Keep cancer off the grill
Before you chow down that deliciously charred steak now sizzling on the grill, you might want to put down your fork and knife and consider the risk of cancer, a health issue that flares up every summer.
Red meats, poultry and fish can serve up a double dose of cancer-causing carcinogens. They all create carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines when cooked at a high temperature. Other carcinogens, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, form when animal fat hits hot coals. If the coals then flame up, the carcinogens can be deposited on the cooking meat.
This doesn't mean you have to give up the grilling life. There are ways to reduce your exposure to carcinogens when you're grilling.
• Use lean meat rather than high-fat cuts that are more likely to drip fat onto the coals.
• Trim fats from meat and remove the skin from poultry.
• Use tongs to turn meat on the grill. Using a fork that pierces the meat can cause fats to drip onto the hot coals.
• Cut off charred parts of grilled meat before serving.
• Use marinades that contain antioxidants such as vinegar and citrus juice. Some research suggests that could lessen the formation of carcinogens.
• Flip meat frequently to reduce charring.
• Lessen the time meat spends on the grill by microwaving or otherwise slightly precooking before grilling.
Keeping it clean
Keep your grill gleaming through the barbecue season with these tips.
• Place a specially designed pad or splatter mat on the ground under your grill before cooking to protect your deck or patio from grease splatters.
• Before you light up, apply nonstick spray to the grill. It cuts down on cleanup time.
• When you're done and the grill has cooled down, use a wire brush to scrub away any built-up gunk on the grill. If you don't have a brush, you can use crumpled aluminum foil.
• Squirt dishwashing detergent on the grill and scrub with a brush or abrasive pad. Rinse and repeat if you need to.
Regional flavoring
The word "barbecue" does not mean the same thing everywhere.
• In the Southeast, barbecue often means pulled pork with sauce.
• In Texas and the Southwest, an invitation to a barbecue usually means you'll be served slow-smoked beef brisket with a light sauce.
• If you bring up the B-word in Kansas City, most people will think you're talking about pork ribs with a heavy tomato-base sauce.
• Here in California, barbecue usually means throwing some steaks and other meat on the grill.
Neither sleet nor snow
Who needs good weather to use the grill? A new poll by the Consumer Reports National Research Center found that there are many people who don't let anything rain on their barbecue parade. Here are a few sizzling findings.
• 41 percent of outdoor cooks grill all year round.
• 68 percent report grilling in the rain.
• 26 percent have grilled while it was hailing, sleeting or snowing.
• 32 percent report having grilled when the temperature dipped below freezing.
More numbers hot off the grill
• 17.4 million: The number of grill shipments in North America during 2007, the most in more than 20 years, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association. Gas grills led the parade, accounting for more than 10 million of the 2007 shipments.
• 77 percent of households own an outdoor barbecue grill or smoker, an increase of 5 percent from 2003.
• 68 percent of households own a gas grill.
• 37 percent own a charcoal grill.
• 2 percent own an electric grill.
People don't just buy them, they use them, too.
45 percent of households use their grills one to two times every week during the peak grilling season.
71 percent of grill owners fire up the grill for the Fourth of July.
Sources: Purdue University Animal Sciences at ag.ansc.purdue.edu; the American Institute for Cancer Research at www.aicr.org; the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association at www.hpba.org; the National Barbecue Association at www.nbbqa.org; Consumer Reports
