Preheating Grills

[Ares]

So I made some burgers last night on a 15 minute preheated grill and still got minimal char lines on the meat.

Also those burgers cooked to a medium but dried out pretty badly.

First time I did those burgers on grill and don't think I got a good sear to hold in the moisture.

Might try a 20 minute preheat next time and no grill spray, that probably lowered the grate temps before I cooked.

 

[FozzyBear]

So I made some burgers last night on a 15 minute preheated grill and still got minimal char lines on the meat.

Also those burgers cooked to a medium but dried out pretty badly.

First time I did those burgers on grill and don't think I got a good sear to hold in the moisture.

Might try a 20 minute preheat next time and no grill spray, that probably lowered the grate temps before I cooked.

hot as lava.. let burger temps raise before hitting the grill.. light paint brush of oil on burger.. dont flip or rotate too early if going for diamonds

 

[Ares]

hot as lava.. let burger temps raise before hitting the grill.. light paint brush of oil on burger.. dont flip or rotate too early if going for diamonds

Okay I also did this, but the burger meat sat covered at room temp for the same 15 minutes as the grill was heating.

Maybe 20 minutes heating and meat warming to room temp would do it.

 

[FozzyBear]

Okay I also did this, but the burger meat sat covered at room temp for the same 15 minutes as the grill was heating.

Maybe 20 minutes heating and meat warming to room temp would do it.

depending on ambiant temps the meat at room temp may take longer. On home grills the surface area/thinkness is minimal and heat dissipation is fairly quick unless your keeping that blaze 110%.. Hard to cook this way, but thats why medium rare/medium is a thing. also adds moisture.

Ppl tend to flip way too early and lose whatever char and caramelization they may have gotten from a home grill. Or too late and its burnt... Really is about cooking over hells flames and fondling the devils wifes breasts at the same time.

 

[Ares]

I think this is why my cast iron skillet worked better, I knew how to heat that fucker hot and get a good burger crust.

 

[clonetrooper264]

In a crude oversimplification, char lines/marks are basically the grill grates burning the meat at the point of contact. Thus to consistently get char lines, just get your grill as hot as it will go then start cooking. Let that meat sit for an appropriate amount of time...as Fozzy said it is easy to flip too early and that will ruin your grill marks.

Knowing when to flip kinda just takes you knowing your grill, but depending on the thickness of your burger, my general metric is when the color changes about halfway up the burger that's my cue to flip.

I've been doing smashburgers more nowadays though, the crust is more satisfying

 

[SilenceS]

So I made some burgers last night on a 15 minute preheated grill and still got minimal char lines on the meat.

Also those burgers cooked to a medium but dried out pretty badly.

First time I did those burgers on grill and don't think I got a good sear to hold in the moisture.

Might try a 20 minute preheat next time and no grill spray, that probably lowered the grate temps before I cooked.

If you are going to spray the grates. Do it when you turn the grill on. Also, you can always put a pat of butter in your burger patty to not dry it out.

 

[Ares]

If you are going to spray the grates. Do it when you turn the grill on. Also, you can always put a pat of butter in your burger patty to not dry it out.

I appreciate that most of your solutions aimed at me involve adding butter.

 

[Ares]

I am doing burgers on charcoal tomorrow, results to follow.

Might just cook in the firebox, it has a spot for grates.

 

[truthbedamned]

I am doing burgers on charcoal tomorrow, results to follow.

Might just cook in the firebox, it has a spot for grates.

What kind of grill do you have? Interesting having both charcoal and gas options.

 

[Ares]

What kind of grill do you have? Interesting having both charcoal and gas options.

An Oklahoma Joe's Combo grill

Its got a firebox feeding heat to a cooking chamber which doubles as a charcoal grill if you put coals in the bottom.

But like I said, the firebox also has a spot for grates so a couple burgers could fit there.

Adjacent to the cooking chamber is the gas grill with a side burner using propane.

