The Grill Guru!
My dear friend Melanie Peskett has taught many classes on grilling so I asked her to share some of our tips with us! They are great! For private lessons with this fantastic cooking instructor, email goodsquaremeals@att.net.
- low heat (200-275)- you can hold your hand 5″ above thick ash covered coals 5 or more secs.
- good for grilling fruit
- medium (325) you can hold your hand 4 secs.
- cook fish to 120, 10 mins per inch total time or until just opaque. cook skin side down
- cook pork to 160, if it’s an inch thick, about 4-5 mins per side
- beef tenderloin- very rare 10-12 mins, rare 12-15 med rare 15-17, med 18-23 per side
- lamb chops- rare 4-5 mins, med rare 6 mins, med 6-7, well done 8+ per side
- medium hot (350) you can hold your hand 5″ above coals with bits of red glow 3 secs.
- cook chicken breasts to 180, boneless 6-8 mins, bone-in 10-12 mins per side
- cook pork tenderloin to 160, 9-13 minutes per side
- lobster 10-15 mins, tails 6-8 mins total time
- shrimp 2-4 minutes depending on size total time
- hot (375) you can hold your hand 5″ above glowing red coals 2 secs.
- steak 1″ very rare 4-5 mins, rare 5-6 mins (130-135), med rare 7 mins (145), med 7-8 mins (155), well done 10+mins (165) per side
- flank steak (fajitas) very rare 3-4 mins, rare 4-5 mins (130-135), med rare 5-6 mins (145), med not recommended per side
- hamburger very rare and rare not recommended, med rare 5 mins, med 6 mins, well done 7+mins per side
Cooking times are approximate! It depends on the temperature of the food and how far away it is from the fire, wind and air temp.Best grill tip: oil your grill before cooking. Take a paper towel, fold it up in a small square, saturate it with cooking oil and grab it with your tongs and wipe down your grill rack. you can also do this with a basting brush.