If you are like me when you think about Father's Day and what you need to prepare for the special guy(s) in your life, I automatically think about what I need to do and to prepare for a great cookout for dad. It can also be overwhelming thinking about buying the perfect gift, settling on the menu, shopping for the best ingredients, preparing and cooking the food, and making sure dad's favorite drinks are well stocked. Well, I am here to give you 5 tips for the grill to help make the day a little less overwhelming.
1. Prepare the Grill
Like with most things taking a few minutes to prepare will pay dividends. You should turn on your grill and let it preheat for 10-15 minutes with the lid closed before putting any meat on the grill. This is an important step as it allows the grill grates to heat up, which will lead to those all-important grill marks and helps your food cook more evenly. Once the grill is preheated make sure the grill grates are clean by using a grill brush to scrub them. You don't want any remnants of last weeks dinner cooked onto these Father's Day steaks!
2. Don't Flip It
Many experts say only takes one flip of meats on the grill, otherwise, you can risk a drier piece of meat. And for all of you, foodies out there even more importantly its what will give you those Instagram worthy grill lines. Don't get too anxious and flip, flip, flip. If the meat is sticking to the grates, let it cook a little longer and it usually will be loosed up when it is done.
3. Salt is your friend
Properly seasoning your meat with salt can be the difference between a bland piece of meat and a flavorful result. It is important to know the timing of salting your meat. There are two ways you can go about salting it - do it immediately before cooking or 40-45 minutes before cooking. Salting and immediately putting it on the grill doesn't allow time for the salt to draw moister out of the meat. If you salt and let it rest at least 40-45 minutes you will give the meat enough time to reabsorb the moister drawn out by the salt. Salting and resting any time between the two options don't give your meat enough time to reabsorb the moister drawn out by the salt and can lead to a drier piece of meat.
4. Know the perfect temp
Using a meat thermometer or instant-read meat thermometer is important to get the meat cooked thoroughly or to the correct level of doneness that dad loves. Here are some temp guides for you to follow:
5. Don't dig right in
Even if you are starving try to hold off at least 5 minutes and let that meat rest. It is important to rest that meat to prevent all those tasty juices from running out on your plate instead of staying in and making that a juicy cut of meat.
Following these tips will help you create a Father's Day cookout that Dad will sure to love!
Happy Grilling and Happy Father's Day to all those special guys out there!!
