Cleanliness is Next to Cook-liness
If your cooking grids aren’t clean, food will have a hard time releasing when it comes time to flip. Dirty cooking grids are a leading cause of stuck on foods because you have residue from previous grilling sessions; stuck on and burnt sauce, bits of old steak, and who knows what else. Giving your Napoleon cooking grids a proper cleaning and seasoning will go a long way in preventing your food from sticking.
Clean Before or After Grilling?
You can clean your grill while it’s still hot after you cook, or before you BBQ, while the grill is preheating. Crank up the temperature and heat for five or ten minutes, then brush the grids vigorously with the appropriate BBQ brush for the grids you have.
Hot Stuff
Are you preheating your BBQ? Has it reached temperature before you start? If your grill isn’t hot enough, then food will stick because there isn’t sufficient conductive heat in the metal (cast iron or stainless steel). This results in a literal chemical bond between the food and cooking grids. To prevent sticking, preheat your BBQ and give it a good scrub with your trusty grill brush – even if you did it after cooking last time – before adjusting the BBQ to the temperature you wish to be cooking at.
Cooking on a properly preheated BBQ will produce sear marks. These marks are not only tasty and look great on your favourite foods fresh off the grill, but they mean that your food is ready to easily release from the cooking grids.
A Slippery Slope
Adding oil to the mix when you’re grilling can ensure an easy barbecuing session, or a nightmare of epic proportions and there’s a perfectly scientific explanation for this too. When preheating the BBQ, and using an oil with a low smoke point, the oil will break, carbonizing and smoking almost instantly. Not only does this not taste good on your food, but it makes the nonstick surface you’re expecting even more sticky! There are two solutions in this case.
- You can either select an oil with a smoke point that is high. Avocado oil has a smoke point of 520°F, peanut and safflower oil smokes at 450°F, this makes them ideal for most grilling, except for VERY high heat searing.
- Instead of oiling the grids (aside from seasoning them) try oiling the food. First pat the food dry with disposable towels, then rub with your seasoning blends, and finally brush the food with oil before throwing it on the BBQ.
Did you know that the leaner the meat, the more likely it is to stick to the BBQ? Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, fish, and pork tenderloin are the bigger culprits, especially when compared to a burger with a ratio of 20% fat to 80% meat.
Just Remember the Five Easy Steps to Non-Stick Grilling
- Burn off residue with high heat
- Brush your grids clean
- Stabilize heat to desired cooking temperatures
- Pat food dry, rub with seasonings, oil food
- Cook until BBQ marks form, then flip
People Also Asked:
How do you Keep Food from Sticking on your Grill?
Proper preparation will prevent food from sticking to your BBQ. Preheat, clean the grids, oil the food, then, when cooking, wait for sear marks to appear. Then you should be good to flip without sticking.
What can I Rub or Spray on my Cooking Grids to Prevent Sticking?
Properly seasoning your cast iron BBQ grates will ensure a nonstick surface. But, for extra security, you can use an oil with high smoke point before you cook. Dip a paper towel into your oil of choice and use tongs to coat your grids before cooking.
Why is my Food Sticking to my BBQ?
There can be many reasons for your food to be sticking to your barbecue’s cooking grids. They include insufficient preheating, dirty cooking BBQ grates, improper temperatures – too hot or too cold – and not oiling the food or the grids.
How do I Make the BBQ Grids Nonstick?
Proper seasoning when it comes to cast iron cooking grids will function much the same as a cast iron frying pan. The more you care for it, the more you season it, the more nonstick it will become. Before that point, proper cleaning and preheating are key to ensuring your food doesn’t stick. For added peace of mind, you can oil the grids or the food before you cook, as long as you use the proper, high-temperature oil.
Grill Like a PRO: Say Goodbye to Sticky Situations
If you’ve ever felt the heartbreak of watching a beautiful piece of meat or fish cling to your grill like it’s never letting go—only to tear in half and leave a sad, mangled mess behind—then this blog is for you, friend. We’ve all been there, staring at the grates in disbelief, tongs in hand, wondering where it all went wrong. Have you tried any of these tips yourself? Got a go-to trick that’s never let you down? Share your BBQ wins—or horror stories—and let’s swap some good ol’ Canadian grilling wisdom on our social media pages like Facebook or Instagram by using the hashtag #Napoleongrills.