Stop Making This Summer Cooking Mistake

Grilling is one of summer’s mealtime joys. You can cook without heating up the kitchen. You can grill anything from main dishes, such as seafood and burgers, to side dishes and even dessert.   

If you’re lighting up the grill for only one part of the meal, though, it will probably be the main dish, the part of the meal you want to shine. There are plenty of grilling tips and tricks you can follow to ensure things go well. You probably already know you should start with clean grill grates, preheat the grill, and use a meat thermometer to avoid overcooking your protein. 

According to Reader’s Digest, there’s one thing that most people don’t do when grilling meat—use enough salt.

The Best Time to Add Salt While Grilling

The reason to salt your steak or other meat before throwing it on the grill can be summed up in one word—flavor. Don’t just take our word for it. One of our favorite cooks of all time, Ina Garten, says salt is the “single most important ingredient in cooking.”

Top Chef contender Richard Blais told Reader’s Digest that he likes Morton Coarse Kosher Salt because the shape of the kosher salt flakes helps them to stick to the meat. Other brands such as Diamond Kosher Salt will do the same. Generously sprinkling kosher salt or another larger flaked salt, such as sea salt, on the meat before grilling it will help enhance its flavor without making it taste too salty.

If you prefer to add a little salt after grilling, there are many finishing salts perfectly suited for making the flavor of your food pop. Himalayan salt and fleur de sel, for example, are excellent for lightly sprinkling on a cooked dish. 

If you’re wondering when to use table salt, it’s mostly suitable for salting pasta water and perhaps having it in a shaker on the table in case someone wants to add a little extra. We don’t recommend using it to salt meat before grilling because it’s easy to use too much, ruining a perfectly good protein.

The Best Time to Add Pepper While Grilling

Salt and pepper often go hand in hand, so it wouldn’t be unusual to wonder if you should pepper before grilling, too. Spice mixtures or rubs that contain pepper are fine to put on the meat before grilling. As for pepper by itself? Chef Heston Blumenthal, owner of The Fat Duck in Berkshire, England, told Reader’s Digest that pepper shouldn’t go on before grilling. It can “burn during the cooking process,” and burnt pepper would give any food an unpleasant taste.