10 grilling myths that need to be debunked

via Food52

Barbecue and grilling are rife with old husband's tales handed down for generations. But now, in 2016, we have science and curious cooks who have questioned these shibboleths. In my new book, Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling, I dispel scores of these myths.

Here are some of the hardest to kill that won't go away.

1. MYTH: You can tell the temperature of your grill by holding your hand over it.

I cannot understand why so many talented cooks parrot this nonsense. You absolutely positively definitively without doubt no way no how cannot tell anything about the temperature of a grill by holding your hand over the grate and counting "1001, 1002, 1003" until your palm starts to smoke. Each of us reacts differently to heat and the heat 1 inch above the grate can be significantly different than 6 inches above.

2. MYTH: Get your grill really hot and sear the meat first.

You want a grill that has enough cooking surface that you can set up two heat zones: one side hot, one side not. One side is heated by direct radiant heat, the other by indirect convection heat. On a gas grill, turn the burners off on one side. On a charcoal grill, push all the coals to one side. Now you have temperature control.

The best technique for thicker cuts of meat is called the reverse sear. (It works indoors, too.) For all but very thin foods, you want to start cooking on the indirect side and slowly warm it and bathe it in smoke, an elegant seasoning you can’t get from your spice rack. By slowly warming the meat, it cooks evenly throughout and enzymes kick in to tenderize the meat.

But you do want a darkly caramelized, crisp crust, so the trick is to move the meat from the indirect side to the direct radiant heat side about 10 to 15°F before it hits the target temp, and sear the snot out of it with the lid open. This concentrates all the heat on one side, browning the surface. Leave it facing the fire for only a minute or two so not too much energy is absorbed. Then flip it and let it cool on the top side while the bottom browns. Flip flip flip every minute or two until the exterior is dark brown, and the interior is the target temp. (It is far easier to hit a slow moving target than a fast moving one.) Try it on a thick steak or chicken or even a baked potato!

3. MYTH: Searing meat seals in the juices.

Meat is about 70% water and most of that is locked in thousands of long thin muscle fibers. Heating meat always squeezes out juices. Some juices drip off during cooking and some evaporate, and nothing can stop the process. Hear that sizzle? That's water on hot metal.

Although searing browns and firms up the surface, which makes it feel and taste great, it does not somehow weld the fibers shut and lock in the juices. In fact, the surface gets crusty mostly because it has dried out due to high heat, and searing, which needs high heat, causes water to evaporate. Doing side by side tests of seared and unseared meats cooked to the same temp, the seared meat weighs less. And any experienced griller will tell you that even after searing, juices pool on the surface.