Grills ready for the August 2024 barbecue. But traditional grilling can be a testing ground for cooking meat or vegetables to the strict judges of MasterChef and respecting the nutritional values sifted by the attentive nutritionist. Here then ten rules, developed for Adnkronos Salute by immunologist Mauro Minelliprofessor of dietetics and nutrition at Lum University for a perfect barbecue.
1. Cleaning the grill
In addition to the quality of the food to be grilled, the cleanliness of the grill must also be guaranteed. “When it is encrusted with residues that are months old or even just a few weeks old,” Minelli explained, “it will compromise the taste of the product to be served, altering its delicacy due to a faster cooking of the surface parts. Furthermore, special attention must be paid to the removal of blackened portions from the meat being cooked, because they are already burned by an initial carbonization process, due to which toxic substances can accumulate in the food. Of course, the meat should be eaten well cooked, but not burnt.“.
2. The choice of meat
“Ensuring the success of the barbecue, also in terms of reduced production of fumes loaded with benzopyrene and other toxic substances generated by the combustion of lipids – Minelli recalled – means giving the preference for lean meats limiting as much as possible chops, sausages, ribs and red meats that tend to be fatty”.
3. The meat does not get ‘greasy’
In case you have to opt for lean meats, it will always be the case of exclude preliminary ‘anointments’ with butter, margarine or even oil because, Minelli explained, “in this way, what we would have avoided with a more careful and healthy selection of meat, we would have obtained with an inconsiderate management of the barbecue’s executive procedures”
4. Wood or charcoal?
To make the dishes tastier and healthier, It will always be better to prefer wood to charcoal which, in relation to the quality of wood used, Minelli specified, “is able to confer, especially to the meat, an aromatic flavor”. “Therefore, – he continued – compared to the use of resinous wood, such as that derived from pine or fir trees, the use of ash, oak or cherry wood could be decidedly more suitable”.
5. No forks while cooking
“In order to avoid dripping fat from the meat while cooking on hot coals, it would be advisable refrain from pressing or poking the meat with forks or, in any case, with other extemporaneous procedures capable of causing the release of substances which, in contact with heat, could generate toxic fumes”.
6. Preheat the grill
“If you want to obtain a tender and tasty final product, you should start preparing the barbecue a few hours before the actual barbecue, making sure to preheat the grill properly, but not without having first marinated the meat in wine or vinegar or extra virgin olive oil or tomato sauce, perhaps mixed with herbs and spices. With respect to this good practice, which is also useful for reducing the production of toxic compounds resulting from combustion, it will then be important to dry the meat from the marinade before placing it on the grill”.
7. Don’t overload the barbecue
“Avoid overloading the barbecue by placing different products on the grill, perhaps with different cooking times. Moreover, the draining of the products resulting from cooking will generate heterogeneous fumes and odors that, in addition to altering the taste of the foods placed on the grill, will flood the perimeter of action of the grill operator and his guests with their effluvia”.
8. Choose the right location for the barbecue
Once the table or tables of the guests have been set up, it is necessary to know how to choose the right position for the cooking point so that people are not hit by “the more or less toxic fumes coming from the smoking coals”.
9. The correct cooking method for each type of meat
“While it is good barbecue etiquette to place the meat to be cooked on the grill, which in turn is positioned above the burning coals, and never directly on the flame, some meat foods, such as beef steaks of a certain thickness or ribs or chickens to be roasted, must be cooked slowly to remain soft on the inside without being burned on the outside, and therefore require cooking away from the heat source.”
10. Care and attention
“Setting up a barbecue – Minelli explained – is not a practice that can be improvised or acquired by hearsay, and charring a product that initially seemed delicious is anything but a remote possibility. It will be the case, therefore, to approach the barbecue with due care and attention just to remain within the due perimeter of food safety”.
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