In my eagerness to get us started on the blog I missed one of our members of the team of Chef's here at the Urbandale Hy-Vee. Our team is six Chef's and I send my appology to Travis. He is another great resource for your culinary needs.

You can use your tongs or you can use neoprene gloves to press on the meat. Do not use rubber gloves. They are porous and absorb bacteria. When the meat is spongy, it is rare. As it cooks it stiffens up. If you press on it and it becomes more firm, it's medium rare. The firmer it gets, the more it’s cooked. You need to take it off before it’s really firm. That way it won’t be overcooked.

When I used to be a restaurant cook, one trick I used is when you push on the steak and blood pools, it is medium rare. When blood comes to the surface of the cut on its own, it's medium and when its running it's medium well.

B.A., I used to be a restaurant cook as well, opening the very third McDonald's as a youth in Des Moines back in 1963 then working in other restaurants in the metro and Ankeny area. I agree with you as to telling how well the meat is done by the blood method. Still more chefs prefer the touch and pressing feel of the meat to tell how well it is done. Even the thumb to finder method and squeezing the flesh in between the thumb and fingers will teach you how to recognize how well-done it is. Start with your little finger for rare and work to the index finger for well-done.

Using the touch methods described below work well for steaks and such. We do recommend getting a good micro tip meat thermometer for use with poultry, pork and ground meat products to ensure that minimum temperatures are met. These minimum temps are 165 degrees for chicken and turkey - including ground, 155 degrees for ground beef and pork, 145 degrees for whole muscle pork. To address your comment of over cooking with regards to the specific temperatures you still do not want to puncture the meat alot, because you do loss juices by breaking the surface of the meat, so I will wait until I "feel" the doneness and then I will check it to make sure I have reached the minimum temp especially for chicken and turkey

Grilling is grilling, whether you use gas or charcoal. If you’re doing it at high temps and fast, then you’re grilling. It is individual taste. People don’t realize the taste of grilling is geared to the fat hitting the charcoal or grates in a gas grill or the smoke from the grill reflecting back to the meat. That’s what causes the “grilling” flavor. It’s an instantaneous and continuous process.

I agree with Lee Booton, grilling is grilling, the process of using high temperatures and other methods to get the flavor profile you want. Find the method you like best and then stick with it so you can improve your methods for that grill. Switching up and using different grills (methods) can cause the most inconsistency in your end product

It is definitely a flavor preference. I like charcoal. Especially steak. :) It gives it more flavor, no matter what your cooking! MMMMMM

Infrared is just another form of fast cooking. Yes, it is a ploy. The flavor will basically be the same.

It all depends on if you just want the newest toys on the block, it can help with speed on somethings which also means it can ruin things faster if you are not in tune with it.
I think it is best to stick with the basics which is why I have moved bacl to charcoal and wood

PLOY alert!!

I would say it is an urban legend. In regards to scarring a steak, I don’t even use forks when I cook. I either use neoprene gloves or tongs because every time you put a hole in a steak, you’re letting out natural juices and flavor and will cause your meat to dry out. When you select meat, look for more marbling as well. The more marbling you have, the more tender the steak will be.

NOOOOO! It lets the juices out and wont keept the flavor in. Please dont do this!

For hamburgers, I usually use 80/20 or 90/10 beef. You need to have some fat in hamburger to have good flavor and it also helps with the moisture, to keep the burgers moist. It also prevents flare-ups if you’re cooking several hamburgers a time. With all meat, keep turning them because the juices flow to one side then the other, which also prevents flareup.

Hello Don, I usually use 85/15 or 90/10 beef. I only like turning my burgers over once but will lift them to turn the burger 90 degrees to get a criss-cross pattern. I season them very little so the true meat flavor comes out. For a real treat I will get Ground Buffalo and just cook it to a medium where as we do recommend you cook beef to a medium-well

I've always heard mixing some chopped onion in with the meat will keep it moist. True?

I would say using onion is great idea for additional flavors to your burger more so than moisture. Possibly try the onion with a few dashes of Worcestershire or a Mushroom Soy Sauce. The fun thing is you get to enjoy your experiments!

Todd, onions in hamburger sure can make a hamburger taste good but as to adding moisture, it might a little bit but not very much (if any). I've cooked thousands of hamburgers during my time as a cook and just last weekend, I did some 60 Urbandale Hy-Vee 90/10 hamburgers and about 40 of their brats for an opening event and the hamburgers were really great, with some shrinkage as normal, while the brats really flamed up on me from the pork grease. This usually happens though when the brat springs a leak when the skin breaks open. They were all eaten though and reported as being done just right.

