Summer has arrived. It’s time to enjoy the sunlight, natural view and some good quality time with friends & family. It’s also the perfect time to use your favorite appliance, the smoker or barbeque machine.

If you are a beginner, grilling can be a little tricky for you. To help you out, we will discuss some useful grilling tips and tricks. By effectively using those tips, your grilling skills will certainly be enhanced.

Grilling and smoking take some dedication. But the result is always satisfying. To slowly become a pro, understand the following steps.

1. Know How Your Grill Works

The first and foremost point is to know every detail and function of your grill. Based on the mechanism & design, every appliance is different.

Check the instruction book and study everything carefully. It will teach you all the basics, like how to switch on the grill, which can be risky if not done correctly. It can also be embarrassing if by accident you burn your hair in the grill even before you have started cooking.

Jokes aside, it can be very risky if you do not know what you are doing. The same goes if you want to use smokers. Smokers are a little different from grills. Smokers utilize smoke to cook the meat.

2. Select Your Charcoal

If you are a beginner then using gas grills will be a good choice, but if you want to take your skills to the next level then try using charcoal.

The fuel used for cooking can have significant differences and charcoal is a traditional cooking fuel for grilling, smoking, and barbecuing. You have to use charcoal at some point, so it is better to learn early.

First, you have to know your charcoal. The two main types are briquettes and lumps. Briquettes offer a long burning time and are consistent. Briquettes also come in pieces that are almost equal in shape and size.

Lumps, on the other hand, offer a nice clean burn, reach higher temperatures, and allow to form a smoky flavor.

3. Use Hands To Check The Heat

The modern grill has a system to display the temperature. You can simply look at it to see if the heat level is perfect or not. If you do not have a modern one do not worry, you can tell the temperature simply with the help of your hand.

How To Tell If It Is High Heat

Place your hand, palm down at least six inches above the grill. Feel the heat. If you can not hold your palm in that position for more than three seconds then the grill is at high heat.

How To Tell If It Is Medium Heat

Do the same. This time if you can not hold it over six seconds, you are at medium heat.

How To Tell If It Is Low Heat

This time, if you can hold your hand over the grill for over ten seconds or more then you are at low heat.

4. Always Use Metal Utensils

Using plastic utensils is not advised while grilling. Since plastics melt easily, it is not eco-friendly. So, always use metal utensils.

Also, make sure you have sufficient amounts of charcoal and gas. It would be a great idea to bring some cold refreshments for yourself as it can be extremely hot while cooking on a grill.

5. Know When To Use Direct & Indirect Heat

Heat zones are an absolute necessity, no matter which grill you use. This is done by preheating the grills. there are two ways to do so.

Direct Heat

If you place the grilling item directly on top of the heat source, then it is direct heat. If you want to sear or get fine grill marks on your…
 
Continue reading the article and learn more about grilling on Daisy Linden’s blog.