When tailgating at a stadium, you have a few options for how you can grill your meat. But as the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the popularity of “homegate” parties, it has added additional grilling options for heating your pregame sausages and burgers. Here are four different methods of grilling meats that each add a tasty twist for future homegate parties. Any butcher should be able to offer tips and suggestions if you are hesitant about trying these methods.
Direct Grilling
Direct grilling is the bedrock of any good tailgate party. This style of grilling consists of placing food directly over the coals to cook your meal fast. This is perfect for tailgating, as it allows the chef to feed partygoers rather quickly. Burgers, sausages, steaks, and chicken breasts are all perfect candidates for direct grilling.
Indirect Grilling
When indirect grilling, you use redirected heat to cook your meat evenly all the way through. For this grilling method, you don’t put the meat directly over the heat source, but rather on a rack in a chamber that allows heat to reflect around it. This method of grilling is common for cooking whole turkeys and roasts.
Rotisserie
Sometimes called “spit-roasting,” rotisserie grilling describes a method in which meat rotates over the heat source. This helps trap in the moisture that would otherwise drip away, causing the meat to lose flavor. This method is perfect for yielding a crispy outside with a succulent inside. Common rotisserie meats include legs of lamb, whole chicken, and suckling pigs.
Smoking
The final method of grilling meat is called smoking. To properly grill something via smoking, you must use hardwood smoking chips on a heat source. You then place the meat on top, where it cooks via the smoke and residual heat very slowly. This gives any meat an extra flavor that cannot be achieved any other way.