The Top 10 grilling season do's and don'ts

Grilling Season Do’s And Don'ts From Cookbook Author Jamie Purviance

(NAPSI)—If you're like 25 percent of grill owners, you can expect to host five or more barbecues in the next few months, according to the new Weber Grillwatch Survey. So now may be the right time to brush up on the do’s and don’ts of grilling.

To help, New York Times best-selling author and James Beard Award nominee Jamie Purviance reveals his Top 10 Grilling Do’s and Don’ts from his latest cookbook, “Weber’s New Real Grilling”:

1. Do preheat the grill. If cooking grates aren't hot enough, food will stick and won't have a chance of searing properly or developing grill marks. Even if a recipe calls for medium or low heat, you should preheat the grill on high first to at least 500° F.

2. Don’t start with dirty grates. Leftover “stuff” on the grates acts like glue, binding both your new food to the old and all of it to the grates. After preheating the grill for about 10 minutes, brush the grates off with a sturdy, long-handled brush with stainless steel bristles. Clean grates will provide a smooth surface to perfectly grill steaks, burgers, chicken and more.

3. Do get your act together. Bring everything you need near the grill before grilling. If you have to run back into the kitchen while your food is cooking, you might overcook or burn the food.

4. Do give yourself at least two heat zones. If you set up your grill for one type of heat only, your options are limited. Have at least two heat zones: one for direct heat (where the fire is right under the food) and one for indirect heat (where the fire is off to the side of the food). Many foods, such as steaks, are seared quickly over direct heat and then finished over indirect.

5. Don’t overcrowd the grill. Packing too much food into a tight space restricts your flexibility. Leave at least a quarter of the cooking grates clear, with plenty of space between food for easy maneuverability.

6. Do use the lid. When the lid is closed, the cooking grates are hotter, the grilling times are faster, the smoky tastes are stronger and the flare-ups are fewer. So put a lid on it. Just don’t forget to open the charcoal grill’s lid vent at least halfway to allow proper airflow.

7. Don’t touch the food much. Most people like food seared to a deep brown color with plenty of beautifully charred bits. The trouble is, many move their food so often it doesn’t get enough time in one place to reach that color and flavor. In nearly all cases, turn food just once or twice.

8. Do take charge of the fire. A charcoal fire climbs to its hottest temperatures first and then loses heat either quickly or slowly, depending on the type of charcoal and how you tend the fire. Refuel before losing too much heat, rearrange coals, sweep away the ashes that could clog the bottom vents, and adjust the vents on the lid for ideal airflow.

9. Don’t serve rubbery chicken. If you specialize in chicken breasts so overcooked they bounce, it’s time to learn some doneness clues. A correctly grilled chicken breast should gently yield when you press the surface with your fingertip. Get an instant-read thermometer for an even more reliable test of doneness.

10. Do use the grill for more than grilling. It used to be that grilling meant one thing: meat charred over open flames. Today, everything from appetizers through desserts can be prepared on a grill.

For the Hickory Smoked Beer Can Chicken recipe, visit newrealgrilling.weber.com. Purviance’s new cookbook can be purchased at www.weber.com.

The Ins And Outs Of Safe Outdoor Cooking

(NAPSI)—Your next barbecue may be better if you follow these 10 tips from the experts at the United States Department of Agriculture on keeping food safe when cooking outside:

When shopping, buy meat and poultry last. Choose packages that feel cold and are not torn. Separate raw meat and poultry from other food in your shopping cart to guard against cross-contamination. Plan to go directly home from the grocery store.

At home, freeze or refrigerate meat and poultry immediately. Freeze poultry and ground meat that won’t be used in a day or two; freeze other meat within four or five days.

Completely thaw meat and poultry before grilling so it cooks evenly. Use the refrigerator for slow, safe thawing or thaw sealed packages in cold water. You can microwave defrost if the food will be placed immediately on the grill.

Keep meat and poultry cold until you’re ready to put it on the grill. If you’re carrying food to another location, keep it in an insulated cooler with sufficient ice or ice packs so it stays at 40° F or below. Keep the cooler out of the direct sun and avoid opening the lid too often.

Start with clean hands-wash them for at least 20 seconds with warm, soapy water—and a clean grill and utensils.

Be sure the grill is hot enough to safely cook your food.

Remember, meat and poultry cooked on a grill often brown very fast on the outside.

Use a thermometer to be sure the food has reached a safe minimum internal temperature—poultry: 165° F; ground meats: 160° F; beef, pork, lamb and veal, steaks, chops and roasts: 145° F-and allow to rest at least three minutes before carving or consuming.

