Here are a few grilling tips and tricks to make your winter grilling experience a lot better.
Have absolutely everything you need from brushes, sauces and trays ready well in advance. Plan ahead. You do not want to be searching for anything while your food is on the grill.
Make sure to clean all of the snow off of the lids of your grill before you start.
Use tried-and-true easy recipes for winter grilling. This is not the time to be planning out a 10-course meal. Keep the meal simple with foods you are comfortable and familiar preparing.
If you’re looking, you’re not cooking. Keep the lid closed as much as you can. This will cut down on heat loss.
Before using a gas grill in the winter check the hoses for any cracks.
Cleaning up in winter is a bit more challenging. Wipe up your drips immediately. Frozen fat is much harder to clean off your grill. You can keep a bowl of warm cloths just inside the house for easy clean up.
Use recipes that call for just a single flip. Less maintenance of the food = happier winter grilling.
You will go through more charcoal and gas in the winter. Any grill you use, whether it’s gas or charcoal, will have to work harder to maintain the heat level. Use a good quality lump charcoal with low moisture level. Double check that you have a spare tank of propane as well.
Get to know your grill and how to use it with indirect heat. You can grill larger cuts of meat in the winter.
Keep a safe path to your grills. Shovel out before you start. There’s nothing worse than grilling a perfect steak and then dropping it in the snow on your way back to the house.
Warm up serving plates before you dash to the grill to get your dinner. It will help keep your meals warm longer.
If you plan on smoking meats in the winter, make sure all of your smoker packets are made in advance. Even easier, use the Char-Broil ones.
Food takes longer to cook in the winter and grills can take longer to warm up. Give yourself extra time for dinner.
It gets dark a lot earlier in the winter. Invest in a grill light, outdoor patio lantern or other light source.
Try to put your grill in an area that is screened from the wind as much as possible. Wind is your biggest enemy.
Dress for the weather. Layer up, but don’t have on anything dangling like scarves and hoodie strings that could catch on fire. Gloves are always better than mittens for tong handling.
Utilize these grilling tips to ensure your grill lasts longer and is maintained properly.
