Grilling is a great way to bring friends and family together, but it can also be a lot of work. Here are some grilling hacks that will help you quickly prep your food, clean up after dinner, and add extra flavor to your meal.
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Use a paintbrush to grease the grill.
It’s not uncommon to see one or two people at your BBQ party using paper towels to apply oil to their grill grates. While this method is effective, you can save yourself time and effort by using a paintbrush instead (and it will look pretty cool too). Simply dip your paintbrush in some vegetable oil and apply it directly onto your cooking grate. This will ensure that you have a thin layer of oil coating all parts of your grill, helping prevent food from sticking while preventing flare-ups as well.
Remove stubborn rust with a potato.
If you break out your tools for a grilling session and find them caked in rust, try this trick: Get yourself a potato and cut it in half. Rub the cut side over the tool to loosen up any stubborn residue. The acid in the potato will do all of the work for you. Clean with soap and water after removing all of the rust! If you don’t have any vinegar on hand, this is an excellent alternative method to remove stubborn rust from tools like spatulas or tongs.
If you’re trying to remove rust from tools that are made of stainless steel, the best thing to do is use a stainless steel cleaner. You can find this type of cleaner in most grocery stores or hardware stores. Simply spray it on and let it sit for 10 minutes before rinsing off with warm water.
Clean your charcoal grill with leftover aluminum foil.
If you’re going to use a disposable aluminum pan on your grill, don’t just toss it into the trash when you’re done. Instead, use the foil to clean up stubborn messes and rust spots on your grill grate. Just place an oiled piece of foil over the area in question and rub it back and forth until everything is as shiny as new. This trick also works with cast iron skillets—simply apply oil to both sides of the skillet and rub away any sticky bits that remain after cooking!
- Use a paintbrush to grease the grill grate before grilling meats or veggies that need some extra help sticking to their home (like corn). This keeps them from falling through onto coals below, where they’ll get too crispy for anyone’s taste buds’ liking (except maybe yours).
- Remove stubborn rust with a potato! Place half of a potato over an area where there are spots of rust on your metal surface; let sit overnight; remove potato in morning; enjoy brand new shine!
Unclog the holes in your gas grill.
If you have clogged gas grill holes, then a potato is your best friend. Peel and slice a potato into 1/4-inch round slices. Place the potato slices on the grates of your grill. Leave it for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked thoroughly and starting to char. Then, use tongs to push each piece of potato through one of those unclogged holes in your grill grate (you can also use it on other types).
If this doesn’t work out for you at first try—and it might not—don’t give up! Try again with another piece of potato; this time make sure that some part of each slice gets stuck in an unclogged hole as it goes through so that there’s more pressure against it when you’re pulling back through with those tongs later on down the line (this may take some trial and error before finding yourself successful).
Change the flavor of your gas grill.
If you want to change the flavor of your food, use different kinds of wood chips. Wood chips can be used for smoking, grilling, roasting and baking as well as steaming. They are available in various flavors including mesquite, hickory and applewood. You can purchase them at local barbecue supply stores or online.
You may have heard that wood chips have a greater impact on the taste of your food than charcoal briquets alone because they often contain sugar compounds that add sweetness to the meat being cooked on it.
Create a smoke bomb for more smoke flavor.
To get more smoke flavor in your food, try this trick: put a mixture of water and liquid smoke in a foil packet and place it on the grill over the coals. Cook for about 10 minutes and then remove from the grill and open up that foil pack! The smoke will permeate through every nook and cranny, giving your meat some extra boost.
Use an ice tray for small marinating jobs.
For small cuts you can marinate in an ice tray. Place the meat in the tray and then fill with marinade. The meat is held in place with a toothpick, which also makes it easy to turn over and get all sides of the meat evenly coated with marinade. Just make sure that you don’t use metal utensils on your glass dishes! Also, I recommend using plastic bags rather than Ziploc or other similar products, because they have a tendency to break. Using plastic bags will also help keep things clean when transporting food from fridge to grill or oven later on!
Put your food on a stick for easier flipping.
The easiest way to flip your food over is by sticking it on a metal skewer. You can use a metal rod, toothpick—even a bamboo skewer will suffice.
It’s not just for shish kabobs! If you’re having trouble flipping over that burger or chicken breast, simply stick it on top of the grill and enjoy the ease of flipping with minimal effort.
Cook your food in foil for easy cleanup.
If you’re grilling any kind of meat, it’s a good idea to use foil to protect your food from the grill. Foil can also be used to keep food warm or create a steamy environment for cooking. Here’s how:
- Wrap vegetables in foil and place them on the grill; this will give them a nutty flavor while they cook.
- Use foil when baking fish or poultry on the grill; the foil will catch any drippings and prevent flare-ups that might burn your food.
- Put meat inside of aluminum pans and wrap tightly with aluminum foil; this allows you to sear all sides at once without having to turn over each piece individually.
These hacks will save you time and give you more delicious food!
- Make the most of your grill
If you want to cook more than one thing at a time, place food on an aluminum foil tent on top of the grate. This blocks the flame from some of your meat while letting other items cook through. It also makes it easy to flip or turn over things without losing them in the fire.
- Save time with these hacks
You don’t need to be a professional chef to make your feast taste good and look great—there are plenty of ways to get creative when cooking outdoors! Here are some simple tricks that will save you time and give you more delicious food:
- Use matches instead of lighter fluid for consistent grilling
- Cook meats in small batches for better flavor control (and cooking times)
- Add more flavor by using an aluminum foil tent (or “tent”) over whatever it is that needs cooking
Conclusion
We hope you learned something new today and are now ready to try out some of the BBQ grilling hacks we talked about. These are some simple tips that can make your life easier! So go ahead and implement them into your next BBQ grilling experience.
