Barbecue Tools

The big day is coming up: the day you send your baby off to college. You’ve taught him, cleaned up after him, and most importantly, cooked for him. You don’t want him to starve — how will he ever get along without you?

Luckily, you’re jumping the gun a bit. The big day is actually still about 10 years away, so you have plenty of time to prepare him for the days and nights of fending for himself — really just filler for when you’re not overnighting him your homemade macaroni and cheese or those oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies he loves so much.

Of course, it might just be easier to teach him how to make all that great food himself. Which you will, in due time, but for now you don’t want to overwhelm him, so try starting out with some easy kids’ recipes. It might not seem like it, but by showing him how to make his own meals, even super simple ones, you’ll be instilling in him a sense of independence and self-sufficiency that will serve him well as he grows older.

A lot of people dread cooking with kids in the kitchen, but by keeping yours involved in the process and showing him how easy it is, it’ll be a treat for both of you. Start by introducing him to some basic and fun breakfast recipes.

Recipe #1: Bacon, egg and cheese pita pocket. You’ll need:

2 eggs; 2 pieces of bacon; 1 slice of cheese; 1 piece of pita bread

First, toast the pita, then let the cheese melt onto it. Cut up the bacon and cook in a pre-heated frying pan for about 2 minutes. When it’s done set it aside, and then scramble the eggs. Stir them together, spread over the pita, fold and enjoy!

Tip: You can also add some cut up tomatoes or peppers for a healthier meal.

Recipe #2: Yogurt parfait. You’ll need:

A large glass (the size of the glass will determine how much of each ingredient you’ll need); Yogurt of choice; Granola or cereal; Cut up fruit (strawberries and blueberries are recommended)

Alternate pouring layers of each ingredient in the glass. Use thinner layers of the yogurt, as it’s denser and heavier than the rest.

Tip: Sprinkle some chocolate chips in with the granola, if it doesn’t already include them, or cereal for a special treat!

Recipe #3: Crêpes! You’ll need:

1/3 cup of milk; 1 egg; 1 tbsp. sugar; 3 tbsp. flour; 1 tbsp. butter

This one’s a little more involved, but still fun. Stir everything together but the butter. Melt the butter, then add it to the mixture. Pour half of the batter into a pre-heated frying pan, and flip when the edges are cooked. The best part about a crêpe is that you can fill it with whatever your child wants, like peanut butter and jelly, Nutella, or eggs and sausage.

Need some more cooking ideas for kids? You can search online and find tons of easy kids’ recipes — there are thousands of resources — or better yet, go straight to the source and ask your child what he wants to eat. Grilled peanut butter and pickle sandwiches might sound gross to you, but that’s the palate of a kid — go figure!

PlayingKitchen.com is the premier children’s cooking resource on the internet, offering informative articles and videos, regular contests, and cooking recipes for kids.

Memorial Day is upon us! And that means just one thing – backyard barbecue season is officially underway.

Yes, friends, it is time for the annual ceremonial lighting of the grills. The ritual that truly kicks off the summer season.

But before you light that match – think about the last time you used or cleaned that grill. If it’s been sitting out in the yard for six or seven months now, accumulating dirt, insects, even rust – a ritual cleaning might just be in order as well.

Just as you wouldn’t fry an egg in a dirty frying pan, you likely don’t want to throw that juicy steak or succulent snapper fillet on a dirty grate, either.

Here’s how to get your charcoal grill clean and primed:

- Clean the cooking grate with a brass grill brush and warm soapy water. If you meet resistance, try rubbing it lightly with steel wool. Rinse and dry. (Lightly coat cast-iron grates with cooking oil.)

- Remove last year’s ashes. (You are so bad!)

- Clean the inside and outside of the grill with the grill brush. Wash with warm, soapy water. Rinse and wipe dry with a clean cloth.

Now to keep that grill clean, treat it just like you would any other cooking surface. Wipe up spills immediately – before they get cooked on – and cleanup will be much easier. (The grill will look nicer, too).

After each use:

- Clean grates with a wire grill brush. (For best effect, the grates should still be warm.) If you have cast iron grates, oil them lightly after cleaning.

- Remove ashes.

Tip: Never use oven cleaner on your grill. It can damage the finish – and you definitely don’t want to put a caustic substance on the grates where food’s going to go.

Tara Aronson is a mom of three, lifestyle expert, and author of “Mrs. Clean Jeans’ Housekeeping with Kids” (Rodale) and “Simplify Your Household” (Reader’s Digest Publishing). Tara most recently shared her tips for family laundering on “The Rachael Ray Show” (February 4, 2009). Tara’s website offers tips and strategies for simplifying family life, including “Motivating Kids to – Gasp! – Clean”.

