Hardly an invitation to eat in the summer can be formulated more tempting than with the reference “We grill”. However, what has been one of mankind’s palate pleasures since the discovery of fire is only a pleasure without remorse if you observe a few important rules, first and foremost that of not letting fat drip into the embers.
Questionable smoke
Let’s start with the bad news: the steak is on the grill, gets hot, fat drips onto the glowing charcoal. It sizzles, smoke rises and reaches the surface of the meat. Chemicals, and dangerous ones like benzpyrene, are present in the smoke. 5.8 to 8 micrograms per kilo of meat. That, warns the Bonn-based consumer service aid, is equivalent to the smoke from a good 600 cigarettes.
Avoid carcinogenic substances
Many a self-proclaimed barbecue expert drips beer on meat and sausage to get a good aroma and a particularly crispy crust, and it is in this crust that the carcinogenic substances are then found. The smoke is particularly intense, so that the neighbors also get their share of chemicals from the smoke. What smells so good at the barbecue is actually a chemical reaction that has been shown to be carcinogenic in animal experiments. In addition to benzpyrenes, polycyclic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed when organic materials such as wood, paper and oil burn incompletely. Nitrosamines, which are formed from the nitrite contained in curing salt when cured meat such as Kasseler or Wiener sausages is grilled, are also considered carcinogenic.
Grilling on charcoal with aluminum foil
Slowly, it’s time for the good news: since the benzpyrenes and PAHs concentrate just as much in grilled vegetables as in meat, there should always be aluminum foil on the grill. If you avoid smoke and cover the grill with aluminum foil or put the food in a special aluminum tray, you can grill without worrying – and you won’t get into trouble with the neighbors. Cured meat should not be grilled at all. Around 80 percent of all grills in Germany are charcoal grills. In any case, only charcoal or charcoal briquettes should be burned in these devices, not wood, paper or pine cones. The charcoal glows best when it is piled up in a pyramid shape in the firebox of the grill. Between them, place the barbecue lighters, which are easy to ignite with a long match. Incidentally, numerous accidents – around 4,000 a year (source: Das sichere Haus, Munich) – occur as a result of improper lighting with methylated spirits or even gasoline. A pilot flame up to three meters high is created explosively because the fuels evaporate and a vapor-air mixture is formed. The embers are then correct when they are covered by a fine white layer of ash, which can take between 30 and 60 minutes. In the meantime, there are also devices where the grate is vertical and thus no fat can drip into the embers. Alternatively, and smoke-free grilling gas grills or electric-powered grills.
The right fat
Marinades in which the meat or vegetables are marinated are popular and tasty. Lean poultry meat, for example, quickly becomes dry, so people like to coat it with fat. But not every actually healthy salad oil is suitable. Corn oil, for example, which is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, does not tolerate the high grilling temperatures – it oxidizes, producing strong smoke again. The same applies to butter and margarine. Peanut or olive oil or even mixed oils, on the other hand, can withstand the high temperatures.
Marinated meat and vegetables
For a delicious marinade based on olive oil, you need fresh herbs such as oregano, thyme and basil, plus pepper, salt and mustard and a crushed clove of garlic. Marinate the meat in this and let it drain well before grilling. The grilled food should not be placed on the grill ice-cold from the refrigerator. In this marinade you can put both meat and vegetables such as zucchini, peppers, eggplant, etc., and also feta cheese. Meat and vegetables and cheese can be alternately put on skewers and then grilled.
Stuffed vegetables from the grill
Vegetables can be stuffed tasty, such as peppers, tomatoes or cucumbers. Wash the vegetables, cut them in half and hollow them out.
- 250 grams of ground beef or pork fat.
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 bunch basil
- 1 tablespoon grated cheese
- 1 roll
- 2 tablespoons cooked rice
- Pepper, paprika, salt
- 2 peppers and two tomatoes each
- 1 cucumber
Soak the roll in milk, squeeze, mix with the herbs and scraped vegetables, stuff into the cucumbers. Mix minced meat with salt, bell pepper and paprika, basil and tomato pulp and stuff into the tomato halves. Replace the cut off top of the tomato. Mix the rest of the minced meat with the rice and spices and stuff into the peppers. Individually wrap the stuffed vegetables in oiled aluminum foil and place on the grill. The peppers take about 25 minutes to cook, the rest of the vegetables about 15 minutes. Variations are possible!
