Top 5 Strategies for More Healthy Grilling and Smoking Revealed

Some people try to eat healthy for different reasons, such as to avoid building up unwanted fat or to increase their life expectancy. Usually, grilling and smoking meat is considered unhealthy but that’s not entirely true. Yes, some types of meat are unhealthy no matter how you cook them, but there are plenty of delicious alternatives out there that are just as good. Today we will talk about some of the types of meat that you can or cannot eat and how to make steaks more delicious. Also, we will give you some healthy grilling tips that our Grills Forever team always follow so you can enjoy your grill without worrying about your health.

Is There Such Thing as Healthy Grilling and Smoking? 

Yes, it can be, or at least you can make it healthier than it normally is. If cooked properly with the proper healthy grill recipes, eating grilled or smoked meat can be safe for your body. For example, cooking on live fire is much healthier than frying, since you don’t have to use extra oils or fats to cook. When grilling vegetables you help retain their nutrients compared to when you boil them; also, the fat from the meat drips off when grilling. Another benefit of cooking grilled or smoked meat is that it looks more appetizing and it’s also more delicious. Asides from being delicious, who doesn’t love to spend time with friends out camping in the woods or even in the backyard?

Let’s see some examples of how to eat healthy!

1. Anything Can Go on the Grill: Next time you plan on cooking a grill, try to add some extra ingredients. Not only meat can be cooked, but also vegetables and even fruits for dessert. You would be surprised how delicious grilled vegetables are; some examples that most people use are vegetables like tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, eggplant, zucchini, onions, peppers, broccoli, asparagus, and many more. You can also eat veggies instead of bread; grilled potatoes are one of the vegetables that can be used as a replacement for bread. However, if you love bread then take some and spread some butter on it with mashed garlic and put it on the grill for a few minutes; garlic bread is delicious and a favorite for a lot of people.

2. Eating Less Can Also Be a Healthy Tip: Try to cut the meat into smaller bits and use smaller plates; by doing so it will look like you have a full plate but you will still have less food, tricking your brain that you ate everything in your plate. This will not only speed up the cooking process but it will also help you feel full with less.

3. Don’t Burn the Meat: Crispy meat may taste good but it’s hard to avoid not to over burn meat, while carbonized meat can be cancerous and also unhealthy for your stomach. Depending on the type of grill you use, flares may be unavoidable so try to move the meat away from them or use a bit of water to extinguish flares. A good tip on avoiding flares is to remove as much fat from the meat as you can: from chicken remove the skin as it contains a lot of fat and with other types of meat like beef or pork you can use a knife to cut the fat bits away from it.

4. Marinade the Meat: 

This not only makes it taste much better, but it also helps avoid overcooking it. You can use vinegar and other herbs or spices, just add some at your preference all in a bowl along with the meat and cover it evenly and then let it sit for a few hours before cooking. Cooking this way can reduce carcinogens by almost 88%. It’s unclear why it does this but some say that the marinade creates a shield separating the heat from the meat, thus avoiding overcooking the meat.

5. Avoid Fatty Meat: there are many types of meat that you need to avoid. Some examples include ham, liver, duck, pork, brisket or ribs. It may sound difficult at first but you can cook other types of meat, for example:

• Chicken goes well with almost anything you can think of
• Fish or shrimp is also an excellent choice for the grill or smoker; it’s delicious with some lemon sauce marinade or just squeeze a lemon on it after it’s done
• Grilled flank steak is delicious when you have a potato and garlic salad to go with it. Grilled steak on skewers can go along with almost anything and it looks great as well.

Finally

As you can see, eating grilled or smoked meat doesn’t have to be unhealthy. With a bit of imagination and practice, you and your friends can enjoy a delicious and fun dinner, without worrying that it’s unhealthy. And you also have to consider the grill type in this regard. Probably you already know that gas grill is healthier than charcoal. So the next time you plan to grill, take these healthy grilling tips into consideration and enjoy to the fullest without any care in the world.