Safe Grilling Strategies
Posted by Janis Jibrin on Fri, Jun 12, 2009
It's officially barbecue season, and the familiar smoky smell of neighbors' dinners has been wafting into my window—a reminder of the joys and perils of grilling your food. While grilling is an incredibly lean way to cook, it does have a dark side. Cooking food over a high, open flame can produce carcinogens, or cancer-causing substances. Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are caused by a chemical reaction that occurs when muscle meat is combined with intense heat. (They're not just found in barbecued meats. Pan-frying, electric grilling or broiling can also produce HCAs.) And polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are found inbarbecue smoke. So, anything that makes the grill smokier—like fat thatdrips from the food and hits the coals or flame—produces even more PAHs. Then, the chemical-laden smoke gets absorbed by your food. Unfortunately, these are equal-opportunity chemicals, affecting meats,veggies and bread.
Before you hang up your spatula, there are a few ways you can safeguard yourself and still have your grilled chicken, burgers and other summer favorites. Use these tips to minimize your risks:
• Marinate. Using a marinade made from grainy mustard, vinegar, lemon, lime, olive oil, garlic, salt and brown sugar, scientists from Lawrence Livermore Labs in Livermore, California, got rid of 95 percent of HCAs in poultry. They're still not sure how it works; it may have to do with the marinade cooling down the meat. Any oil-and-vinegar marinade should be protective.
• Flip regularly. Another study from Livermore Labs found that turning burgers every minute reduced HCA formation by up to 99 percent compared to burgers that were flipped every five minutes.
• Microwave. Zapping meat to a half-cooked state before grilling removes some of the substances that react to heat and greatly reduces the chances of creating HCAs.
• Cook on the cooler part of the grill. Move food to the edge of the grill or to a spot where food won't drip directly on the heat source. If your propane or gas grill has a "dual burner," turn one burner off and cook on the other side.
• Buy lower fat meats, chicken and fish. Reduce the amount of fat that drips onto the grill, and you'll reduce the amount of PAH that's created. You can also opt for plant-basedfoods, such as vegetables or tofu, which are lower in fat than meats.
• Regulate temperature. The heat should be high enough to cook food thoroughly, but low enough to prevent charring.
• Douse. Use a squirt bottle to douse flames that get too high.
• Avoid mesquite. Burning this wood generates lots of PAHs. Instead, use oak or hickory.
• Steam vegetables in advance. That way, they spend less time on the grill and have less of a chance to absorb smoke.
For more healthy-eating advice, check out TheBestLife.com.