Unlucky. This one word conjures images of black cats crossing
paths, broken mirrors and walking under ladders. It describes some
grilling adventures.
Unlucky. This one word conjures images of black cats crossing paths, broken mirrors and walking under ladders. It describes some grilling adventures.
Whether it’s burning, overcooking, undercooking or not tasting right, an unlucky mistake can lead to lessons learned when it comes to grilling. Although I may be the “expert” in this subject, I too have had unlucky grilling moments. In recognition of today’s date, Friday the 13th, I want to share some of my less-than-favorable, unlucky grilling experiences.
I had never attempted to grill ribs on my own until about 10 years ago. I was excited about having a few friends over for a late summer barbecue. Someone requested ribs as part of the menu.
I took the ribs out of the package, seasoned them and direct grilled them. At the time, I wasn’t aware that when the butcher trimmed the ribs on the electric saw, he or she cut through bones and created bone fragments on the surface of the meat. I always wash off chicken before I cook it, but it completely slipped my mind that I should wash the ribs.
The bone fragments remained after grilling, and the texture, well, let’s just say that it had some very crunchy pieces. It wasn’t one of my finest cooking moments.
The lesson learned: Except for ground meats, wash and dry all meats before you cook them.
Another unlucky grilling moment occurred when I was grilling tri-tip for a crowd. I was not grilling on site but at home, slicing the meat there and then transporting it to the location. I didn’t want to smell like grilling smoke at the meeting, so I took a quick shower.
Since I didn’t want the perfectly cooked tri-tip to become cold, I decided to close the lid on the grill, as the heat in the grill would keep the tri-tip warm. And since the meat wasn’t over direct heat, it wouldn’t burn.
What I wasn’t thinking about at the time was how the meat would continue to cook with the indirect heat. When slicing into the meat, I was expecting to have some tri-tip cooked medium-rare, medium and medium-well. Well, all the meat was well-done – no pink at all!
Although the tri-tip had a wonderful flavor, I didn’t have a selection to choose from.
The lesson learned: If any meat is cooked how you like it, remove it from the heat and cover it with foil to keep it warm.
My final unlucky brush with grilling occurred when I decided to grill on a whim. I was the only one at home, and I had purchased a few nice steaks a day or two earlier. I was planning on eating one that evening and using the rest for multi-task grilling purposes.
I was sure I had everything I needed when I began to build the charcoal briquette fire. When I reached for the lighter fluid, I thought it was funny that the bottle didn’t weigh very much. It had lighter fluid in it, but it turned out that there wasn’t enough.
After burning for a just a few minutes, the charcoal briquettes lost the flame and went out. I tried everything to light the fire. Rubbing alcohol and vodka didn’t work very well. I decided to build a small fire from some kindling and newspaper. After waiting for it to burn down a little bit, I laid the charcoal briquettes on top. Luckily, they lit, and I was grilling the steaks a little while later.
The lesson learned: If you plan on grilling anything, make sure you have everything on hand.
With all the bad luck in this week’s column, I thought it could use a little good luck. To find a recipe, I searched “grill lucky” online, crossed my fingers and rubbed the rabbit’s foot. One recipe that stood out was from the Texas Beef Council. Their “lucky burgers” were given with the tag line, “It will feel like your lucky day.”
I normally wouldn’t follow last week’s burger technique with another burger recipe, but this one is particularly good and quite different. If you feel like the texture of the almonds would not work well here, they may be omitted.
Although some grilling adventures can be mini-disasters, lessons are learned. By sharing some of my unlucky mistakes, I hope I have prevented you from making the same errors. And if you plan on grilling today, just remember to stay clear of the black cats, mirrors and ladders.
