Searing and flame grilling issues


 
E

Evan C

New member
Hi there,

I have a Q320 and love it however I do have problems when barbequing on it, especially burgers. When I look at the pictures in the Q cookbooks, all the meat and fish have lovely brown sear marks, whereas more often than not mine - especially the burgers - will have really charred, black marks. I always dip my brush in water and give the grill a good scrub just before the patties go on and this helps, however it can be a little hit and miss.

Often I will only be doing 2 patties or pieces of meat at a time, do I just need to bring the temp down a bit? I always let the meat sit for at least 4-5 minutes before flipping to ensure the sear is good.

Finally, would rubbing a little oil just before dropping the meat on help with sticking, sometimes the patties will tear and it drives me nuts because the next time they will be perfection.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Ev
 
Rule #1 do not use Olive Oil
Rule #2 preheat for 10 minutes on high then brush grill clean.
Rule #3 Turn both burners down 3 strokes from High.
Rule #4 Use a teflon BBQ grill sheet. Stops the burgers from sticking to the grill, you get great grill marks and they don't stick.
Turn them often cook for about 8 minutes.

Cheers
 
Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
Rule #1 do not use Olive Oil
Rule #2 preheat for 10 minutes on high then brush grill clean.
Rule #3 Turn both burners down 3 strokes from High.
Rule #4 Use a teflon BBQ grill sheet. Stops the burgers from sticking to the grill, you get great grill marks and they don't stick.
Turn them often cook for about 8 minutes.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thanks heaps Phil, will give it a try this week. Does the teflon sheet affect the temp in the BBQ? Sometimes when I use foil for pizzas the BBQ doesn't heat up as much.
 
Originally posted by Evan C:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
Rule #1 do not use Olive Oil
Rule #2 preheat for 10 minutes on high then brush grill clean.
Rule #3 Turn both burners down 3 strokes from High.
Rule #4 Use a teflon BBQ grill sheet. Stops the burgers from sticking to the grill, you get great grill marks and they don't stick.
Turn them often cook for about 8 minutes.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thanks heaps Phil, will give it a try this week. Does the teflon sheet affect the temp in the BBQ? Sometimes when I use foil for pizzas the BBQ doesn't heat up as much. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Rule #5 only cover a maximum of75% of the grate, don't cut the teflon sheet leave it hang over so you have something to hold onto.
Rule #6 only use as much foil as you need, the excess will stop the Q frome getting hot. It disrupts the airflow.
For pizzas using the Weber pizza stone just put the foil under the trivet, don't worry about right to the edge of the stone unless you are getting a lot of burning at those positions.

Cheers
 
Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Evan C:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
Rule #1 do not use Olive Oil
Rule #2 preheat for 10 minutes on high then brush grill clean.
Rule #3 Turn both burners down 3 strokes from High.
Rule #4 Use a teflon BBQ grill sheet. Stops the burgers from sticking to the grill, you get great grill marks and they don't stick.
Turn them often cook for about 8 minutes.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thanks heaps Phil, will give it a try this week. Does the teflon sheet affect the temp in the BBQ? Sometimes when I use foil for pizzas the BBQ doesn't heat up as much. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Rule #5 only cover a maximum of75% of the grate, don't cut the teflon sheet leave it hang over so you have something to hold onto.
Rule #6 only use as much foil as you need, the excess will stop the Q frome getting hot. It disrupts the airflow.
For pizzas using the Weber pizza stone just put the foil under the trivet, don't worry about right to the edge of the stone unless you are getting a lot of burning at those positions.

Cheers </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Phil! Thanks for all this advice, made burgers tonight and they were the best yet, my wife commented that they were juicier than normal and I noticed a great difference with the sticking and the searing. Used the teflon sheet I got with the BBQ and followed your heat settings to the letter - perfect:

Patty.jpg


I even got the old cross hatch going! Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.
 
Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
Rule #6 only use as much foil as you need, the excess will stop the Q frome getting hot. It disrupts the airflow.
For pizzas using the Weber pizza stone just put the foil under the trivet, don't worry about right to the edge of the stone unless you are getting a lot of burning at those positions.
Click to expand...

Regarding the pizza, if the foil is a rectangle that in a sense does not cover the whole base of the stone - is that why the edges of the pizza base burn before the middle (because the foil is "protecting" only part of the stone)? Should I tear the foil to the shape of the stone?

Thanks again.
 
Originally posted by Evan C:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
Rule #6 only use as much foil as you need, the excess will stop the Q frome getting hot. It disrupts the airflow.
For pizzas using the Weber pizza stone just put the foil under the trivet, don't worry about right to the edge of the stone unless you are getting a lot of burning at those positions.
Click to expand...

partly, I found that overloading the topping is the main cause, it is moist so it inhibits the cooking of the crust in the centre.

I will rotate the stone halfway through I have foil under 2 opposite sides only. I also only have a minimal topping and try to keep to drier ingredients. The Q gets up to about 260C the ideal temp is 270c
cheers



Regarding the pizza, if the foil is a rectangle that in a sense does not cover the whole base of the stone - is that why the edges of the pizza base burn before the middle (because the foil is "protecting" only part of the stone)? Should I tear the foil to the shape of the stone?

Thanks again. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
I recently picked up the Groupon deal for 3 grillgrates and did some planked zucchini along with marinated salmon. The the salmon was some of the best I have ever had. I had to soak the grates afterwards to get off the burned on marinade, but it was worth it!
 
Hello everybody, with regards to all good advices I would just add that if and when you can't get all the stuff adviced it helps to really heat the grates, clean them and then lower the heater to 3/4 of total power. At this point take a clean towel and pour some canola or grapeseed oil on it but it should not be dripping. Give the clean grates a good wiping so there is a thin layer of oil on them - oiling is not neccesarry but this is more to clean the grates of fine black carbonized dust residue before you put food on. I can tell you that whatever you cook on Q grates will be cooked to perfection once you get the hang of it. Allways put a thin film of oil on the meat. If it has enough fat on it self just skip oiling. I did cook stuff from as litle as sardines to as big as 2+ pound porter house with all the burgers and salmon in between with no other “accessories“ than what I wrote. Also it is not to big of a secret that sear marks are realy just for good grill advertisement. What you want is to turn and flip your food often to realy get it right as Phil said....aim to evenly done piece of meat wheter it is done rare or medium or the last not so popular stage.

Many good cooks I say.....

Peter
 
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