GRILLING TIPS FROM THE COOKING LADIES
Listen to the Big Blend Radio interview with Phyllis Hinz and Lamont Mackay ‘The Cooking Ladies,’ who talk about their RV travel lifestyle, share Grilling Tips as listen below, and discuss their 10th cookbook, “On the Road with The Cooking Ladies, Let’s Get Grilling!” See their APPLE PIE Recipe Here!
Keep your grill clean!
The easiest way to clean a gas grill is to turn the temperature to high, close the lid, and let it heat for 10 to 15 minutes. This will char food remnants, making them easier to scrape off with a wire brush.
Keep your grill oiled!
Oiling the grill grate before each use helps to prevent food from sticking. This also helps to clean the grate by removing dark residue, black specks, and pieces of metal that could be left behind by a wire brush. We preheat the grill and then oil it. With a pair of long-handled tongs, we rub an oiled paper towel over the entire grate. We use canola oil but any oil that will tolerate high heat will work.
Keep your grill hot!
High heat sterilizes the grates. When grilling meat, a clean, hot grill seals in the juices, creates nice grill marks, and makes the meat less likely to stick. Start with a hot grill and then set the temperature to the recipe specifications. Unless the recipe states otherwise, cooking with the lid closed helps to regulate the grill temperature and creates a smokier flavor. The food will also cook faster and use less fuel.
Practice safe food handling
- Never leave food sitting out of the refrigerator for more than two hours. In hot weather, less than an hour.
- Wash hands with soap before handling any food and especially after handling raw meat.
- Disinfect cutting boards and counters that have come in contact with raw meat.
- Do not put raw meat and cooked meat on the same plate or in contact with each other.
- Never allow uncooked meat to come in contact with food that will be eaten raw, such as a salad.
- Discard marinades after use. Any meat marinade that is not discarded must be boiled for 10 minutes before using, to destroy any bacteria.
- Thaw frozen meat in the refrigerator, never at room temperature.
- Always cook ground meat all the way through to the center to kill any harmful bacteria.
Use a thermometer to determine when meat is cooked
The internal temperature, rather than cooking time, is the best method to determine when meat is cooked. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, not touching fat or bone.
An instant-read thermometer registers the internal temperature instantly and is designed to be used toward the end of the cooking time and not to be left in the meat.
A digital probe thermometer can go into the meat at the beginning of the cooking time and can stay in the meat until it is done. It can be read from outside the grill. We like this for larger cuts of meat because we don’t have to open the lid to check the temperature.
How to create diamond grid marks on a steak
To put those diamond grid marks on a steak or a chop, make sure the grate is hot and oiled so the meat doesn’t stick. Place the meat on the hot, oiled grate at a 45° angle. Sear, then rotate the meat to a 45° angle the opposite way without turning the steak over. When the meat has diamond grid marks on the first side, turn it over and repeat the angle trick. Cook to desired doneness.
How to prevent flare-ups
Flare-ups—unexpected and unwanted flames— are often caused by the fat content in meat, grease build-up, and high heat. Trimming excess fat from meat helps to prevent these flare-ups. When a flare-up occurs, turn the heat down or temporarily move food to a cooler side of the grate. Instead of using water to control flames, sprinkle on a small amount of baking soda.
How to cook over indirect heat
Set the grill on indirect heat to cook dishes you would normally bake in an oven. This method is good for large cuts of meat that require long cooking times at lower temperatures. Preheat the grill with all burners, then turn one side off and place the food on the grate over the unlit burner. The grill lid must remain closed as much as possible to create an oven effect. Every time the lid is opened, heat will be lost and cooking time will be extended.
How to turn a gas grill into a smoker
- Soak wood chips for at least 30 minutes.
- Place the wet wood chips in a smoker box or a heavy-duty foil packet with holes poked in the top. Place under one side of the cooking grate.
- With the lid closed, preheat both sides of the grill on high for about 10 minutes or until the wood chips begin to smoke.
- Using a pair of long-handled tongs, oil the grate by wiping it with a piece of folded paper towel dipped lightly in canola oil.
- Reduce the heat to medium on the side with the wood chips. Turn the heat off on the side without the wood chips.
- Place the meat on the unlit side.
- Set the heat to the desired temperature on the recipe.
- Keep the lid closed except to add extra wet wood chips and check the meat.
Phyllis Hinz and Lamont Mackay, The Cooking Ladies, have been restaurant owners, caterers, food columnists, TV personalities, event speakers, travel writers, cookbook authors, and restaurant consultants. “On the Road with The Cooking Ladies, Let’s Get Grilling” is their 10th cookbook. In it, Phyllis and Lamont share their love of all things barbecue interspersed with stories and photos of their experiences travelling the highways and backroads of North America. Phyllis and Lamont are both proud members of the International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA). Keep up with The Cooking Ladies at www.TheCookingLadies.com.
![]() |
![]() |