Grilled foods can be healthy foods; they are not cooked with excess fats and oils, and cooking meat on the grill can really enhance its flavor. Before you head outside to start cooking, be sure that you are doing it in a healthy way.
Keep it clean
Before you begin grilling, make sure your grilling surface is clean. Leftover grease is not only unhealthy, it can be dangerous if it causes the grill to flare up. For charcoal grills, be sure that you use only a lighter fluid or starter specifically made for charcoal or that you use charcoal that does not require starter fluid. Never use gas or kerosene. Keep your utensils clean and use a separate cutting board for meats and vegetables so that you don’t run the risk of spreading bacteria from the meat to other dishes.
Keep it hot or cold
Nothing ruins a cookout like food poisoning. Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold when using your outdoor grill. Leave meat in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it. Keep condiments and side dishes cold and covered up outside. If you have marinated meat and then want to use the marinade as a sauce, boil it for a few minutes to kill any bacteria that may remain in the sauce. Use a meat thermometer to be certain that meat is cooked thoroughly.
Think beyond the burger
You don’t have to cook just meat on your outdoor grill. If you do, be sure to choose healthy cuts of beef and trim the excess fat. Choose lean hamburger and nitrite-free hot dogs for healthier cooking. If you do cook meat, avoid charring it, since cooking meat at high temperatures can cause potentially harmful chemicals to form in the meat. Don’t forget that you can successfully cook fish and vegetables on the grill. Put fish and some spices in a foil packet on the grill for a healthy alternative to the hamburger. Chopped vegetables on a skewer are delicious when cooked on the grill, and so is corn on the cob, cooked right on the grill with the husk on.
While cooking on your outdoor grill might seem like roughing it, you should follow the same food safety and nutrition rules you would in the kitchen. It may be particularly difficult to keep things as clean as you would inside, but if you are careful, you can keep foods chilled or heated