When it comes to a good barbeque, a good steak, chicken, or another piece of meat is excellent. But people underestimate the power of vegetables on the grill. One of those, asparagus, is perfect when cooked the right way. But do you know how to grill asparagus?

To address this question, we’ll provide the detailed steps you need to know to cook asparagus. By the end of this article, you’ll learn how to make asparagus a delicious part of your next cookout.

Step One: Cook Fresh Asparagus

Before any of this, you need to be sure you pick out the best asparagus. Ideally, you want to shoot for going in the early morning. If you can, save this grilling session for a farmer’s market.

Why? Because the longer asparagus is stored, the more stringy and woody it becomes. Stringy asparagus doesn’t have that firm “crunch” you are looking for.

Step Two: Wash and Trim the Asparagus

Before you cook, you want to make sure any nastiness is out. To do this, you need to wash the asparagus with cold water until all dirt is off the surface. You don’t want to know about the taste of grilled earth.

After washing the asparagus, you’ll want to trim the bottoms off. The bases are always made of woody material, making them unpleasant to cook.

Step Three: Season Properly Using Olive Oil

Before coating your asparagus in your chosen seasoning, you’ll olive oil. This oil binds any herb to the asparagus, preventing it from being knocked off.

You can choose any seasoning you want, but a combination of garlic and parmesan is almost always a winner. At this stage, you can experiment using herbs you know go well together.

Step Four: Cook at a High Heat

You’ll want to place the asparagus flat along with the grill. Please make sure they all have the opportunity to be exposed to the heat, as the char marks on these vegetables are delicious.

You’ll not the asparagus is done when you see the char marks, and they are tender enough to poke your fork through. If the asparagus isn’t soft enough for that fork poke, give it a couple more minutes.

Do You Cut the Tops From Asparagus?

No. The top-most point of the spear is the wrong end to cut. It would be best if you cut the end that contains the flat base of the asparagus.

If you’ve ever seen others cook it, think about the appearance of their asparagus (assuming it was any good).

Can You Overcook Asparagus?

Yes. You can prevent overcooking of the asparagus through two methods:

• Pulling it out slightly early
• Shocking it with an ice bath

The ice bath strategy is great if you are storing asparagus, but that ruins the enjoyable heat of your vegetables.

Why Do I Want To Know How To Grill Asparagus?

Asparagus is great for you, as it helps you eat well and maintain digestive health. It’s also potent with various vitamins, making it a great addition to your food list.

To make sure your BBQ is ready to cook asparagus, let us help you with cleaning, assembly, and service.

When it comes to making delicious food, you know that the details are essential. However, some of the details aren’t always obvious. That’s why we are going to go through five barbeque secrets you can steal for your cooking.

Secret Number One: Get a BBQ With A Water Pan

The most common mistake that chefs make involve letting their meat get too dry. When it comes to a bbq, there’s no apparent method for keeping your meat moist. However, grills that come with water pans can solve this problem.

A water pan is a more common feature with smokers, but many modern BBQs include it. The water pan allows moisture to evaporate and constantly travel through the grill. This prevents the meat from drying out.

Be sure to remove the pan near the end if you want the edge to be crispy.  

Secret Number Two: Start Your Grill Early

Whether you have charcoal, wood, or propane, it’s essential to make sure your grill is consistently heated. It’s vital to have patience and wait for your grill to be heated. Please give yourself plenty of time to wait for it to heat.

If you use wood or charcoal, your “early” might be about half an hour. With other fuel types like propane grills, you can start it about ten or twenty minutes early.

Secret Number Three: Toast Your Buns

Whenever you cook burgers, it’s essential to take care of the meat. However, many people undervalue the experience of a well-toasted bun.

The crispy exterior of a bun creates an excellent and consistent experience. When everything comes out warm, it makes an incredible difference.

Secret Number Four: Cook With Foil

A foil covering provides you two different benefits:

First, it seals in the flavor of the meat. That means a well-seasoned steak chicken doesn’t release a lot of the taste.

Second, having meat covered in foil increases the rate of the cooking process. Less of the heat escapes, but it is still set to a lower temperature to avoid singing.

You can also place unique liquids inside the foil. Water is excellent at maintaining moisture, but apple juices and fruit juices can add amazon flavors to your meat.

Tinfoil is an excellent replacement for a water pan in a pinch.

Secret Number Five: Let The Meat Rest

Resting meat isn’t exactly foreign, but it is essential. Resting meat allows the inner juices to settle, making the flavor settle.

This is exceptionally important with large cuts of meat. Removing the meat just before you think it’s done means that it is still cooking for a bit. A slice of meat isn’t done cooking until several minutes outside on the counter.

Final Thoughts

We hope that these “secrets” give you some ideas of what to do with your next cooking project. These reminders should help you cook some pretty impressive pieces. Just remember to season your meat!

It all starts with a clean grill. So if you want to get a clean grill, contact the BBQ Pros to help you out.