Keep hot food hot. After cooking meat and poultry on the grill, keep it hot until served—at 140° F or warmer. Refrigerate perishable food within two hours (one hour if the temperature is 90° F or above).

When taking food off the grill, use a clean platter. Don’t put cooked food on the same platter that held raw meat or poultry. Any harmful bacteria present in the raw meat juices could contaminate safely cooked food.

Refrigerate any leftovers promptly in shallow containers. Discard any food left out more than two hours (one hour if temperatures are above 90° F). Bacteria can grow rapidly between 40° and 140° F.

Learn More

If you have any food safety questions, you can call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline and speak with a food safety expert, in English or Spanish, at (888) 674-6854, M-F, 10 am-4 pm EST. Ask a food safety question 24/7 at AskKaren.gov or via smartphone at m.askkaren.gov. Also, visitwww.fsis.usda.gov for safety information on all types of foods.

Grilling Chicken | Barbecue Chicken | Grilling Tips

Grilling Chicken |Barbecue Chicken

The one sure sign that the weather is getting warmer and that summer is around the corner is the sight and smell of barbecued food.

It starts with grilling chicken You can be sure on the first nice day of spring the local store will see a run on charcoal briquettes, the guy next door will be cleaning off his grill and the whole neighborhood will be filled with the delectable smell of barbecue.

One of the perennial favorites for barbecue cooking is chicken and why not? Grilling chicken is easy, it's versatile and it's good for you to boot!

When grilling chicken, the first thing to remember is food safety. Raw chicken can contain many food pathogens that can make you and your family very sick, so it's important to follow a few simple rules.

1. Clean and prepare the chicken on a single washable surface. 2. Always thoroughly clean this surface after the prep work is done. 3. Remember to wash your hands and any utensils used on the chicken before you move on to prepare any other food items. 4. Being careful and taking the time to follow these simple rules will guarantee that your barbecue guests will remain healthy and happy, and that you'll be grilling chicken for a long time to come!

One of the great advantages of grilling chicken is its versatility. There are literally dozens of ways to prepare chicken for the grill. The key word here is preparation, because chicken marinates so easily, so wonderfully and in so many ways.

One of the simplest marinades for chicken is olive oil, vinegar and garlic. Simply place cut up chicken pieces in a large Ziploc bag, add one cup of good quality olive oil, an eighth of a cup of vinegar and four or five cloves of garlic. Next, seal the bag and vigorously shake all the ingredients together.

Finally, place the bag in the refrigerator for a minimum of three hours or, preferably, overnight. The chicken you grill the next day will be moist and flavorful - the best you've ever had!

Another way of grilling chicken is the beer can method. Beer can chicken? Definitely! You take a whole fryer chicken and wash it inside and out with cold water.

Pat the chicken dry and season it to taste, again inside and out. (Rosemary and lemon pepper are a particularly great combo.) Next, take an empty beer can that has been thoroughly washed out and place the can inside the body cavity of the chicken. (Don't worry if it's not a perfect fit.)

Place the beer can chicken over a moderately hot fire and grill for approximately 40 minutes, occasionally turning, until done.

You may find that this is the perfect time to empty another beer can or two in preparation for your next barbecue. Take the chicken off the grill and serve promptly.

Remember to remove the beer can from the body cavity first! It's guaranteed this will be the juiciest, moistest bird you have ever enjoyed.

So, this barbecue season when you fire up the old grill remember that when you're grilling chicken you're grilling right.

Photo by amenic181

Electric BBQ Grill | Grilling Tips

Electric bbq grill why would you use one because of local fire codes or lack of space cannot have an open fire and no fire no cook out Lucky for electric bbq grill.

Electric BBQ Grill The Greener Cleaner Grilling Alternative

Electric bbq grill why would you use one ? Unfortunately, because of local fire ordinances or lack of outdoor space, some people have to do without the joys of barbecue.

They simply cannot have an open fire and without fire, there's no cook-out. Luckily, there's an answer to this problem an electric bbq grill.

Everybody enjoys a barbecue. Whether it's with family, friends, or even alone, there's something comforting about cooking food outdoors over an open fire. Maybe we all remember a time when gathering, cooking and eating food was a communal event.

Maybe it's the combination of fire and food together that symbolizes safety and nourishment. Probably it's that barbecued food tastes delicious and cooking and eating outside is a lot of fun.

Electric BBQ Grill Pros

Electric bbq grills provide the heat of a charcoal grill without any open flames whatsoever. There is no charcoal, lighter fluid, matches or propane tanks to deal with.

All that an electric grill requires is access to a power source and it is good to go. How is this possible? It's fairly easy. Electric bbq grills use an electrically powered heating element to provide the initial heat source. This heating element is similar to what you'd find on an electric stove.

