How to Prep for Grill Cooking

Grill cooking can be fun when you prepare for it properly.

Grill cooking, whether on a charcoal or gas grill, is a different beast to stove or oven cooking. Not only do you use different skills and produce meals with a slightly different flavor, but you also prepare for grill cooking in a different way. The right preparation is not only key to producing tasty food but also to preserving your health and safety.

Things You'll Need

• Barbecue fork
• Spatula
• Basting brush
• Tongs
• Marinade
• Oil
• Vegetable basket
• Charcoal chimney starter
• 2 sheets newspaper
• 1 10kg bag briquettes
• 1 box matches

Instructions

General Preparation

1. 

   Tongs are ideal for turning food on a grill.

   Assemble the appropriate utensils for grill cooking. These are a barbecue fork, spatula, basting brush and tongs.

2. 

   Marinate meat to add flavor to it.

   Marinate any meats you plan to cook on the grill, in order to add flavor and juice. You can marinate them in dressings, wine, herbs and spices, oil, onion or garlic.

3. If you are cooking fish, coat it lightly in oil before putting it on the grill.

4. Prepare large, firm vegetables for grilling by slicing them into big pieces.

5. Place smaller or softer vegetables in a vegetable basket so that when you grill them, they do not fall through the grate.

6. Clean your grill well, not only for hygiene reasons but also because, if you are using a charcoal grill, your coals will catch fire more easily in a clean grill.

Lighting a Charcoal Grill

1. If you are using a charcoal grill, start your fire using a method such as a charcoal chimney, as recommended and described by The Firepit and Grilling Guru.

2. Fill up the top part of the charcoal chimney with briquettes to within two inches of the top.

3. Crumble up two sheets of newspaper and wedge them below the charcoal, without over-packing the paper. Alternatively use any other kindling or tinder which a match or lighter will ignite easily.

4. Place the chimney on the charcoal grate in the grill.

5. Ignite the newspaper with a long fireplace match or lighter by either tilting up the chimney's bottom or putting the light through the holes in the chimney's sides.

6. Wait for between 5 to 15 minutes as the burning paper ignites the charcoal.

7. When you see glowing coals beneath the chimney, dump them out onto the charcoal grate. You are now ready to cook on the grill.

Lighting a Gas Grill

1. Lift the grill's lid.

2. Turn on the gas at the propane tank.

3. Turn on one of the gas burners on the grill

4. If your grill has an auto light button, press it. If your unit has holes in its bottom, put a match through one, to land near the burner. If not, use a long match from the top or throw a match in near the burner.

5. Once the burner is lit, turn on the other burners.

6. Allow the grill to burn for between five to ten minutes on high, to burn off any remaining food and grease accumulations on the diffusers below.

7. Once the smoke subsides and the grill is burning smoothly and cleanly, turn the burners to a low setting. The grill is now ready for cooking.

Tips & Warnings

• When using the charcoal chimney starter, if the lit newspaper does not ignite the charcoal, you may have used too little or too much newspaper. Start again using two sheets of newspaper.

References

• The Firepit and Grilling Guru: Tips for Cooking on a Grill or Barbecue
• The Firepit and Grilling Guru: The Perfect Charcoal Starter-How to Start Your Charcoal Easily
• Barbecue'n on the Internet: Beginning Grilling with Gas
• The Firepit and Grilling Guru: How to Grill Vegetables