I’d recommend Lawry’s seasoning, as well as Cookies flavor enhancer. Cookies is a great local Iowa product I often use. This will add lots of flavors to grilling meat.

Cookies is a local product and does a nice job for a beginning. I do like the original Lawry's Season Salt and a couple of the Mrs Dash line-up. You are the one who knows what flavors you enjoy. Read up on herbs and spices because there are new ones emerging every year, visit some demonstrations on creating your own special seasonings so you can have your own "special seasoning' to use when you grill or have friends over, even if it is one off the shelf, but then it is your favorite

I totally agree with the Hy-Vee chefs. One thing I want to really suggest is in seasoning for both grilling and in barbecue smoking is to use powders instead of salt, if at all possible — this could include onion, garlic, red or cayenne pepper. Salts cause most heart attacks, even over LDL cholesterol, so I've been informed. Powders are just as great and add a whole lot of flavor as well.

B.A., what type of grilling unit are you using? Gas or charcoal?

Lee, I have an old gas grill.

B.A., it is possible to turn your old gas grill down then place a loaf pan over the chicken for about 10 to 15 minutes to cause steam in the chicken to heat up and cook the meat internally.

Thanks Lee. I will give it a shot.

Caron, the best way to get finishing sauces, or what most folks call the "barbecue sauce", to stick to meat is to either use a mop which can be purchased at Walmart or other stores. It looks like a miniature floor mop. You can also get the new high-temp basking brushes with the little fingers on them. Only apply sauces the last 15 minutes or so because they all contain sugar and will burn.

There are many different good brushes out there as well as mops to apply sauce to your meat. For chicken I do like to put hot sauce in a pan and when the chicken is almost completely done, remove it from the grill with tongs and submurge it in the hot BBQ sauce and then return it to the grill. The good part is it coats the chicken completely, down side is the sauce you use in the pan should not be used again except for that meal so use enough but not to much

Just continue to bast it as it's cooking.

Stephen, I started out with a Webber Kettle Grill and I've been through three of them, yet you can do wonderful things on them. Here are some ideas:

You can get locally at several stores grill tops for Webbers that have sides that raise up so you can apply extra charcoal as needed. Also, you can get charcoal fences to hold the charcoal to two sides of the kettle. Now go to your local Dollar Tree store and purchase a couple aluminum loaf pans. Put one in the center and add apple juice, cranberry or even orange juice and set your roast or chicken over the top and let it cook. The moisture will go into the meat and add a different flavor.

As for woods for grills, I recommend chips or, for large smokers, big lumps or logs. At night, place the wood in a cheap plastic pail (Dollar Tree again) and add hot water as wood has pores and opens up. Let it cool overnight and the pores will close. You want to smoke with wood and this helps it not go up in flames as fast.

There are also all kinds of great rubs out there to try to experiment with, Stephen. Also, depending on what meat you're grilling, you can add at the end even orange, raspberry, strawberry or other marmalades or preserves to the meat. They make a great glaze as well.

The rule of thumb is if it smells good, it will taste good. Our noses do more for taste than the tongue, which only picks up sweet, sour, bitter and salt. All the rest comes through the nose. Ever ate with a head cold? How did food taste then?

Stephen, I began grilling as a cub scout on wood only fires, moved to charcoal grill, then gas grills, and now back to charcoal/wood grills for personal use. It has been quite a trip. Marinades can be a fun and exciting addition to your game. They come in many variations but complex does not neccassarily mean it is better. Better Homes and Garden has a couple of recipe books that has some good basic marinates to begin with. A simple one to start with for beef or pork is equal parts pineapple juice and soy sauce. It will give results in as little as 4 hours but best if over night. Oh, yes when you get into marinates you do need to plan for the actual marinating period. Also rubs is another option to play with, which there are many rubs on the shelves but with just a little research you can make your own that is your "special rub"

Good Morning Todd,
A frying pan will work fine or you can get a sear plate (griddle pan) for a grill, it is basicly a cast or formed flat solid surface that will enable you to sear your meats on the grill. They can also be used to assist doing more breakfast items on your grill and add that smokie flavor to it

Todd, with searing on a gas grill I would turn up the grill to full heat and let the grill get really hot, then place the meat on it. I'm personally not for doing it in a pan or precooking any type of meat, just as some folks pre-boil racks of ribs then place them on a smoker or grill.I just stay with the low temperatures and slow cooking. As the Hy-Vee chefs say, stay with the old methods - they usually work best.