Electric bbq grills then kick it up a notch by using parabolic reflective surfaces to intensify the heat produced by the heating element.

The process is so effective that electric grills can match the temperatures produced by either charcoal or gas grills. That's right. No matter what you may have heard, electric bbq grills can easily reach the 600 degree temperature necessary to sear meat.

This means that there is no difference in the look or taste of food cooked on an electric grill and food cooked on traditional charcoal or gas grills. Well, except for the skill of the barbecue chef, or lack thereof.

Another advantage of the electric grill is the ease of clean up. Unlike charcoal grills, there are no ashes to clean up. This is especially important for people who are grilling in a small outdoor space like a balcony.

The last thing you need is fly ash coming in through your balcony doors or, worse yet, your neighbor's doors. Also, cleaning an electric grill is a snap.

The heating element in the grill lifts out and easily fits in the sink or dishwasher. Plus, the smaller size of the average electric grill means that it's a breeze to wipe out the interior.

An electric barbecue grill is also much more environmentally friendly than a charcoal or gas grill. A charcoal grill produces massive amounts of carbon dioxide when it's in use.

In fact, a charcoal grill produces so much carbon dioxide that it can be life threatening if used in an enclosed space like a garage. Not so an electric grill.

Electric grills produce zero carbon dioxide when used. In fact, the only emission produced by an electric grill is the delicious smell of barbecued food. If you're interested in helping the environment, an electric grill is one way to reduce your carbon footprint.

So what are you waiting for? Step into the new age of barbecuing. The Electric bbq grill is the greener, cleaner way to enjoy that great cook out taste.

Enjoy your Electric bbq grill

Weber Charcoal Grill | Barbecue Grill

The Weber Charcoal Grill has become synonymous with barbecuing because it is an amazing grill.

There are few products whose very shape becomes so iconic that the shape itself dominates the genre.

For example, what image comes to mind when I say the words "barbecue grill"? For many people, these two words conjure up a picture of a round object on a tripod base with a domed cover.

In the mind of the buying public, a generic term, in this case barbecue grill, has come to mean a single product the Weber Charcoal Grill. That's a pretty amazing when you think about it. In this case though, the association is justified.

Back in the 1950's. all outdoor grills were the same. A grill was a flat square object supported on four legs. The coals went in a single layer on the bottom. The grill went on top of the coals, nearly touching them. The flat grill top went on over everything else. That was it. You could grill up hot dogs, burgers and maybe steaks and chops, but that was all.

You couldn't really control the heat of the fire or the height of the grill from the fire and the function of the grill top was to prevent the inevitable incineration of the food from happening too quickly.

This type of grill was really only a mass produced brazier and braziers had been mankind's "barbecue grill" for ages. Sure, it was convenient, in terms of having a place to start controlled cooking fire out doors, but in terms of food quality, it was a joke.

In 1952, a guy by the name of George Stephen, Sr. got fed up up with the barbecue status quo. George worked for Weber Brothers Metal Works, a company that manufactured marine buoys. He took one of the company's buoys, cut it in half and fashioned a domed top for a cover.

The Weber Charcoal Grill was born. George started making these grills for his neighbors, and the for the neighbor's neighbors.

Soon, supply couldn't keep up with demand. In short order, the Weber Charcoal Grill became THE outdoor grill for the discriminating barbecue chef.

Why is the Weber Charcoal Grill so popular? The secret is in the grill's versatility.

Unlike traditional barbecue grills, a Weber's round shape and domed top create a reflective cooking surface that intensifies the heat of the charcoal fire.

This allows the grill to create higher internal temperatures which, in turn, can quickly sear the food being cooked.

The object in barbecuing a lot of foods is to sear the outside while the natural juices of the food remain within. A Weber Charcoal Grill does this especially well.

Another advantage a Weber has over a tradition grill is room. The rounded shape creates more space inside the grill and that increased space means more room to cook. You can cook roasts and turkeys on a Weber with ease. You can also cook more food, period.

Since the round shape radiates heat evenly, there are no "cold corners" or "hot spots" where food get over- or under-cooked.

Finally, the rounded top and bottom of the grill, along with the placement of the vents, creates an induction within the grill.

This means the hot air is circulated around the grill as cold air comes in through the bottom vents and hot air exist through the top vent. This circulation means even temperatures within the grill and these even temperatures mean evenly cooked food.

Today, the Weber remains the King of the Grill world. If you've never cooked on one, do yourself a favor. Pick up a Weber Charcoal Grill today and see how innovation can result in better tasting food.