What is Direct Grilling?
When most people tell you they’re grilling this weekend, direct grilling is generally what they’re talking about. With this high heat method, grill masters can cook food pretty quickly by placing it directly over the fire.
What is direct grilling?
When you grill direct, you place the food over the fire, and you cook by direct exposure to the flame and the heat.
What are the benefits?
We like this way of grilling because it’s the perfect way to cook steaks, chops, burgers, boneless chicken breasts, kabobs, fish fillets, many vegetables, bread, and other quick-cooking foods.
Most often, the best candidates for direct grilling are foods that are tender, less than two inches thick and boneless.
What does direct grilling do?
With direct grilling, you are able to sear the outside surface of the meat to form a delicious crust. This serves to lock the juices inside.
The Big Green Egg is a master at direct grilling because of its unique design. Direct grilling on the EGG is always done with the lid closed. This makes flare-ups and hot spots virtually non-existent.
How to Set Your Grill Up for Direct Grilling
You’ll find a few ways to set your grill up.
- You can spread your coals out in a single layer to make one zone to grill your food. This is a good way to grill if you have just a few items like a couple of steaks for two.
- Your other option is to create several zones. This might be a cool/safety zone, a medium hot zone, and a hot zone. This allows you to cook several items at one time while having a few different zones you can use. You can use racks to help you get your different zones as you set some items right on the fire and others a little above.
Final Tip
For some foods, it is often better to begin searing over high temperatures. Then, you can reduce the heat by adjusting the dampers to finish cooking.
From the Big Green EGG to Traeger, you’re sure to find a grill to suit your outdoor cooking needs. Stop by today to see our wide selection of grills.
Image: Unsplash
