The Seattle Kitchen staff decided there was really only
one cooking technique appropriate for the holiday weekend.

“It’s time to grill,” said Seattle
Kitchen Show host Tom Douglas.

The first big issue to tackle is ‘what’s the difference
between grilling and barbecuing?’ Seattle Kitchen agrees
grilling is hot and fast, and barbecuing is low and slow.

“I always say grilling is an art, barbecue is a religion,”
said Douglas. With barbecuing, Douglas said, “You put the
lid on and you let it go, and you trust. You have faith
that the fire and the smokes are doing their jobs.”

For grilling, he said it’s more wham-bam, “It’s much more
of having the right sear, and getting it hot, and the
right fire level.”

Co-host Thierry Rautureau said one of the biggest mistakes
he sees in grilling is not getting the grill hot enough.

“You need to hear that sssshhhhhh when you drop food on
the grill,” said Rautureau.

“Think about the last time you burned yourself and how
much it hurt. That’s what it should sound like. Kind of
branding hot, you never see a dark gray branding
iron. No, they are red hot,” said Douglas.

There’s one tool Douglas and Rautureau said you must have
to be a good griller.

“You can’t be a good barbecuer or griller without a
thermometer,” said Douglas.

“You cannot judge the temperature of a barbecue by just
putting your hand in there,” said Rautureau. “It’s really
impossible to know unless you have a thermometer.”

Rautureau varies the heat based on what he’s cooking. He
starts out hot for meat, then adds more delicate
veggies as it cools.

“Eggplant, zucchini, onions, broccoli Rabe,” said
Rautureau, “Olive oil, salt pepper, just very simply done,
just put it on the grill. So delicious.”

The whole team agrees if you’re out there for the meat,
you may as well do the whole dinner.

“The beauty of doing the grill is that it’s all on the
grill, that you’re not messing around in the kitchen that
much,” said Seattle Kitchen contributor Katie O.

“I do think that’s a good plan,” said Douglas. “When
you’re planning a
grill dinner, just make the whole thing out there.”