Fourth of July weekend would not be complete without firing up the grill.
To help you grill like a pro, I turned to someone who knows a thing or two about grilling.
Tuffy Stone is the pitmaster of the barbecue team Cool Smoke. This past May, his team won the title of Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest Grand Champion, as well as won the shoulder division.
When armed with these essential tips, you too can be grilling like an award-winning pitmaster.
Clean your grill.
His first tip sounds simple, but can make a big difference. “Clean your grill before cooking, as a dirty grill can impart off-putting flavors on your food,” he explained.
Use good charcoal.
Stone said that using a quality charcoal is of utmost importance when grilling as it is very important to the flavor.
Set up a two-zone fire when grilling.
By putting hot coals on one side of the bottom of the grill and no coals on the other, you create two cooking zones.
With two zones, you can cook directly over the coals to sear or brown, and then move the meat to the cool side of the grill, where no coals are. By doing this, you can continue to cook the meat in a more gentle way to doneness and have to worry less about burning the meat.
Add your sauce at the end of the cooking process.
f you are going to sauce your grilled meat, such as ribs or chicken, always sauce after you have cooked your meat to the desired doneness. Many barbecue sauces contain sugar and can burn easily if they get too hot on the grill.
Allow meats and grilled foods to rest after cooking on the grill.
“This will help make for a better eating finished dish, helping to keep the juices inside the meat,” said Stone.
This is Jennifer Chandler with The Weekly Dish. Happy Fourth of July!
For more information about Tuffy Stone and Cool Smoke, visit www.coolsmokebarbecue.com.
