Dr Oz: How To Grill Meat & Fish + No-Fail Marinade Recipe

Dr Oz: Best Way To Grill Your Favorite Foods

Summertime means grilling season and Dr Oz is a big fan of grilling not only because it means he gets to cook, but because grilled food is generally pretty healthy. It’s low in fat and calories while still being loaded with the nutrients your body needs. Plus, there’s nothing quite like the flavor of grilled food. However, there’s a right way and a wrong way to grill some of your favorite foods. That’s exactly why Dr Oz brought in Julia Collin Davison from America’s Test Kitchen, the people behind the best-selling book “Master of the Grill.”

Dr Oz grew up around grilling, but he surprised to learn that a lot of people are actually intimidated by it. Julia explained that first, people don’t grill all the time so they have less experience doing so. Second, you’re essentially standing watch over a fire so it’s not too hard to char your food to bits.

Fortunately, Julia shared a step-by-step guide to marinade. As Julia explained, you don’t actually need acid or salad dressing to make a delicious marinade. For the perfect, no-fail marinade that’s great for steak, chicken, or pork, continue to the next page.

Dr Oz: No-Fail Marinade Recipe

• 1/2 C vegetable oil
• 5 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 C soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 4 scallions – chopped
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Simply mix all the above ingredients together and then pour over your meat of choice. Let it sit for anywhere from two to 24 hours before grilling. Julia chose a flank steak because it’s one of the most inexpensive steaks you can get at the supermarket. If you marinate a flank steak, it’s perfectly moist and tender, just be sure to slice it against the grain.

Dr Oz: Charcoal Grill VS Gas Grill

It’s time to answer an age-old question: which is better, the charcoal grill or the gas grill? It turns out, America’s Test Kitchen actually studied it and found that most people have a gas grill but more people prefer to use a charcoal grill. As Julia explained, you can’t go wrong either way. Charcoal tends to take a little more time, set-up, and clean-up, but gives your food more of that smoky flavor and caramelization.

However, a gas grill is far more efficient than a charcoal grill and one way to achieve that smoky flavor is with wood chips. Soak them in water for about 15 minutes first then wrap them up in an aluminum foil packet. Poke a few holes in the top of the aluminum foil to allow the smoke to get out, then put the packet right on the “flavor bars.” However, don’t put the food directly over the packet or else you will dry it out. Instead, put the steak or whatever it is you’re cooking on the other side of the grill. Put the lid down to trap the heat in and you’re good to go.

When it comes to the lid, unless you have a really hot gas grill, you’ll want to cook with the lid down. Gas grills don’t get as hot as charcoal grills. For a charcoal grill you can usually leave the lid off.

Dr Oz: How To Tell If Your Steak Is Done

To tell if your steak is done when it’s cooking on the grill, you should use a thermometer.

• Medium-rare = 120 – 125 degrees
• Medium = 120 – 135 degrees
• Medium-well = 140 – 145 degrees
• Well-done = 160 degrees and up

If you’re cooking chicken, it should be at least 160 degrees. But what about grilling fish?

Dr Oz: How To Grill Fish & Prevent Food From Sticking

When it comes to grilling fish, a lot of people use cedar planks. At America’s Test Kitchen, they used them a lot and they worked to add a lot of smoky flavor but sometimes it can be too much of that smokiness. What Julia found to be the biggest problem with grilling fish is that it likes to stick to the grill. One key way to avoid that is to wait until it’s really hot then clean it off as best you can.

Then, take a bowl of vegetable oil and a wad of paper towels held with tongs. Dip the paper towels in the oil then rub it back and forth across the cross. It will coat the surface of the grill to prevent sticking. Just be sure the grill is hot first.

Then, before you grill the fish, be sure you pat it ry because if it’s too moist it will stick. Then brush it with more vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper, and wait until the bottom is cooked to flip. If you let it cook a bit first, it will be much easier to flip.