Grilling in August is the peak of summer fun, not to mention a great opportunity to Keep the temperature in your home low. The grill is as versatile a cooking appliance as any other, perfect for preparing steaks, Citizens, Chicken, Vegetables and many kinds of seafoodbut some foods do not cook as well when placed over the racks.
A traditional grill Slatted grates allow food to come into direct contact with the flames, creating that summery burning smell, but these penetrable grates can also make cooking certain foods a tricky proposition. Some foods, including flaky fish, scallops, bacon and smaller vegetables, are not well suited to the grill.
If you plan to grill them, you should secure the food with special grill accessories so that it does not fall through and make a mess.
Here are seven foods you shouldn’t cook directly on the grill.
Scaly fish
Cod and halibut are not particularly suitable for grilling.
If you’ve ever thrown a fillet of a sticky fish like tilapia, cod, or halibut over an open flame, you probably know why it’s not the best idea. Sticky fish tends to fall through the grates and burn once it starts cooking.
Grill instead one of these solid fish recommended by fish chef Akira Beck. If you absolutely must grill flaky fish over the grill, get a Fish grill basket to keep the fillets intact.
Peeled shrimp
If you want to grill shrimp, I recommend leaving the shell on until they are cooked.
Grilling shrimp on a hot grill is not a bad idea, but if you do, leave the shrimp in the shell until cooked. Peeled shrimp cook quickly and can dry out in a jiffy. Since you can’t cook in oil or sauce on a grill, it’s best not to peel them to protect the flesh from intense heat.
Scallops
One of his special skills is searing scallops.
Scallops are another seafood dish that theoretically tastes great grilled, but the risk of disaster is just not worth it. Even large scallops can fail. Instead, cook them in a Stainless steel frying pan over the grill to give them a proper, soft and caramelized crust that you just don’t get with slatted grills.
Small or thinly sliced vegetables
If you want to cook button mushrooms or young bella mushrooms on the grill, you have to expect that many of them will fall through the grate.
Some vegetables are made for the grill, while others fall straight into the flames below. Small vegetables like green beans, snap peas, mushrooms, and broccoli florets should never be thrown onto a bare grill.
To prepare stir-fries outdoors or to cook smaller, sliced vegetables on the grill, use skewers or cook them in a skillet on the grill or over a grill mat to keep them safely away from the fire.
Read more: How to make your grill shine before you fire it up
bacon
You can cook bacon strips on an outdoor grill, but a traditional grill is not the right place for this.
baconeven thick slices of it, is another poor choice for the grill. Thinner bacon will be impossible to handle, but even thick-cut bacon is so fatty that the fat will drip into the fire below, causing annoying, potentially dangerous splatters and explosions.
Worse, you’ll have a really nasty grill to clean up afterward. Instead, try this cleaner method of making bacon.
Breaded meat
Breaded food simply doesn’t work on the grill.
You might be tempted to make grilled chicken or pork chops, but save the breaded meat for the Hot air fryer, Oven or frying panMuch of the breading will come off the food and you will end up with a pile of burnt breading on the bottom of your grill.
Calzone
Making grilled pizza is a good idea, but making calzones is a more difficult matter.
Pizza on the grill is an excellent idea, but the fluffier cousin of the pie won’t work quite as well. Because of the thickness and round shape of a calzone, it’s difficult to cook the inside without burning the doughy shell. The innards are also likely to spill out and into the grates, creating a greasy, cheesy mess that clean up later.
Instead, use a pizza oven to prepare perfect calzones in just a few minutes and save yourself the worry of carbohydrates.
You can find more kitchen tips in our guide to best cheap steak cuts and the seven surprising foods I only make in the air fryer and the
