There’s a first time for everything in life, including hosting a live-fire BBQ in San Diego. If you’ve never barbecued or consider yourself a beginner, here are a few mistakes to avoid.
- Underestimate the amount of fuel required for a cook
It’s always a good idea to have more fuel (propane, charcoal, or pellets) than you’ll need. If you don’t have a spare bag of charcoal or pellets on hand once you’ve started grilling, you might have to make that walk of shame to the kitchen to finish cooking.
2. Relying on lighter fluid to start a fire
One way to show your BBQ expertise (even if you’re a novice), is to avoid lighter fluid. Instead, use a chimney starter over a wad of newspaper, fatwood, or a fire starter; fill the chimney with fuel, and ignite the tinder. Within 15 to 20 minutes, you’ll have coals ready for barbecuing.
3. Improperly preheating the grill
If you’ll be cooking food directly over the flames or hot coals, you’ll need to preheat the grill. If you don’t, then the food won’t sear properly and will stick to the grill grate.
After dumping coals into the fire box and replacing the grate, be sure to allow the grate to heat up before beginning to grill.
4. Building a “one-dimensional” fire
To give yourself more control over heat, build a multi-zone fire. This means you’ll need to create a safety zone (under which there are no coals), and a pile of coals that ranges from low heat to high heat, from one side to the other.
5. Poor grill hygiene
If you don’t clean the grate after every grill, you’ll end up with last week’s salmon on today’s chicken breasts. Simply spray the grate with water and then brush with a wooden scraper or a high-quality grill brush with twisted wires.
6. Saucing too early
Another mistake to avoid is saucing food too early, which causes the sauce to burn. Instead, sauce the meat in the last 10 to 15 minutes of grilling. This will allow the sauce to caramelize.
7. Misjudging food readiness
If you’re new to grilling, the best way to judge food readiness is with an instant-read or remote thermometer.
Barbecuing could be a great experience, but if you’re craving the BBQ without the grilling, then call CowgirlQ for out of this world live fire BBQ in San Diego.