If you are like me, you probably have a good appreciation for some superb steak. However, cooking the steak can be tricky, so you want to be sure that you handle this. If you are a beginner, you are most likely looking for some tips.

So, how do you cook steak on a gas grill?

Your first step is to determine the amount of time it needs to cook based on thickness. Gas grills typically operate best at 450 degrees. For medium-well steaks, expect to cook it about three minutes per ½” of steak.

The time and temperature of how you cook steaks is a great start, but it doesn’t tell you everything you need to know when making something tasty. Below, we will detail how to turn well-cooked steaks into tasty ones.

Step One: Prep Your Steaks

If you are buying fresh steak from your local butcher, kudos to you; you are likely about to have some excellent steak. If you have frozen steak, you can place them inside cool water for about one to two hours.

If your steak is in the fridge, you can remove it and set it on your prep table.

Step Two: Prep Your Grill

The first step of any pure grilling experience is to set up the prep. Part of this prep is cleaning, so make sure you remove all of the old gunk from the grill. If you need help cleaning, contact us to help you out.

Once the grill is clean, preheat it to 450 degrees to be ready for the steaks.

Step Three: Season Your Steak

How you season your steak will dictate the boldness of your chosen flavor. If you are looking for that good classic steak taste, you can stick with sea salt and pepper.

If you want to get something more complicated, you can purchase a steak rub from your local supermarket. Browse the aisles to see what flavor profiles appeal to you. Follow the instructions closely if regarding these steak rubs, especially if you are a beginner.

Step Four: Cook Your Steak

While you might want to eat raw steak at this point, most doctors would advise against that. Instead, determine how done you like your steak. There are four potential categories:

• Rare (a lot of pink) – 50 C
• Medium rare ( a bit of pink) – 56 C
• Medium (no pink) – 61 C
• Well Done (a bit more charred) – 71 C

The thicker your steak, the more you will need to cook it before it meets these levels. It would be best if you considered investing in a meat thermometer to determine an acceptable temperature.

You can also use your eyes, but beginners should cook their steak to a rare level for safe consumption.

Final Thoughts

Steak is one of the most delicious food items you could ever eat. Most of the job of cooking it by yourself is knowing about internal temperatures. It’s also essential to ensure that you pick the right seasonings.

Nobody is going to want to eat any steak from your grill if it is nasty. So be sure to use Ashton BBQ and Grill Pros for all your servicing needs.

As we begin to approach warmer weather, the title of grillmaster is up for grabs. If you are one of those who want to retain your title (or are an up-and-coming challenger), there are some accessories you need to succeed. In this month’s post for your grill, we will give you five accessories you can’t live without to help with your BBQ setup.

Five Accessories You Need for a Decent BBQ Setup  

If you are looking to up your grill game, consider these accessories:

• Spatula, tongs, fork
• Meat injector
• Grill basket
• Meat thermometer
• A grill brush

Below, we will dig into why you need them

The Basics for your BBQ Setup: Spatula, Tongs, & Fork

You can’t call yourself a grillmaster if you don’t have the essential tools. These necessary tools begin with your spatula, tongs, and fork. The combination of the three will allow you to relocate and test your meat for juiciness.

If you plan on cooking shredded pork butt, you will need a couple of forks to begin shredding. These are essential tools to get started.

Getting Fancy: A Meat Injector

Many people think that they will be alright with a simple basting brush. While we cannot understate how handy it is to coat the surface, many people forget about the inside.

A meat injector allows you to take flavourful marinade and put it right into the muscle. Ensure that your meat injector is metal, as the plastic ones take a bit more force to shove in.

For Easy Cooking: A Grill Basket

A grill basket may seem a bit unusual. Still, the best ones will allow you to flip whatever is inside without issue. These baskets are typically limited to vegetable use, as your essential tools from the beginning are for the meat.

For vegetarians who still love the grill, this also provides an excellent way for you to isolate their preferences. With this tool, consider yourself a grillmaster who accommodates the needs of your people.

A Meat Thermometer

Working with a good bbq setup is a combination of art and science. The art comes from the beautiful smoky flavors you get when experimenting. The science comes in when your internal temperature is just right.

While some people will tell you that they can “feel with their steak is done,” others stick with proven methods. To ensure you cook the best meats, get a thermometer to tell you about the right time to pull it off.

A Grill Brush

You can taste the difference when you have an unclean grill. Actual signs of this come through when you start to taste fish in your steak (or vice versa). To address this issue, make sure you have an available grill degreaser and brush.

The degreaser takes behind unwanted juices left behind, and the brush takes off burnt chunks.

Final Thoughts

To ensure you gain that grillmaster title, you need to have all of the right accessories. The basics, in combination with grill baskets and meat thermometers, can push you over the edge. Arguably, the most critical part of being a grillmaster is a clean grill. If you are looking for a deep clean for your grill to start this season off right, contact us today.