Healthy Barbeque tips for the Fourth of July and Beyond

1. Keep your grill clean. A myth has arisen about the “tasty bits” of years old gunk on the grill. Hogwash. A clean grill cooks better and is safer for you.
2. Don’t spray the coals with lighter fluid. Perhaps as a bachelor, you loved to watch the flames leap from the grill while you impatiently waited to stick the burgers on. With kids around, this obviously is a bad idea. Not only do you not want to risk lighting yourself on fire, but a major part of grilling is making sure that you get the taste of the meat, not the charcoal or lighter fluid. That’s why you should always wait until the coals are white. That means they’ve expended most of their fuel.
3. Avoid flare-ups—a corollary to #2. Flare ups increase HCA formation, along with PAH, the known cancer causing agents associated with grilling.
4. Take your food's temperature—meat browns quickly on the grill, but doesn’t necessarily indicate that it’s cooked enough inside. Use a meat thermometer to make sure that hamburgers are cooked to 160°F , chicken breasts to 170°F, pork chops to 160°F, and steak to 145°F.
5. Cut off charred bits—sadly, the same HCAs and PAHs are found in charred pieces, so don’t overcook the meat either.
6. Use a clean plate—never put cooked food on any of the surfaces you used with uncooked food, including cutting boards or  the same plate you used to carry the raw meat to the grill.
7. Use marinades based on olive oils and citrus juices, rather than bottled salad dressing filled with stuff you don’t recognize. Olive oil and citrus juice can reduce the formation of cancer-causing substances by as much as 99%, make great tenderizers, and taste great.

Bon appetit!

Also See

Barbeque Secrets for Dads this 4th of July—Independence Day

Dad’s guide to 4th of July Barbeques

Top Ten Places to celebrate Independence Day—4th of July

Top 5 things to do on the 4th of July - Independence Day