Chef Henri Alén advises how to avoid the worst mistakes of grillers.
Henri Alén has developed three different grilled sausage flavors for Lidl. All in all, Lidl is selling 20 grill products with Alén’s recipe. The selection includes various sausages, meats, sauces, as well as nutritious salads and other side dishes. Eeva Paljakka
That’s it. Perfect result. At its simplest, grilling is really easy. Marbled beef needs only salt and black pepper for seasoning. The grill is hot, the grates are clean and there is fat in the steak. Hard to fail.
But what about those times when the grilling doesn’t quite go well?
Chef Henri Alen know where the problem is and how to solve it.
– If you are one of those people whose marinade is always stuck on the grill grate, the meat is black on the surface and raw on the inside, then there is no need to be ashamed. It’s a national disease with us, Alén consoles.
As long as you remember these tips from Alén, failed grilling will be just a distant memory.
First of all, the grill must be hot enough and the grates must be clean. Before you put the meat on the grill, remember a very important thing: wipe the excess marinade off the surface of the meat. Do not rinse under any circumstances, but dry the surface with, for example, paper towels.
– If there is too much marinade in the meat, it will stick to the grill grate. There is starch in the marinade, says Alén.
There should be fat in the grilled meat. The bone gives the meat a delicious taste. Mari Moilanen
Another thing that should be avoided is oil. According to Alén, this is the cardinal sin of many grillers.
– Oil burns, and nothing tastes more unpleasant than burnt oil, Alén shakes his head.
He advises that instead of too much oil, you should add an acid, such as vinegar or lemon, to the marinade. They tenderize the meat.
Alén doesn’t understand those who pour rapeseed oil into a dish with a photo paper, add a couple of sprigs of rosemary and a clove of garlic. According to Alén, this cannot be called a marinade.
– It is a complete waste of oil.
Before grilling, pat the surface of the steak dry. If salt has been sprinkled on the meat, liquid may accumulate on the surface.
– The wet surface does not brown.
Finns are a barbecue nation. 80 percent of those who responded to Lidl’s survey say that they grill in the summer. The most popular thing to grill is sausage, which is number one for 23 percent of respondents. The second is chicken (19%) and the third is beef (13%).* Karoliina Vuorenmäki
Alén’s favorite side dishes with grilled food are salads that can be kept in the fridge for several days. She often makes potato salad, coleslaw and chickpea paste. The secret spice of the salads is the licorice that grows in Alén’s yard.
Alén laughs that his grill often uses the same ingredients. Along with meat, he grills asparagus, eggplant and zucchini.
According to Alén, pork is processed to be too lean, so he grills it less often. Lean meat is difficult to get juicy.
But there are also great parts of the pork for grilling. The best are definitely Kassler and lapa.
– Kassler is top at the grill.