The Five Worst and Most Common Grilling Mistakes

Grills are becoming increasingly easy to use, so often the key to creating masterpieces, is cutting out those common mistakes so many people make. I’m going to take you through the five most common and completely avoidable mistakes, cookout enthusiasts make, so that you can improve the quality of your food.

1. Seasoning

The number 1 worst, and most common mistake made in outdoor grilling, is not seasoning food correctly, and it really is a game changer. Seasoning meat in the method I’m about to explain, will improve the taste of your cuts, 10 fold. The golden rule is you should always apply the seasoning with your hands, so throw away the seasoning brush and forget sprinkling herbs on top before cooking. The best way to season meat, and indeed any food, is to create your seasoning combination, and massage it in with your hands, atleast 12 hours before cooking. This way the herbs and spices sink deep inside of the food, and the flavour becomes part of it. So many people brush seasonings on just before cooking, and this is the absolute worst method you can use. Always massage it in with your hands leaving plenty of time for it to settle in, before heating.

2. More haste, less speed

After seasoning the number 2 worst grilling mistake people make is to put the meat on the grill before it’s heated to ideal temperature. This is especially common with new grill owners, who post-assembly, just can’t wait to plonk those rib-eyes down on the cooking surface, but this is not recommended. So many people wonder why, when they’ve cooked a steak for the perfect time they read in their cookbook, for it to be medium, it somehow ends up rare. It’s because they put it on the grates too early, so when grilling, always pay attention to your thermometer, and remember more haste means less speed, because if you put food on too early, you’ll be cooking more to get the desired outcome.

3. The three S’s (Safety, Safety, Safety)

Number 3 on our list of worst grilling mistakes are house fires caused by too few safety precautions. Grills are lots of fun, but your dealing with a high heat, very volatile piece of equipment, which can take you to food heaven, but can also hurt you. Always check your propane tanks for dents or leaks, and always wait 10 seconds before re-attempting ignition, if the first attempt failed, as this allows time for fumes to escape into the air, and away from the cooking area. Another piece of advice is to never cook with a propane or charcoal grill indoors; this may seem like common sense to some, but believe me, people do this regularly and It’s very dangerous

4. Irregular Cleaning

Cleaning is often the worst part of owning a grill. After grilling the meat and eating it, nobody really wants to go and clean, so it often gets forgotten about. I’ve known a great many people, who tell me they need a new grill because the quality has diminished, and then I take a look at their grill. Food accumulates on grates, and not only prevents heat from dispersing, for unevenly cooked food, but it also makes food stick. Even though cleaning grills has gotten easier, with porcelain-coated surfaces, dirty grills are still rife among owners, and are a common cause of low quality grilling

5. Not Enough Sauce

Source doesn’t burn, instead it reduces, yet so many people apply less sauce than they should to food. Unfortunately, what this results in, is food lacking in flavour, as the sauce applied, has reduced so much, that it’s barely there, by the time the food is served. So, apply sauce liberally and you will avoid a very common grilling mistake.

If you remember to season with your hands, pay attention to temperature, take safety precautions, clean your grill, and apply lots of sauce, then you will have avoided the five most common grilling mistakes. Which is more, you’ll be well on your way to grilling greatness.