If you want to make great BBQ, you need more than just some tasty sauce. There is an art to making good BBQ. There’s a science to it too.

One of the most common mistakes that people make when they grill is to use the thermometer in the lid of the cooker. It’s not a good idea to use that thermometer because that’s not where the meat actually is. The meat is down on the grate, so that is where the temperature needs to be taken.

The best way to test the temperature properly is to use a thermometer with a probe. The probe should go into the meat at its thickest point, but it should not be touching any fat, gristle or bone. The temperature at which meat is bacteria-free and safe to eat is:

• Hamburger – 160 degrees
• Steaks or Roasts – 145 degrees
• Pork – 160 degrees
• Fish – 145 degrees
• Chicken Breast – 165 degrees
• Whole Bird – 165 degrees
• Eggs – 160 degrees
• Fresh Ham – 160 degrees

It isn’t safe to assume that meat is done just because it has turned brown. It may look done but still be too cool in the center to be safe to eat. The only way to be positive that meat is ready is to check the temperature.

When you’re done cooking, wash your thermometer (and all of your cooking tools) in hot, soapy water for at least twenty seconds to be sure that any bacteria clinging to it has been washed away.

To learn more about grilling like a first place competition winner, check out “Best Competition BBQ Secrets.”

I’ve rarely been accused of over thinking a situation. My “code of the west” mentality has been good to me through the years, rescuing me many times from the temptation of unnecessary thinking! Unnecessary thinking can ruin a perfectly good plan, but no thinking at all can be hazardous to your health! A good case in point is a situation I witnessed last year.

One brilliantly blue afternoon in late spring my neighbor Joe was preparing for one of his famous cookouts. He was about to put his brand new brick and mortar barbeque grill through its paces for the first time. A beautiful charcoal grill, he had personally, to the chagrin of the brick masons, supervised every detail of the project. It was a gorgeous fireplace style grill with the chimney almost head high built of the same brick that adorned his house.

The barbeque pit featured a curved flat black steel hood for enclosed cooking; with a warming tray built into the side of the pit to keep foods from getting cold while others cooked longer. There was even a compartment built on the opposite side to house charcoal and lighter. He was understandably proud of the best barbeque grill in the neighborhood!

Festivities began early with the neighbors arriving around 2:00 pm. By late afternoon many in the crowd were already feeling the effects of the adult beverages supplied by the host, who was especially enjoying himself. Everyone by now had grown tired of listening to an endless monolog by the host about the virtues of his new grill.

The time had come to fire up the grill! There was only one small problem. With all the preparations he had made for the cookout, Joe had forgotten charcoal lighter! Not to be detoured by such a small detail, he went into the tool shed at the back of his yard and brought back a large can of gasoline. After dumping a huge amount of charcoal into the bottom of the grill, he arranged it into a perfect pyramid. The fire was supposed to burn more consistently this way Joe informed the crowd.

By now the neighbors had begun realized what Joe was about to do and started yelling at him not to use the gasoline to start the fire. Offers were made to run next door to get charcoal lighter to no avail. Joe was determined to inaugurate his grill the proper way; with a large fire! He also assured everyone that he knew what he was doing!

Joy was enjoying himself, being the star of the show as it were. He upended the can of fuel over the charcoal and kept pouring even after the briquettes had been thoroughly soaked. Now came the moment of truth! He lit a match and with a dramatic flare, tossed it onto the charcoal! Whoooomp!

Mortar is very porous and does not always adhere perfectly to a surface without leaving a small crack in the mortar joint between bricks. When a liquid such as water, or in this case gasoline fills that crack, it will flow into the base of the structure, such as a barbeque grill. The vapors from the gasoline that had flowed into the grill did what gasoline vapors do when they come in contact with a flame. The grill exploded!

Bricks and mortar blown into pieces, rained from the sky onto all of us who had witnessed the explosion! No one was hurt because most of the crowd and moved safely away from Joe when they saw what he was about to do. Joe was slightly injured by a fragment of the grill grazing his forehead. Nothing serious!

His grill was a mess! A few seconds before, it was a beautiful example of workmanship; something to be proud of and enjoy for years to come. Now it was just a mile of rocks! Joe had apparently never heard that in some cases, alcohol and gasoline don’t mix! Warning! Drinking and starting fires with gasoline can kill you! Whether you’re drinking adult beverages or not, do not use gasoline for a charcoal starter!

My neighbor Joe has recovered from the disaster of last year. He is now making plans to build and even bigger charcoal cooker than the last one. From the size of the storage area in the barbeque pit, I doubt that he will ever run out of charcoal lighter again!

Remember, friends don’t let friends’ barbeque drunk!

Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, holiday eating and leisure living.

Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at: [http://www.bluemarlinbob.com] http://www.pompanobob.com [http://pompanobob.com]