Kelso’s Memorial Day Grilling Tips
While I think Critter is a much better grill cook than I, he said I should share my little techniques with you about how to cook amazingly complex flavors into your Memorial Day weekend celebration. Complex might not be the best use of the word in this place, because nothing about the process is complex, but the depth of flavors you can squish out of savory meats is almost unlimited. Here's how I grill.
First and foremost, there's nothing worse than a recipe or cooking post online where they walk you through the long history of a dish and how they discovered it, so let me be blunt. You want to layer your meats on the grill. I know it sounds weird, but you'll never eat a better burger than one that's been basted in bratwurst drippings.
Like always, you make your burger patties however you like em. I don't like big thick patties, so I always go for the double-doubles with thin patties that cook rather quick. Never salt your meat before it hits the grill. You go to mixing any kind of salt into a patty and you'll end up with dry burgers, and nobody wants that. Salt just draws and holds moisture. That being said, you can totally mix up pretty much anything else into your patty mix. I like a hint of chili powder, red pepper flakes, touch of cayenne, plenty of garlic powder and onion flakes, and if you have it, fresh cracked coarse black pepper. Make your patties but don't salt until you hit the grill. Also, use sea salt, it's better.
Start cooking bratwurst long before your burgers hit the grill. You want to cook these on the top rack of your grill as if it were an oven. You want to wait until they get that odd tan color before moving them to the heat. When it's time, that's when you put your burgers on. When you're ready to flip your burgers, move your brats back to the top rack. By this point they should be cracked and squirting clear juices, the idea is to let the juices cascade down to your cooking burgers. Honestly, amazing burgers.
Also, get some peeled and de-veined shrimp. Defrost naturally, make sure to pat them as dry as possible so you can season it. Coat with oil, sprinkle with your choice of cajun seasoning (I like Ball's Cajun Seasoning), skewer and grill at the last moment. On a hot grill, it should only take about sixty to ninety seconds for the shrimp to cook on the first side, about half that on the second. Do not overcook your shrimp, but the seasoning makes up for it if it goes all overcooked rubbery.
Keep it simple. Layer your meats. Enjoy an epic cookout my fellow American.