What is your favorite oil/fat to use for grilling direct?


 

Donna Fong

TVWBB Super Fan
Jamie, what is your favorite fat to use when grilling? Either on the meat/veggie or on the grill. Do you ever use high heat oils like avocado oil? ?To what degree do you worry about the development of acrolein? Thank you Jamie.
 
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Hi Donna! It's good to see you here. For almost all my grilling I use a fairly inexpensive extra-virgin olive oil made by Olive Ranch. I like the flavors of it and it has a smoke point upwards of 425 degrees, which appears to be plenty high for most of my grilling. I can't say I've ever tasted acrolein on account of the oil. The other thing, I use very little oil on the food itself. Occasionally I seared meat over too high of a heat and it tasted bitter, but I think that was because I burned the animal fat. It sounds like you are interested in the some food science. Me too. In fact I have a recurring column in "Weber's Ultimate Grilling" about all sort of scientific dynamics on and off the grill. I hope you will check that out. Thanks, Donna!
 
Thank you Jamie. It is such a treat to get a personalize answer from you. That is very interesting that you don't put the fat onto the meat....as I've heard some will swear by the application of mayonnaise. I've been using EVO as well without any visible problems. I like your observation about burning the animal fat. Point taken. I often wonder if the application of any oil is really necessary in most cases.

I love anything about food science. Congratulations on the new book. Let me know if we are about to cross paths. I'd love get a signature on my copy. I look forward the science column. Thank you for the heads up.
 
Donna, you are such a great cook. I hope that one day you will write your own book and share your culinary wisdom with the world. Yes, I've been hearing more and more about mayonnaise of proteins -- especially fish -- as a way to prevent sticking. To be clear, I do coat most proteins with some oil, just not a lot of oil. I'm wary of fear-ups and off flavors created.

It would be wonderful see you this year. I have an 8-city book tour coming up, including a run through San Francisco on June 1 and 2. The details are on my website under Book Tour. If you come to an event, please be sure to say hi.

https://www.jamiepurviance.com
 
Thank you Jamie. I saw that you'd be in SF. I wish I could come by but I'm running the Kid's Que in Norco that day. Many thanks to Kevin Kolman who donated 8 Smokey Joes and a 22" to our cause that day.

I will note to not overdo it with the oil or mayonnaise. I did put on a light coat of mayo on sushi grade salmon and ahi tuna. The fish was the size of my hand, block shaped. My intent was to sear the exterior and leave the interior mostly raw. I used direct heat on grill grates. What I ended up doing was waiting longer than I wanted for the fish to release and the interior cooked more than I desired. My favorite sushi house uses a handheld flame to burn the surface of thin slices of peppered sushi and I was wanting to reproduce this at home but on a grill. I failed on my first attempt. I thought the solution might be to use a higher heat with lump instead of briquettes and grill grates again. Not sure really.
 
Okay then, Donna. Have a great day at the Kid's Que. We'll cross paths somewhere else.

My heart sinks a little when sushi grade tuna gets overcooked. I feel your pain. But it looks like you learned a lesson. Yes, I think higher heat and shorting grilling time is the answer. You might want to sear the fish on a cast-iron griddle that you preheat on the grill.
 

 

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