Barbecuing Your Way to Healthy Cooking

The common consensus among food experts is that grilled foods are a healthy cooking option. However, here is something to ponder over – foods cooked at very high temperatures can be a health hazard. Second, charred food does not taste good – it is bitter and unpleasant to eat.

So how can grilled food be considered healthy cooking? We need to explore the subject in some detail to provide the answers.In order to cook healthy food by the grilling technique,we need to consider various factors and add a liberal dose of good old-fashioned common sense to the cooking process.

• Use a cooking thermometer: this is a gadget that you stick into the meat to take a temperature reading. It is better to follow recipe instructions for grilling meats,they generally provide the right cooking temperatures.Anything above 270 degrees is considered bad.

• Selecting meat: selecting the right cuts of meat is one way to enjoy healthy food. Sausages and other processed foods are not the advisable healthy option. Avoid these foods and choose lean meats without much fat. Remove the skin from chicken before marinating and substitute turkey meat if you are making homemade burgers.

• Grilling meat: when you marinate meat, it reduces the chances of it charring and burning. It is also a good way to tenderize the meat and add flavor to the cooking. Remove the burned parts and the fatty parts before serving the meat. Generally when the fat from the meats drips into the fire, it flares up, resulting in charring parts of the meat.

• Gas grills do not have flare up problems, it only happens with the charcoal grills. You can add a metal flavorizer bar to the grill under the cooking grate. It will provide enhanced flavor to the meat and prevent much flaring up. You can also marinate the meat, wrap it in aluminum foil and place it on the grill to cook.

• Maintaining the grill: clean the grill thoroughly every time you are done cooking even though you may not feel like it. Empty out the charcoal and ash; get rid of all the oil, grime and charred bits by giving the racks a good scrub and polish up the grill ready for the next cooking session.Never let charred food bits remain in the grill, they are cancer causing and will certainly give you the works if you end up eating a few bits.With these simple strategies, it is possible to enjoy healthy cooking by grilling food.