Food Friday faves Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough are back. This time they turn their attention to cooking in the great outdoors. Whether you use gas or charcoal, they have recipes to share and great ideas for keeping your grill in tip top condition.
Call with your question at 2pm. 800-348-2551.
Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough are the authors of dozens of cookbooks. They are the hosts of a successful podcast, Cooking with Bruce and Mark.
Bruce and Mark's Grill Tune Up Tips
Tune up your gas grill (a bottom up operation)
1. Clean out the grease trap, likely filled up with last year’s pork fat. The trap is the metal box just below the burners. Scrape it out with a small garden trowel. To make clean-up easier next year, line the trap with aluminum foil.
2. Inspect the burners. Look for spider webs, twigs, and dust bunnies that can block the flow of gas—or even ignite.
3. Check your lava rocks or ceramic briquettes. They’re full of last year’s gunk—and can put out a powerful funk when heated after months of storage. You can clean them by placing them in your sink, spritzing them with dishwashing detergent, and pouring boiling water over them, scrubbing off any blackened bits with a wire brush. But the rocks or briquettes are pretty porous, so you’ll also have to rinse and rinse to get the soap out of them at the end of the job. It may be easier to replace them.
4. Check the hoses for cracks or rifts. Make sure the hoses are flexible. And the connections are tight. To test for gas leaks, dissolve a little dishwashing detergent in some water, then rub the mixture over the hoses and connections. Turn on the gas without lighting the fire. No new bubbles should percolate up as soapy bubbles.
5. Clean the cooking grate well with a wire brush. Then turn the grill on to high heat and sterilize the rack for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, cool completely, and brush off any loosened bits.
Tune up your charcoal grill (a top down operation)
1. Use a grill brush to clean both the cooking and the charcoal grate.
2. Scoop out and discard any leftover ashes.
3. Using a wire brush, scrape away any clumps of grease, fat, and charred barbecue sauce fused to the inside of the grill.
4. Check the metal body to make sure there are no rust spots. Scrape them with a wire brush, then buy grill-safe paint at the hardware store and touch the spots up. If there are weak spots or holes in the grill’s body—that is, rust spots you’ve missed over the years—there’s bad news in store: you need a new grill.
5. Check the rivet points and the places the legs attach to the body. You may need to screw them in more tightly.
6. Clean the adjustable air vents to make sure they’ll move easily while you’re grilling.
