5 common mistakes Guaranteed to RUIN Your BBQ

By: Michelle Loar

IT'S GRILLING SEASON

There is nothing better than gathering with your family on a beautiful summer day and having a barbecue. The perfect time to show off your Grill Skills. You don't want to ruin your barbecue, here's 5 common mistakes that MUST be avoided.

1) Not Cleaning and Oiling Your Grill Before Starting

Oiling and Cleaning you grill is essential to begin with before you start grilling.

Of course, oiling helps keep food from sticking onto the grill. The best way to oil before you cook is to coat a rag or paper towel with high heat cooking oil and wipe the grates. Make sure not to douse your grill with too much oil other wise it might catch fire as soon as you turn it on!

Cleaning not only helps stop your grates from rusting, it also helps prevent debris build up which could cause your food to stick to the grill. You want to make sure to clean your grill after every use, and double check that it's clean before you start cooking. Remember, it's always easier to clean the grill while it's hot, the longer you let it sit the harder it will be to clean!

2) Spreading the Heat too evenly

When barbecuing, make sure to have more than one available heat level.

Many people prefer two levels of heat - one side that is very hot for all your meats that usually take longer to cook and another side for your more laid back foods such as vegetables or fish. This side could also be used for the meats that need to cool from the hotter portion.

Cooking with various levels of heat allows more versatility over the grill, and is a great trick to master "Grill Space".

3) Putting the Sauce on Too Early

You do not want to waste some of your favorite sauce by making the mistake of putting it on way to early, once your barbecue is ready you might be wondering where the flavor went.

When putting sauce on too early, the flames from your grill will burn the sauce right, leaving barely a hint of flavor. It is best to apply the sauce once the food is almost ready, no more than 1 minute before taking it off the grill. Not sure when to add the sauce? Some people just prefer adding sauce after the food is off the grill and cooled down, and there is nothing wrong with that.

4) Pressing Down On Your Burgers

Everyone wants a juicy and flavorful burger. Pressing down is one way to ruin a juicy flavorful burger.

It happens everywhere: movies, TV shows, and your even your backyard. Fact, pressing down on your burger does not help it cook faster (not in the way you'd like). When you press down on a burger, all the desirable flavors and juices you were looking forward to, disappear. On top of that, your burgers are more likely to stick onto the grill and make a flavorless mess. 9/10 times it's better to just let the patty sit.

5) Not Letting The Meat Rest

Don't get too excited once your barbecue is ready to come off the grill, you should give it time to cool and rest before serving it.

Heat brings all the meat's juice in the middle, if you cut meat before it rests the juices will all just fall right onto the plate! This happens because meat needs time to reabsorb its flavors and juices so you can taste it throughout the whole cut.

Now you're ready.

Even BBQ Masters can fall victim to some of these easy mistakes. Every time you grill, keep these mistakes in the back of your mind.