Grilling 101

Welcome back to Welch’s Blog!
Today, with the Labor day holiday coming up, we will be talking about the art of grilling.
There are two ways to gril so choose the one that best fits the type of grill you have. The two ways we recommend are charcoal grilling and Natural (or propane) gas grilling.

First we will talk about getting the grill ready:
A gas grill is relatively easy. Turn on gas grill, click the button and it is running. Be careful, if it doesn’t light right away-give time for gas to clear away before trying again.
A charcoal grill is a little more complex. First you arrange the charcoal in a pyramid at the bottom of the grill. Then pour approximately 2 oz of lighter fluid or until coals appear glossy over the top of the coals and VERY CAREFULLY light with a match. When charcoal is about three quarter of the way covered in ash and has a slight glow you are ready to start cooking.
Now you have to decide if you are cooking direct or indirect (or both if you are searing), which I will now explain.
Direct heat cooking is putting the meat directly over the coals or hot end of the gas grill. You would use this method for cooking thinner pieces of meat that usually take less than thirty minutes to cook, some examples are Boneless chicken, steaks, fish fillets, hamburgers and hot dogs.
Indirect heat cooking is similar to oven cooking. You would Place most charcoal on one side of the grill and cook on the other (or cook on the low side of the gas grill). Some examples are Whole turkeys, bone-in chicken, ribs and briskets.
Searing is a method in which you start cooking at a high heat (to seal the juices in) and then switch to the indirect method to finish cooking. This method provides doneness on each side while maintaining the rich, red color and flavors in the center—and creates a nice presentation when slicing individual servings for guests.
Here are some tips for cooking Beef, Pork and Chicken:
Beef-
* Turn steaks only once- when the juices start to bubble on the uncooked side (the clearer the juice, the more well done the meat).
* Second side of steak needs less grilling time than the first
* Internal grilling temps are as follows :
Rare-135 degree
Medium rare-145 degrees
Medium -160 degrees
Medium Well-165 degrees
Well done 170-degrees
Pork-
*Cook Thoroughly – Pork is ready when the juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink along the bone.
*internal temp should be 160 degrees for medium and 170 degrees for well done.
Chicken-
*Chicken is done when juices run clear.
* Temperature should be 170 degrees for breasts and 180 degrees for whole chicken.

Well I hope this helps and have a fun and safe labor Day!