One of the perks of living in a single-family home for rent in Owasso is having the flexibility of outdoor space and private patios that are perfect for summer cookouts. We love to see our residents firing up their grills to cook delicious food for friends and family. But for grilling amateurs, using a grill can seem like an intimidating task. The truth is, it’s pretty easy, as long as you keep things simple. To help you out with that, we’re rounding up a few easy grilling tips for your next cookout.

Know a friend or neighbor in our community of homes for rent in Owasso who could use some grilling encouragement? Send this post to them once you’re done reading! For now, sit back and let us give you some quick tips for easy grilling.

Start with a Clean Grill

Food cooked on a grill coated with char and food pieces will transfer unwanted flavors, and just isn’t appetizing. Even if you’re not cooking on a shared grill like the ones you’d find in a traditional apartment complex, always double check to see if the grate needs brushing before you heat up the grill.

Direct Heat vs. Indirect Heat

Grills are perfect for creating a nice sear, but you need to keep an eye on what you’re cooking to make sure that sear doesn’t turn into too much char. For vegetables and thick meats that need to cook evenly all the way through (like chicken breasts), you’ll want to utilize the edges of the grate to get the food out of the direct heat so it has the chance to cook more slowly and gently. Feel free to use direct heat at first when you’re after that tasty sear, and move to the sides if necessary once the sear is achieved.

Keep It Simple

Especially when you’re cooking for a crowd, trying to grill too many different things can make it difficult to keep track of grill times and open you up to mistakes that normally wouldn’t be too hard to avoid. Stick to one or two main options so you can manage it all, and then supplement if desired by side dishes and condiments that don’t need grilling, like slaw, fresh fruits and vegetables, pickles, and so on.

Kabobs are King

When you’re not sure what to grill, kabobs are one of the easiest choices. With kabobs, you can cut meats into even-sized chunks, which promotes even cooking, and you don’t have to flip a bunch of individual meats or veggies, you can just flip each skewer all at once. When cooking kabobs, it’s easiest to stick to meats and hardy vegetables like bell peppers and onion, but nothing that takes too long to cook (like root vegetables). Cherry tomatoes, pineapple, and zucchini are also popular choices, just make sure you keep an eye on them and don’t overcook them.

Ready to get out there and start grilling? We hope we’ve inspired you to grill up something delicious this summer! If you found this post helpful, be sure to bookmark our blog page for easy access to future posts. Before long we’ll have another blog post up, but in the meantime, make sure you’re following Legacy Living on Facebook so you never miss our special events, promotions, and community updates!