Hot tips

Since this is my first posting for DCFüd, what better way to start than a post about one of my true loves in life: barbecue. Of course, now that summer is pretty much here, people will be firing up the grills and enjoying that great summer flavour. As a professional chef I have opportunity to see some of the best and worst of barbecue ideas, so I thought I'd post some tips here.

Use The Right Heat For The Job. There are two types of heat for food on a grill – direct and indirect. With direct heat, you spread your coals out evenly (or cook directly over the burner on a gas grill), and cook directly over the hot coals. This works very well for burgers, hot dogs, and items that don't cook for all that long. With indirect heat, you pile your coals to one or both sides of the grill, and leave the middle empty (or switch the side burners on, and leave the middle off) or with a pan for drippings. You'd then put your food in the middle, so the heat is more even. This works for foods like chicken, that typically cook for longer.

Fat Is Good. While most health-care professionals will advise you to limit your fat intake, when you're barbecuing, you need to choose meats that have good marbling. Fat will keep the meat moist over the high heat, which will prevent it from drying out (chicken and/or turkey should always be grilled with the skin on – you can always take it off before eating it). When grilling any kind of meat with a fat cap, always start the grilling fat side up. Turn it over about three-fourths of the way through.

Avoid Excessive Flipping. Give your food time to cook, and don't be worried about it. This is especially true for burgers and steaks, which should only be flipped once. Any more than that, and you lose the juices in the meat. If you're using the right heat method, you won't need to flip very often.

Try New Things. Try grilling some fish, or vegetables. Yes, even the vegetables you don't like take on a whole different flavour when they're grilled, so why not try some veggie kebabs? For a really nice touch, grill some fresh fruit (not for very long, mind you, but just enough to accent the natural sweetness of the fruit). That works for everything except watermelon (and to eat watermelon any way other than the normal way is just downright un-American if you ask me).

This post is by Guest Blogger Yaneev. Thanks, mister!