As soon as we Brits get any decent weather there is one thing we always do. That’s right it’s time to get the grill out. Now, considering we don’t get this chance very often, we can be a bit all over the place when it comes to organising BBQs. That won’t be a problem anymore. There’s a BBQ hack for almost anything to help make your lives easier, so you can enjoy a BBQ as much as anyone else.
BBQ Hack List | Regulate BBQ Temperatures
Trying to make sure nothing on the grill starts burning can be stressful, especially when you’re cooking multiple foods at once. Well, this BBQ hack is a simple and perfect solution. The first thing you can do is deliberately heap the briquettes on one side but make the other side only one layer deep. This way the side with lots of coal will be hotter than the side without. This allows you to cook food on either a high or low heat at the same time. Another more fluid option is to physically move the briquettes with a pair of tongs while you’re cooking, regulating the temperature as you go.
Worship Tin Foil
Tin foil is a really useful tool to have when you have a BBQ. It can be used while cooking food on the grill or to keep it warm for your guests. There’s a tin foil BBQ hack for both vegetables and meat. If you or some of your guests are vegetarian or vegan it can be hard to make sure their food doesn’t get contaminated by any meat products or come into contact with meat juices. A quick and easy way to cater to people who don’t eat meat is to get their favourite vegetables together, add a splash of oil and season with herbs. Then simply wrap the vegetables in a tin foil parcel and voila, you can cook the meal without fear of contamination. Plus, the tin foil helps the vegetables cook evenly.
There’s also a brilliant tin foil BBQ hack for meat. After you’ve taken the meat off the grill, create a loose tent over it with tin foil. This helps to prevent the meat drying out, retaining the moisture and allowing the meat juices to meld together.
Remember Onions Have Layers
Onions aren’t just limited to cooking. This next BBQ hack might sound strange, but you should definitely give it a go. Cleaning the grill before a BBQ can turn into a real chore and put you off the whole idea. The easy solution is to take half an onion and wipe it along each rung of the grill. The acidity of the onion helps break down any dirt and grease, leaving you with a clean grill. Plus, it adds a little extra onion flavour to whatever you cook, making it even tastier.
Soak Skewers In Water
People who love kebabs will want to know about this BBQ hack. To prevent the skewers for kebabs burning, drying out and breaking, or starting to smoke, soak them in water for a couple of hours before making the kebabs and putting them on the grill. Keeping the skewers submerged in water until you’re ready to use them stops them getting scorched.
Make The Most Of Herbs
Speaking of kebabs, if you’ve run out of skewers or want to try something different you should give herbs a try. Another BBQ hack that you might not know is using herbs as skewers. Instead of a boring wooden skewer try threading your vegetables or meat etc. on to herbs like rosemary. Not only does this make the kebabs look more interesting but it makes them more flavoursome as the herbs impart flavour to the kebab while its cooking on the grill.
If you want to increase the flavour of your food even more you can also spread herbs directly into the charcoal of your BBQ. This enhances the taste of your food as it cooks on the grill.
Check Propane With Hot Water
This last BBQ hack is also really useful but be careful when you try it. It can be hard to know how much propane is left in the tank of your grill, but there’s an easy solution. Simply heat up some water, preferably not enough that it’s boiling, and carefully pour it down the outside of the tank. Make sure that the tank is completely off and cool before doing so. After you’ve poured the water slide your hand down the tank. Where the tank is empty it will feel warm, but where there is still propane it will still feel cold. This allows you to roughly gauge how much propane you have left.
