Filled with a variety of meats and seafood, a mixed grill is a buffet of grilled goodies that excites everyone’s taste buds. Whether your guests want steak, salmon, a burger (or a taste of all three!), you can satisfy all of their cravings. To help make your mixed grill a success, we offer the following tips.
The Secret's in the Marinade
Think of your selection of meats as a blank canvas that can be seasoned with whatever flavours you fancy. A single marinade saves time and effort, and gives every bite consistent taste, while a mix of different rubs or marinades offers your guests a variety of flavours. When you pick your palette of seasonings, think beyond the simple marinades – you can explore flavour combinations from around the world!
Portugual: Our Meat Mixed Grill recipe is inspired by southern Mediterranean flavours, with a paprika, thyme and sherry wine vinegar marinade finished with a dash of hot sauce. This single time-saving marinade works for all the mixed grill meats.
Italy: Rosemary, garlic and lemon make a crowd-pleasing combo for all ages. Serve with grilled lemon halves to squeeze over top.
Caribbean: For a tropical-style twist, try a blend of orange juice, allspice, garlic and jalapeños.
Japan: Soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger give a teriyaki twist to your meats.
Set up the Grill
Start off with a sizzle by making sure the barbecue is preheated to medium-high. Next, clear away old food and debris. Alternatively, try sticking a fork into half an onion and rubbing the cut half over the hot grills — it works!
Ensure that raw meat, fish or poultry is kept cold until it is cooked. It’s also important to make sure raw proteins do not come into contact with ready-to-eat food (like cheese, sliced onions, tomatoes or bread). Remember to never place cooked meats on the same plate or pan that held raw meats, as this can permit cross-contamination. Use separate utensils, cutting boards, dishes and other cooking equipment when handling raw and cooked meats.
Order of Operation
A meat thermometer is your best friend when grilling, as it makes it easier to gauge when meat, poultry and fish are cooked to the required doneness.
- Start off with any poultry, which takes the longest to cook and has the highest internal temperatures to reach: 165ËšF (74ËšC) for chicken pieces and 185ËšF (85ËšC) for a whole chicken.
- Next comes pork, which is cooked until its internal temperature reaches 160ËšF (71ËšC).
- Steak time! Grill until preferred doneness, or until 145ËšF (63ËšC).
- While chicken, pork and steak are set aside to rest, it’s time to grill sausages and burgers, which are ready to be served when their internal temperatures reach 165˚F (74˚C).
- Last but not least are fish and seafood, which cook up fast. Fish is ready at 158ËšF (70ËšC) and seafood is done at 165ËšF (74ËšC).
Mixed Grilling Tips
- Arrange meats in orderly lines, moving from left to right, so you can keep track of how far along everything is.
- Allow meats to develop a good sear first before flipping, which helps lock in flavour and juices.
- Resist the urge to poke, prod and flip continuously. This only makes cooking times longer.
- As the experts say: lookin’ ain’t cookin’. Keeping the lid closed not only controls flare-ups, but also allows your grill to do its job in a shorter amount of time.
