by Michelle Reeves

Created on: June 05, 2010

Yes! A gas grill can give your meat just as much flavor as a charcoal grill. Both grills cook with a flame, they both have lids, they both have smoke coming from them. Your flavoring comes in a couple of different ways. First of all, marinate your meat. Whether it be chicken, steak, or ribs, always marinate your meat. The longer you marinate the more the flavor seeps into your meat.

 Next is the cook, "the grill cook", not everyone was made to  cook on the grill. You gotta know when to flip them, know when to shut the lid, know when to take them off, know when their done. (just for fun, sing those four lines to Kenny Rodgers "The Gambler") (lol) I got a kick out of it, hope you do to. Back to the grill, you can use either grill and still get the same great taste.

The magic is in the know how, not the grill. That's why I love Helium, I've found a couple of articles that have helped me. So here is the break down for you. Marinate your meat at least 30 minutes before grilling. Put your meat on the grill, cooking on a medium to low flame. Shut the lid, if you don't have a lid, don't worry, you can still get great flavor off your grill. I personally flip my meat every 5 - 10 minutes, depending on what I'm cooking. For example, steak would be an exception to the rule, depends on how you like it cooked, Rare (barely cooked and bloody), Medium Rare (hot and bloody), Medium (pinkish red), Medium Well (barely pink towards well side), Well Done ( no pink or red, all cooked). I'm funny about my beef, steaks are medium rare, but hamburgers are well done, go figure.

 All other meat is cooked to the fullest, which means no blood.  You can cook on the grill without marinating your meat, I've done it myself, and got a beautiful smoked grill flavor in my meat that was oh so good. If all you have is salt and pepper, go for it, meat is meant for the grill. As a new comer to the grill, just take a fork and knife to put a little deep sliver in your meat to check it and see if it is done. Practice makes perfect. The only way you can mess it up, is if you forget about it and it burns. One more thing that I can teach you for grilling is beer, poor some beer on your meat, it adds great flavor also. Have fun and good luck.

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