Barbecue tips for home

Hooray!!! It’s a beautiful summer day! That’s when many a heart beats faster, because it’s barbecue weather! Whether you have a Weber, an electric outdoor kitchen or a Green Egg, we have tips for you.

Meat and fish

Meat and fish are actually indispensable on the barbecue, although the vegetarians among us will disagree. If you have meat and fish on the barbecue, there are a few things you need to think about:

Make sure the meat and fish are at room temperature

Nothing is more annoying than meat or fish that is nicely cooked on the outside, but is still completely cold on the inside. Moreover, it cooks better when you make sure your products are at room temperature. By room temperature, we mean 18° Celsius. Keep in mind, especially on hot days, to let your meat and fish come to room temperature indoors. This prevents premature spoilage and indoors insects have less of a chance to get on your products.

Make sure you work hygienically

Keep meat and vegetables separate, so preferably use different cutting boards. Be especially careful with chicken products: the bacteria in chicken can make you very sick. Chicken products, such as satay, should also be well done. Fortunately, chicken is cooked quickly, so you can attack quickly!

Try to avoid flames

You want nicely evenly cooked meat and fish, of course. Certainly no blackened pieces! Therefore, try to avoid flames in the barbecue. These flames are often caused by added fats and oils, but also by fat dripping from the meat.

Do not use a fork to turn your meat or fish

This is because a fork pokes holes in your product, causing the juices to run out. Therefore, rather use a meat tong.

Do not cut the meat immediately when it comes off the barbecue

It is so tempting to attack immediately when the meat comes off e barbecue. Certainly nice lamb, beef, as well as pork and chicken will stay much juicier if you let them rest in the aluminum foil for a while after barbecuing. You will find that your meat stays so much tastier.

Do not put too much meat on the barbecue at once

Different types of meat and via have different times to cook. Therefore, do not put too much on the barbecue at once. In this way, you keep an overview and, for example, you will not have overcooked steak and undercooked bacon in one go. Also important: don’t turn the meat and fish too quickly. Meat and fish need some time and if you turn them too quickly you run the risk of them sticking to your grill or baking sheet. That is a real waste!

Cleaning in between

Barbecuing is usually done in stages. To clean the grill or baking plate in between, you can best use half a lemon. This degreases and ensures that the taste of your fish tastes the same as your freshly fried piece of meat. Tip: also use lemon when you are done with the barbecue and the grill or baking plate is still hot. This makes cleaning up later a lot easier.

Pizza time!

You can also bake pizzas on the barbecue! You really don’t need a separate pizza oven. The nice thing about pizza is that everyone can decide what topping he or she wants. By dividing pizza dough into smaller portions you can make several small pizzas. This also makes it a very social dish. Great for a children’s party, for example. For baking pizza on the barbecue, it is best to use a pizza stone. What type of barbecue you have doesn’t really matter.

However, it is important that you already put the pizza stone on the cold barbecue so that it can warm up slowly. This way you will prevent the stone from breaking. Also, use a baking sheet under the pizza, but make sure it does not touch the grill or the paper may catch fire. Also, always close the lid when baking pizza.

The vegetarian barbecue

More and more people prefer vegetable products to meat and fish products. But also with vegetables and meat substitutes you can barbecue just fine! Here are some tips for a successful vegetarian barbecue:

• Keep in mind that not all ready-made meat substitutes are suitable for the barbecue. A vegetable burger, for example, can become terribly dry on the barbecue. Therefore, check the packaging first to see if the product is suitable for the grill.
• Not all vegetables cook equally easily on the barbecue. Onions, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant are excellent on the grill, but vegetables such as green asparagus and brocoli/flower cabbage are better blanched al dente in advance. Your vegetables are then also immediately easier to marinade. A marinade also ensures that your vegetables do not dry out too much on the grill.
• While meat and fish naturally contain fats, vegetables do not. Therefore, make sure you grease your griddle or grill well with oil. You can easily use a wad of kitchen paper for this.

• Do not place your vegetables directly over the hot coals and make sure the barbecue is not too hot. Vegetables do not need to be heated as much as meat, for example, and it also burns faster.
• Tofu, tempeh and seitan can go great on the barbecue! You can make satay of them, for example. Tofu is very moist, so squeeze it before you put it on the barbecue. Seitan needs at least 12 hours to absorb marinade, so marinate it a day in advance. Tofu and tempeh absorb marinade much faster, in 1 or 2 hours.

Enjoy your meal!

Photos: www.canva.com