 

[truthbedamned]

An Oklahoma Joe's Combo grill

Its got a firebox feeding heat to a cooking chamber which doubles as a charcoal grill if you put coals in the bottom.

But like I said, the firebox also has a spot for grates so a couple burgers could fit there.

Adjacent to the cooking chamber is the gas grill with a side burner using propane.

Looks impressive.

 

[Enasic]

An Oklahoma Joe's Combo grill

Its got a firebox feeding heat to a cooking chamber which doubles as a charcoal grill if you put coals in the bottom.

But like I said, the firebox also has a spot for grates so a couple burgers could fit there.

Adjacent to the cooking chamber is the gas grill with a side burner using propane.

I picked up an Oklahoma Joe Tahoma 900…still getting used to it but so far I’m happy with it…although not going to lie, might have had some better/equal cooks on my old basic Weber smoker. Each grill has its own nuances so after a handful more cooks, I expect it to dominate

 

[TL1961]

I have also never rubbed oil on my grill grates - on gas or charcoal. Maybe if you're cooking some delicate meat such as fish directly on the grates?

Fish should not be grilled directly on the grates.

Plank, griddle, yes. Not on grates.

 

[TL1961]

So I made some burgers last night on a 15 minute preheated grill and still got minimal char lines on the meat.

Also those burgers cooked to a medium but dried out pretty badly.

First time I did those burgers on grill and don't think I got a good sear to hold in the moisture.

Might try a 20 minute preheat next time and no grill spray, that probably lowered the grate temps before I cooked.

If you preheat that long and at high temp you’re not grilling burgers, you’re baking them.

 

[TL1961]

Grill combos are wild these days.

I was shopping and saw a combo grill/smoker that allows you to open the divider between the two if you want to get some smoke flavor on the stuff you intentionally did not put on the smoker side.

Plus there are numerous models with an air fryer drawer.

 

[cameronkrazie86]

Have you tried asking chatgpt? I hear it knows all or will soon. Mayhaps it can help!

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

Have you tried asking chatgpt? I hear it knows all or will soon. Mayhaps it can help!

Could also ask a highschooler that has worked at Culver's for 5 minutes. Never had an issue with b0rger crust there.

 

[cameronkrazie86]

Could also ask a highschooler that has worked at Culver's for 5 minutes. Never had an issue with b0rger crust there.

Oh, so CulversGPT is the correct answer, got it!

 

[FozzyBear]

An Oklahoma Joe's Combo grill

Its got a firebox feeding heat to a cooking chamber which doubles as a charcoal grill if you put coals in the bottom.

But like I said, the firebox also has a spot for grates so a couple burgers could fit there.

Adjacent to the cooking chamber is the gas grill with a side burner using propane.

oh. well, i was thinking u had like a basic webber with even thinner grills. those smokers grills are a lil thicker but still meh compared to a commercial kitchen..

when i use my firebox as a charcoal grill i still preheat that fuck 30-45 mins.. like im im preparing to smoke.. not including the time my coals are heating up in the chimney. i do two chimneys worth too, so dats why the time above varies. .. i need lots of heat. i heat the unit up hell hot and then bring it down to a working temp thats still burning yo hands..

in a commercial kitchen setting my last big ass grill was preheated for 40-60 minutes. if not longer.. depended on my routine for dat service.. steaks/burgers sat at questionable room temps for questionable times some days... but its on ice M8.... near a grill that looks like a pool of water by x amount of time.. but plans accounted for expected sales etc.. wasnt wasting shit.. would rotate in more shit from fridge if sales were larger than expected..

smoking i might do one larger load of lump then add some wood on top while heating that box then switch straight to wood. i use charcoal lumps for either application.. not briquets .. briquets work fine, i just have a preference .

also i prefer using the offset to smoke a burger for a tad (far away from box) then finishing on cast iron skillet if im using the offset n smoking other shit. i do use the firebox as a charcoal/wood grill from time to time too though

edit: wooo