Grilling
Grilling is a fast, high-heat cooking method using direct radiant heat, often applied to meat and vegetables, with variations including outdoor gridiron cooking, indoor pan grilling, and flattop grilling.
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat and vegetables quickly. Food to be grilled is cooked on a grill (an open wire grid such as a gridiron with a heat source above or below), using a cast iron/frying pan, or a grill pan (similar to a frying pan, but with raised ridges to mimic the wires of an open grill). Heat transfer to the food when using a grill is primarily through thermal radiation. Heat transfer when using a grill pan or griddle is by direct conduction. In the United States, when the heat source for grilling comes from above, grilling is called broiling. In this case, the pan that holds the food is called a broiler pan, and heat transfer is through thermal radiation. Direct heat grilling can expose food to temperatures often in excess of 260 °C. Grilled meat acquires a distinctive roast aroma and flavor from a chemical process called the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction begins at around 140–165 °C depending on conditions, with a commonly cited threshold of approximately 140–150 °C. Not all foods are suitable for grilling. Grilling is an inappropriate treatment for large, tough cuts of meat as this fast technique would not allow the meat to cook slowly and tenderise. When using the grilling method, food is usually placed on a heat-resistant wire rack. This allows the fat, excess oils or juices to drain away. Studies have shown that cooking beef, pork, poultry, and fish at high temperatures can lead to the formation of heterocyclic amines, benzopyrenes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are carcinogens. Marination may reduce the formation of these compounds. Grilling is often presented as a healthy alternative to cooking with oils, although the fat and juices lost by grilling can contribute to drier food.
- Primary heat transfer
- Thermal radiation (grill); conduction (grill pan/griddle)
- Common foods
- Meat and vegetables
- Alternative name (US, overhead)
- Broiling
- Carcinogens formed
- Heterocyclic amines, benzopyrenes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Lore & Background
Outdoor grilling on a gridiron may be referred to as 'barbecue', though in US usage, the term barbecue refers to the cooking of meat through indirect heat and smoke. Barbecue may refer to the grilled food itself, to a distinct type of cooked meat called Southern barbecue, to the grilling device used to cook the food (a barbecue grill), or to the social event of cooking and eating such food (which may also be called a cook-out or braai). Charcoal kettle-grilling refers to the process of grilling over a charcoal fire in a kettle, to the point that the edges are charred, or charred grill marks are visible. Some restaurants seek to re-create the charcoal-grilled experience via the use of ceramic lava rocks or infrared heat sources, offering meats that are cooked in this manner as 'charcoal-cooked' or 'charcoal-grilled'. The historical origin of flattop grills is not definitively established, though they are often associated with Spanish planchas or la plancha. Food that is cooked a la plancha means grilled on a metal plate.
Reader's Guide
Methods include: Grid ironing (cooking meats or other foods using a grill suspended above a heat source, often outdoors using charcoal, wood, or propane gas). Charcoal kettle-grilling (grilling over a charcoal fire in a kettle). Grill-baking (using a baking sheet pan placed above the grill surface and a drip pan below to combine grilling and roasting). Grill-braising (braising meats and vegetables in a pot on top of a grill, allowing browning directly on the grill before braising and glazing after). Indoor grilling (using electric or gas-based heating elements, either incorporated into a stove top or as a standalone device). Sear grilling (searing food items over high temperatures, using a gas grill, charcoal grill, hybrid grill, or infrared grill where the below flame heats grill grates to temperatures over 480 °C). Stove-top pan grilling (using a grill pan with raised ridges, heat applied directly by the ridges and indirectly by the stove-top flame). Flattop grilling (using a hot griddle or flat pan, often with oil or butter; the flattop grill has a circular heating element and is versatile for sautéing, toasting, steaming, stir frying, grilling, baking, braising, roasting, and flambéing). Charbroiling (grilling on a surface with wide raised ridges, to the point of having the food slightly charred). Overhead grilling (in the United States, oven pan broiling inside an oven on a broil pan with raised ridges, heat applied from above or below).
Did You Know?
- Grilling is often presented as a healthy alternative to cooking with oils, although the fat and juices lost by grilling can contribute to drier food.
- Studies have shown that cooking beef, pork, poultry, and fish at high temperatures can lead to the formation of heterocyclic amines, benzopyrenes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are carcinogens.
- Marination may reduce the formation of these compounds.
- The Maillard reaction, which gives grilled meat its distinctive roast aroma and flavor, only occurs when foods reach temperatures in excess of 155 °C.
- Direct heat grilling can expose food to temperatures often in excess of 260 °C.
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