Everyone has their own little tips about grilling–whether you grill with charcoal, propane, wood or over an open fire pit. We have a wood fired grill, but all of these could be used with any type of grilling you do.
- The Onion Trick
- Cast Iron Dutch Oven
- Potatoes in the Coals
- Use the Stock Pot
We were grilling out the other day and John asked me if I’d posted his onion trick on the site. Uh, no. He was amazed at the onion trick when his son (his 18 year old son who doesn’t take much interest in this type of thing) told him about it, so he figured you all needed to know it, too…he’s looking out for all of us!
To clean and make a non-stick grill rack, use an onion! Just slice an onion in half and rub it over a hot rack. John just uses his trusty fillet knife to keep away from the heat some. I put my hand in a potholder first…I’m a wimp I guess.
Your onion will be braised and black. That’s a good thing!
Toss the onion right into the fire or coals when you’re done, you’ll have a great aroma and flavoring.
See the rack? All clean and if you look real close you can see the shininess–that’s the non-stick.
Want to keep the heat out of the kitchen but roast something? Pull out the Dutch oven and put it on the grill.
Here we were making pork loin. After marinating the pork loin, we put it on the grill to braise it to get some nice grill marks and let the smoke flavor penetrate it.
Then into the Dutch oven it went with a little bit of liquid on the bottom. We used 1/2 can of beer for some moisture, but anything will do, even water.
Covered and roasted, you’ll have a perfect, tender, moist roast in a little bit of time.
Now this one, I’m not sure if it’ll work with the propane. I’ve just never tried before.
Wrap your potatoes to be baked in a double layer of aluminum foil and stick them right into the coals.
It saves grill space and they will be done right along with the rest of your meal. If they get done first, pull them up to the top in corner.
Soaking corn on the cob in the husk then grilling is in my opinion the best way to prepare corn. I’ve found an easier way to soak it. I now use my large stock pot and take it right outside instead of using the kitchen sink like I used to.
Put your corn in the pot and cover with water. The corn tends to float, so I put a dinner plate on top of the corn. The water weighs the plate down and keeps the corn under water.
Grilling your corn in the husk gives the most juicy, flavorful corn ever!
And easy to peel! That pesky corn silk glides right off.
I’ve even put unhusked corn right in the freezer in a garbage bag to pull out in the middle of the winter to grill. It’s lasted until February that way–I only have so much freezer space.
What great tips do you have to share? I love finding new ones!
Cindy blogs at Chippewa Creek ~ Our Life Simplified. Do you have a recipe post or kitchen-related story to share on the Farm Bell blog?
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GrannyTrace says:
Great tips Cindy!
I love the onion trick. I will try today for sure.
Thank you
Granny Trace
http://www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com
On July 14, 2011 at 6:18 am
Liz Pike says:
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who grills with firewood!! (Although down here with my daughter she uses gas…I miss the flavor of wood!) I will definitely be trying the onion trick, thanks for sharing!
On July 14, 2011 at 7:03 am
Sherie says:
Wow! Great tips! Gotta try the onion thing – and leaving the husks on. About the garbage bag in the freezer thing . . . you do NOTHING to the corn before freezing? Thanks!
On July 14, 2011 at 9:24 am
CindyP says:
I do absolutely nothing to it! Put in a garbage bag, tie up well, and put in the freezer. An older guy I used to work with (a local corn farmer) told me this. I didn’t believe him, so I tried it. That first year, all the corn was gone from the freezer before Thanksgiving, so I really didn’t know if it would last longer without it getting freezer burned or the corn not tasting good. I’ve gotten it all the way to February and it was still good.
Pull it out of the freezer and put it in water to soak. This thaws it and absorbs water for grilling.
On July 14, 2011 at 10:27 am
Pam says:
I’d love to have a wood grill pit, can’t get my husband to build me one.
On July 14, 2011 at 9:43 am
Kathi N says:
I’m looking forward to trying this with the corn. We usually peel back the husks, take off the silk, then pull them back up and tie them with string. I never knew you could just leave them that way. Definitely trying that this weekend.
We buy a lot of Olathe sweet corn when it’s ready, and I never have had enough to get us past February, so it’s nice to know we’re not the only ones.
http://howweregonnadoit.blogspot.com
http://granddadscorner.blogspot.com
On July 14, 2011 at 9:45 am
tami dinicola says:
My husband soaks the corn in water with sugar and salt , almost like brining meat. It turns out yummy!!
On July 14, 2011 at 11:59 am
JerseyMom says:
I do the same thing with the corn…..buy it at the farm market, tie a knot in the top of the garbage bag and toss in the freezer. All winter long I just pull it out when I want to use it. If no grilling is at hand I just toss it in the microwave for 6 minutes at a time until it’s done. Voila, corn on the cob!
On July 14, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Amber says:
I can’t wait to try the onion trick! Will any type of onion work? Looks like you used a yellow onion.
On July 14, 2011 at 2:01 pm
CindyP says:
I ‘m sure any type of onion would work…we just use the little cooking onions you buy in a 3# bag.
On July 14, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Cathy Jones (catray44) says:
I am so excited to learn the onion trick! Tell John, “Thank you!”
On July 14, 2011 at 10:56 pm
Teresa says:
All tips I want to try and so glad you shared!
Thank you so much
On July 14, 2011 at 11:15 pm