Cooking With Gas
Gas grills are easier for working moms and women who don’t have a lot of time, but love to grill. It makes it easy to grill delicate foods like chicken breast, fish, fruit, and vegetables, whose flavors can be overwhelmed by smoke. And you can have a smoke box, which will help add some of the smokiness of a charcoal grill.
A gas grill will also stay on for hours without having to change the coals, which is important if you entertain a lot. If you want the grill going for three hours straight, then gas is the best way to go. Here are some tips for cooking on a gas grill.
- Light the grill according to the ignition directions for your model and then turn the burner you want to use to low. Turn the other burners to medium.
- Put your meat over the lower heat and close the lid so you can cook the meat indirectly. The flame doesn’t touch the meat, but the heat from the other burners cooks it from a distance. Steaks cooked this way are seared on the outside, but stay moist inside.
- Clean the grill by turning all the burners on high and closing the lid. When the grill stops smoking it’s clean and you can turn off the burners and let it cool. Then all you need to do is use a brush and a dry cloth to wipe off the particles.
Cooking times for gas grills are about the same as charcoal, but the prep and cleanup that are much faster making the gas grill a popular choice for those of us who don’t have a lot of time.
Don’t Get Burned On Price
Regardless of variables like flavor and ease of use, for many of us it will come down to cost. I always thought that gas grills would cost a billion times (approximately) more than charcoal ones. While they are more expensive, the chasm isn’t as wide as I would have thought! For instance, the classic Weber 22 1/2 inch charcoal grill runs about $90. So, to compare, I checked out Consumer Reports best buys for gas grills – and found some reasonably priced models! Two of their ‘best buy’ picks, the Grill Master and the Uniflame are in the $200-$220 range. Yes, a little more than double the price of the Weber. But depending on your budget, if you really want a gas grill it might be worth it to fork over the extra hundred bucks and get one. As many of us know, fancy gas grills can run into the thousands of dollars, so I was very relieved to see these reasonably priced Consumer Reports picks! As they mention on their site, many of the moderately priced gas grills they tested performed as well – or better – than the exorbitantly priced ones, so no need to splurge to satisfy your BBQ urge!
Without forking over any money, I got a big gift – I feel like now I can confidently grill on our charcoal BBQ! But truth be told, I probably won’t tending the flames this holiday weekend. I’m leaving that job to my husband because it’s one of the only household chores he doesn’t complain about!
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They say to let meat rest for two to three minutes before cutting into it. While the meat rests the juices redistribute and each piece is juciy, not just the first bite. If you cut the meat before it rests, all of the juiciness of the meat will be lost with the first bite….according to Rachael Ray.
Another method to gage how well a piece of meat is cooked… touch your thumb and index finger together, then feel the fleshy part of the hand below the thumb. That is how rare feels. Touch the thumb to the middle finger and feel the fleshy part of the hand below the thumb, that is medium. Touch the thumb to the ring finger, then feel the fleshy part of the hand below the thumb and that is how well done feels.
Part of me wants to smack you for this post.
Granted, men have traditionally been the grill tenders but now that I am older I realize it was because it is difficult to tend both the stove inside and the grill outside. One great tip you didn’t mention: invest in a meat thermometer. For less than &10.00 you can get one to do the job and they are a godsend for that thanksgiving turkey that you can’t remember exactly what time you pout it in or thought might still be a bit frozen in the middle.
FYI, the prices of gas grills are mostly affected bu their construction rather than their performance, especially with stainless steel. The lesser grades of stainless steel are more likely to warp, stain and even rust. Even then a $220.000 investment for a lesser grade steel grill is a bargain. If you maintain it well, it will last you a good decade or more.
Part of me wants to smack you for this post.
Granted, men have traditionally been the grill tenders but now that I am older I realize it was because it is difficult to tend both the stove inside and the grill outside. One great tip you didn’t mention: invest in a meat thermometer. For less than &10.00 you can get one to do the job and they are a godsend for that thanksgiving turkey that you can’t remember exactly what time you pout it in or thought might still be a bit frozen in the middle.
FYI, the prices of gas grills are mostly affected bu their construction rather than their performance, especially with stainless steel. The lesser grades of stainless steel are more likely to warp, stain and even rust. Even then a $220.000 investment for a lesser grade steel grill is a bargain. If you maintain it well, it will last you a good decade or more.
If I had a greenback for every time I came to fabandfru.com… Superb post!
You have done it again! Incredible read!