1. Preheat your gas barbecue. Ignite the gas burners on your barbecue with the lid open. Turn the heat setting to the maximum temperature, then close the lid and wait for the barbecue to go up to temperature for approximately 10 minutes.
2. Don’t forget to clean your grates. After you have preheated your barbecue, clean the grates by brushing them with a grill brush. Leftover food on the grates can act a bit like glue, and can cause your fresh food to stick to both the leftovers and the grates.
3. Adjust the cooking temp. When you are ready to grill, you can adjust the temperature to the proper level for the type of food you’re going to grill. Make sure you’re grilling at the correct temperature for the food you’re making. Grilling something at too high of a temperature can cause it to stick, especially chicken.
4. Oil your food. Remember to apply some cooking oil to the surface of your food. Most people try to oil their grates, but the truth is that most of the oil burns off before it can be of any benefit, and it can actually make the grates stickier if you’re cooking at a temperature above the oils smoke point. Oiling your food is much more effective. Cooking oils with a higher smoke point are the best ones to use, such as canola oil, vegetable oil, sunflower seed oil, or avocado oil (over 450 F), instead of ones with a lower smoke point, such as extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil (about 375 F). Applying oil also adds some flavor and can help seasonings and spices adhere to the food better.
5. Avoid overcrowding your grilling surface. Position the food on the grills with enough space. Avoid overcrowding the grill surface especially with fatty foods such as sausages, hamburgers, chicken pieces, etc.
Additional tips:
- If you are using a thick basting sauce – containing sugar, jam, honey or ketchup, brush it on during the final few minutes of grilling. If applied too early, especially at high cooking temperatures, the surface of the meat will quickly burn and char.
- Grill one side of the meat for the time recommended. Brush the uncooked surface with oil or butter. Turn the meat over and complete the cooking cycle.
- Meat marinated for a few hours, or overnight in the refrigerator can help moisten, flavour, and tenderise the meat. A less-expensive lean cut of meat, such as a chuck, will benefit from an oil-based marinade.
- Use long-handled tongs with ‘soft jaws’ to turn steaks. Tongs that have sharp teeth may pierce the meat and accidentally cause the loss of precious juices.
- Make sure your meat is thawed and not frozen. You can thaw frozen meat the night before completely immersed in a marinade.
