convection side will help cook your food more evenly without burning while your radiant heat will finish off your foods with a nice sear adding crisp and char to enhance flavor.
So if you’re using a charcoal grill, only place charcoals on one side. For a gas grill, only turn on half the burners.
Myth: The Finger Test
You’ve probably heard of the finger test to check the doneness of your steak. While it may seem cool to be able to show that trick off to your friends at your next party, it doesn’t support ensuring its safe to eat, especially if you like a rare steak.
The best method is always checking with an accurate meat thermometer, especially for chicken and pork. And no, it won’t affect the juices of your meat (another myth!).
Myth: Only During Sunshine
Many people believe you can’t grill in the rain. They are somewhat correct as you don’t want to be grilling in a downpour, but grilling really is for rain or shine!
You do have to consider your grill for inclement weather as you want to make sure it will get hot enough, but most grills will. You’ll just need to preheat a little longer and make sure the lid is closed.
To ensure a more enjoyable time grilling in the rain with less hassle, place your grill under a safe shelter to help reduce the elements.
Myth: Misleading Marinades
Who doesn’t love a juicy, flavorful piece of steak or chicken? We often think we have to marinade for hours and hours, but truthfully, the marinade won’t soak in much past the surface, except for maybe salt.
The depth of flavor from marinades also depends on the size and cut of the meat. A flank steak for instance will absorb more flavor than a pork butt because a flank steak is thin.
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t marinade your meat, but rather cut up your meat into small pieces to absorb more flavor and don’t worry about having to let it sit overnight. Even an hour or two is fine.
If you’re ready to change up your meal plans and get back to grilling, contact Watson’s to learn about our large selection of gas, charcoal, and pellet grills, as well as our variety of grilling accessories.
