What if I told you that searing that steak doesn't hold in the juices? Neither does setting aside the fork in favor of the spatula. Is mayonnaise a sea of bacteria waiting to ruin your cookout? Should you spray down that flare-up? There are a lot of myths out there in the barbecue and grilling world and some of them are preventing you from being the best cook you can be. Let's debunk those myths and get cooking.
Searing Locks in Juices
Regarding BBQ Inc.
It seems reasonable. Get that grill as hot as it will go and throw on a steak to sear in the juices. With the surface of the steak cooked hot and fast the juices will stay inside. Right? Wrong. The moisture in meat is inside the individual cells, not floating around like in some kind of balloon. Heat causes these cells to contract draining juices from the meat and causing it to get dry. The more you cook the dryer the meat will get. Searing won't affect the moisture of the meat. What it does do is brown the surface of the meat in processes known as caramelization and the Maillard reaction. These processes affect amino acids and sugars on the meat giving it that rich, sweet flavor. So sear for the flavor, not the juices.
A Spray Bottle is the Best Way to Deal with Flare-Ups
Flare-ups are grease fires. You don't put water on a grease fire. Spraying your flare-up with water will spread out the grease. While it might put it out for a minute the grease will fire up again and you will now have a larger grease fire spread over a larger area of your grill. Reducing the fat in the first place will reduce your risk of flare-ups. When a flare-up does occur, open up the lid, move the food out of the way and wait for the flare-up to subside. If you have a flare-ups on a charcoal grill, close the vents and put the fire out be eliminating the oxygen. Don't fight flare-ups, control them.Frequent Flipping Causes Meat to be Tough
I said before that you should be gentle with the things you cook. This is true. Flipping meat over several times isn't a bad thing though. You want even cooking or you are going to get something overcooked on one side and raw on the other. You accomplish this by turning and flipping. So flip frequently, but flip gently.Mayonnaise in Foods Increases the Risk of Food Poisoning
Mayonnaise is made by whipping eggs with oil. Commercial mayonnaise is made with other ingredients like acids and preservatives. Mayonnaise has a very low pH and isn't a good environment for bacteria to grow in. Chances are if your potato salad goes bad it was bacteria on the vegetables (or your hands) that are the culprit. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying that you can keep your mayonnaise items sitting in the sun all day. All I am saying is that it probably wasn't the mayo. Keep it cool until you eat is always the RULE.
Salting Meat Before Cooking Causes Dry Meat
If you've eaten salted pork then you know how dry this can by. Actually salting meats used to be a way of preserving foods before the days of refrigeration. Perhaps this is the origin of the myth that putting salt on meat before you cook it will cause it to dry out. The truth is that the only thing salt on a raw steak will do is make it taste better when it is cooked. So salt away and don't worry about the dry meat.Poking Meat with a Fork Drys it Out
Under no circumstance should you touch a piece of meat with a sharp, pointy tool (it might pop). Poking holes in meat will let the juices drain out causing it to dry out. This would be true, if (like I said above), a piece of meat was like a balloon. Yet we have all been told that if you poke a hole in meat that the juices will run out. I once knew an excellent cook who insisted that you should never squeeze up a steak with a pair of tongs because, like wringing a sponge you will squeeze out the juices. Since meat is made of millions of little balloons, to keep the meat moist you need to keep the moisture in these little balloons. The truth is you should be gentle with whatever you cook.
