Tips for Cooking Meat - The Basics

There are many fancy ways of cooking meat on the grill but you need to get

the basics right. Smart grillers will always seek to

learn from the more experienced and successful grilling chefs.

The Grilling Coach has many years of experience and even

better, is willing to share his meat cooking tips with YOU! So

when you have read this page, wise-up and sign up to

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• Use the right temperature with the right meat.

• Tender cuts on dry heat and tougher cuts with moist heat.

• Use kosher salt and cracked pepper. Sprinkle generously, it adds flavor and

  aids in the best cooking for your meat.

• Sharpen up the flavour by rubbing mustard powder over the meat the day

  before it is grilled.

• Get to know your butcher since good quality meat is the most important

  ingredient in cooking it.

• Sear the meat for a little longer than what you might think, creating a

  brown hue on the outside, not just golden. Searing seals the juices and flavors

  into the meat. Always use tongs for turning the meat as forks will poke holes in

  the meat, allowing more of the juices and therefore flavors to eascape than

  would otherwise be the case.

• Check your meat for doneness well before it is actually time for it to be

  done. This way you can make any necessary adjustments to cooking time and/or add

  ingredients, spices, or herbs.

• Marinade the meat overnight, it adds flavor and can tenderise the some

  tougher cuts of meat. You can add the marinade to the meat when it is served

  BUT ALWAYS make sure that the marinade is cooked as it

  could contain bacteria from the raw meat. Remove the meat from the marinade

  before cooking and dry it off on a paper towel or similar before cooking as the

  marinade could inhibit browning.

• Cook on a medium temperature, you will get a fuller flavor and avoid

  charring. It also helps you to avoid poisoning your guests with undercooked

  meats.

• Choose lean cuts of meat.

Both of the latter two meat grilling tips are good healthwise. Cooking meat

and poultry at high temperatures is thought to produce chemicals, particularly

withing any charred sections, that can cause cancer, however the results are not

yet fully researched but is it worth the risk? So what is the science behind

this idea? The Grilling Coach explains ...

"Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are compounds formed from overcooked protein that

are located in the charred portion of meats. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

(PAHs) are compounds of fat drippings that form when fatty meat is cooked over

open flames. The fat produces smoke and the undesirable chemicals are deposited

on the surface of the meat. But also remember that it is not just an issue for

grilling. HCA and PAH formation can occur in any protein (poultry, meat or fish)

that is burned or even just overcooked with any cooking method, it is the

high temperatures that cause the problems."

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