The Cooking Tips for Gas Grills that Make Grilling Great

Grilling, like any basic cooking method, can be mastered. These cooking tips for gas grills will get you started on the road to expert grilling any time of year. Although most people see it as easy, grilling is actually one of the most challenging basic cooking methods. If cooking is like driving a car, grilling is like being strapped to a rocket ship! Since grilling is an intense form of direct heat cooking, controlling the heat can be tricky. This presents the greatest challenge to home cooks. As the weather starts to get nicer and the great outdoors beckons, attention starts to turn to outdoor cooking - and gas barbeque grills can't be beat for simplicity and convenience. Now more than ever, smart home cooks are looking for the best cooking tips for gas grills to make their work faster and easier - and their results better. But grilling only becomes EASY when you know these simple cooking tips for gas grills that are guaranteed to improve your results.

Preparing Recipes for the Grill

When preparing recipes for the grill, the most important thing to consider is how the grilling method of cooking acts differently on different types of foods. Careful product selection is extremely important. You must start with a tender product if you want to end with a tender product. Marinating meats when making recipes for the grill is the best way to apply some tenderizing properties before cooking because the grill will not tenderize meats. You want to also make sure the product you choose will be able to withstand direct high-heat cooking. Different products will handle this differently and some are just not the best choice for grilling. A very delicate fish, such as tilapia, will not perform very well on the grill because the high heat may burn the outside of the fish before the inside cooks at all. Vegetables all cook at different rates, too, depending on their texture and fimness. When cooking different combinations of vegetables together (as in skewering), you will achieve far better results by par-cooking the "harder" items prior to skewering so that all vegetables are the correct done-ness at the same time. These are just a few examples of the types of things you want to consider in cooking recipes for the grill.

A Gas Grill Cooking Twist

I am about to break my own golden rule of grilling and give you a procedure for gas grill cooking with the lid closed! With the grill lid closed, your grill changes from a CONDUCTIVE cooker to a CONVECTIVE cooking one - more like your oven. This is a gentler form of cooking because the heat never comes into direct contact with the product being cooking - a contradiction in grilling. So how do you turn your dry heat, direct source cooking vehicle (the grill) into one that can utilize a moist convective cooking process? It's actually a pretty cool technique for gas grill cooking. This is a trick I use most often with delicate fish, such as tilapia. Here are the steps:

1. Turn the heat OFF on the side of the grill on which your product will cook.
2. Add a pan of liquid (water, wine, juice, stock) to the bottom of the other side of the grill.
3. Place the fish directly on the grill (if you have a flat grate option). If not, you can put it in a cast iron pan and put it on the grill grates.
4. Flip the product when it is 75% cooked on one side. You will know this because the sides are browning and pink (almost clear) juices are bubbling up to the top. NEVER pierce the product to determine done-ness as this will allow those awesome juices to escape.
5. Use a thermometer to determine final temperature and remove a bit "early" to allow for the carry-over cooking that occurs.

Gas Barbeque Grills vs Charcoal Grills

In the ever-raging debate on charcoal grills against gas barbeque grills, one thing that gets overlooked is convenience. Yes, the charcoal grill provides opportunity for a deep, smoky flavor in foods that is not fully achievable with the gas barbeque grill, but after that all of the "pros" go into the gas grill's column. From start to finish, there is no comparison - the gas wins. Starting the gas grill is much easier and safer because it uses propane as fuel and starts at the press of a button. Unless you are a boy scout, the only easy way to start charcoal grills is with lighter fluid, but this can be dangerous, and can impart its taste into the food. During the grilling process, gas barbeque grills provide consistent heat throughout cooking. Charcoal grills provide the cook with a bit more challenge because controlling the heat must be done manually - by moving products further from or closer to the flame. This can take a bit of practice. At the end of the meal, clean up is much easier as well with the gas barbeque grill. It turns OFF as easily as it turned on! And you don't have to wait for coals to cool and worry about where to dispose of the used coals when cooking is complete.

By knowing these simple cooking tips for gas grills, you will be able to enjoy successful outdoor cooking all season long. Considering the limitless variety of foods that can be cooked on the grill, you will not run out of awesome new meals anytime soon!