Searing
Searing means cooking the surface of your meat at a high temperature to seal in juices and caramelize the sugars found naturally in food. It creates a crust that is dark brown in color and has a nutty flavor from the caramelized sugars. To sear, get your grill as hot as possible, and cook your food directly over the flames for a short period.
Marking
Marking is the art of creating grill marks on food. Here’s how: get your grill as hot as possible, then cook your food directly over the high heat for 90 seconds. Then rotate the food clockwise 45 degrees and sear again. After another 90 seconds, you should have a nice crisscross pattern.
Combo Cooking
Combo Cooking uses use both Direct and Indirect methods. For example, you might sear your food first and then finish cooking indirectly. This works well for steaks and tenderloins.
Additional Tips:
- Letting meat stand is a secret to great grilling. Large pieces of meat actually keep cooking for a few minutes after you take it off the grill. So before serving, cover the meat loosely with foil and set it aside for a few minutes. The meat will finish cooking and its juices will redistribute, giving it a more consistent and mouth-watering taste. To keep food from sticking to the grids, spray or coat the food with cooking oil before lighting.
- Flare Ups are a flash of fire caused by juices falling on the grill burner. They are common when cooking meats with a high fat content. To reduce flare-ups, keep your grill clean, use lean cuts of meat (or trim fat) and avoid cooking on very high temperatures. Keeping the lid closed while grilling can help prevent flare-ups. To tame a flare-up, move food to another area of the cooking surface. You may need to turn all the burners OFF until the flames subside. Do not spray water on flare-ups!
- When indirect cooking roasts and larger cuts of meat, place meat onto a roasting rack inside a heavy gauge metal pan. Place pan over the un-lit burners. Clean cooking grids and racks after every use with a quality grill brush designed for your grid material. Wipe the grids clean when finished.
- After every use, allow grill to cool. Then, protect clean cooking grids with a light coat of cooking oil, empty grease pan, wipe outside surfaces with a suitable kitchen cleaner and protect surfaces with a quality cover that properly fits your grill.
- A gas grill is ideal for reheating leftover pizza. Set burners on low and place pizza slices directly on preheated cooking grid. Close lid and cook until cheese starts to bubble.