Top 10 Ways to Hack Your Grill Your grill: its the quintessential outdoor cooking vessel, and yet it can be so much more. From cleaning your grill to upgrading its features, here are some of the best tips and hacks weve seen to maintain your grill and take it to the next level. 10. Make an Old Grill Like New Naturally, the first thing youre going to need is a working grill. If you dont have one yet, you can refurbish or repair either an old charcoal grill or a gas grill, no matter how old and rusty it might be. Maybe just a coat of Krylon Stove and BBQ Paint is all your grill needs to look its best. 9. Quickly or Deeply Clean the Grill Of course, maybe your grill just needs a good cleaning. We recommend deep cleaning your grill at least once a year, disassembling and cleaning each part. In between those more intensive cleanings, though, quick and easy cleaning hacks include using an onion or a simple coffee bath to get your grill ready for whatever youre going to throw on it. 8. Add Side Tables to Your Grill As with cooking indoors, the more surface space you have around the cooking area, the better. Upgrade your grill easily with some wooden TV trays. Bolt these on so that even if you have a very basic (or cheap) grill, you can give it the side tables that make grilling easier—complete with built-in holders for your grilling tools. 7. Turn Your Grill into a Smoker The typical charcoal grill can do more than just char meat. It can take the place of a separate meat smoker. All you might need is an aluminum pan filled with water and careful tending or, for a cold smoker setup, a soldering iron and aluminum can. 6. Turn Your Grill into a Pizza Oven Did you know your Weber grill might also double as a pizza oven? Theres some serious modification involved (fireproof blocks and a cement roof), but the homemade pizza might well be worth it. (And if you dont care to hack your grill for this, grilled pizza is still pretty awesome.) 5. Get Your Grill Flaming Hot Add a chimney starter to your grill and you can achieve the blazing heat required for proper wok cooking on your grill. Lava rocks can also give your grill a boost, retaining more of the heat under the rack for better browned meats and vegetables. By the way, if you ever have trouble getting the charcoal to catch fire, try igniting an egg carton with the charcoal inside, using waxed cotton fire starters, or maybe even Doritos or other chips. Or ditch the charcoal and try a wood fire technique for potentially more flavorful results. 4. Add Handles to Your Grill Grate Its astoundingly easy to add lifters to a grill grate using just a few bolts and other common hardware. Youll likely want to check the parts for food safety (e.g., stainless steel over galvanized steel), though. 3. DIY Your Grill No need to buy a grill when you can DIY it. Transform a beer keg into a charcoal grill or make a super cheap grill out of a lasagna pan. If you want to grill on the go, make a portable grill out of: an old toolbox, a regular tin can, or an Altoids tin that can cook burgers and hot dogs. 2. Know How Much Propane Youve Got Left Were not trying to leave you out, gas grill owners. This water trick can help you estimate how much propane youve got left in your tank, so you dont abruptly run out of gas during your next grilling party. 1. Learn Grill Masters Secrets The best grill hack of all might be learning the ins and outs of your grill so you can grill like a pro. This means knowing how to lay out the charcoal to create different heat zones, where to put different foods on the grill, why you should use an aluminum pan for more even grilling, and when to take foods off the grill. And then there are other tricks, like: grilling juicier chicken under a brick spiral cutting hot dogs for more grilled flavor getting steakhouse-quality crust with a quick freeze of the steak improving grilled chicken wings by starting them on the cool side grilling thick steaks by starting them at a low heat poaching sausages directly on the grill making beer can chicken Before you do all that, marinate meats in beer for healthier grilling. Whew. If thats not enough grilling information for you, dont forget you can also use your grill as an outdoor oven, to roast coffee or even an entire turkey, or to make pottery. Photos by Freepik, Another Pint Please..., Matt Baume.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 22:39:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015