In the Spoon series Spoon Feed, we give tips and tricks on entertaining & hosting and seasonal & trending topics all through the lens of food.
Nothing gives off summer vibes quite like the smell of a charcoal grill and your favorite dishes roasting away. But it can be intimidating to move from the microwave and stove top to the outdoors. What grill do you use? How do you turn it on? Is a grill even worth it? While finding the right grill is the first step, you’ll also want to spend some time researching which other grill products you’ll need, check out some tips and tricks that all grill masters should know, and finally, decide which summer recipes you want to try first. In this complete guide to grilling, you'll find all that.
Grills for college students (that you can actually afford)
There are a few options for grilling beginners that will give you the whole summer grilling experience without being too expensive. Creators of the All Up in My Grills podcast Lauren Nagel and Paula Stachyra recommend that beginners should start out with a pellet or charcoal grill:
“An easy place to start is with pellet grills,” Paula said. “This electric-style smoker uses pellets and is an easy ‘set it and forget it’ style grill that requires very little work with managing the fire and allows you to focus only on the food.”
“Once you learn to get comfortable with the science of BBQ and smoking, tackle a charcoal grill,” Lauren continued. “If starting with charcoal, check out ceramic-style smokers. These grills hold heat really well and also make fire management easier for longer cooks.”
Charcoal grills also offer more portable options, so they may be more convenient and easier to use for beginners. These are the top three charcoal grills we recommend based on price and positive reviews:
1) Weber Original Kettle 18 Inch Charcoal Grill, $119.00
2) Royal Gourmet Charcoal Grill Offset Smoker, $149.00
3) MAISON HUIS Adjustable Portable Charcoal Grill, $69.99
Outdoors not an option? Try an indoor or tabletop grill
For some college students living on campus, an outdoor grill may not be an option, so here are a couple of options for tabletop and indoor grills that will still give you the summer cooking vibes you are looking for, as well as create dishes that will impress your guests.
1) Ninja FG551 Foodi Smart XL 6-in-1 Indoor Grill, $179.99
2) Hamilton Beach Electric Indoor Searing Grill, $84.99
3) The Whatever Pan Cast Aluminum Griddle Pan for Stove Top,$53.50
How to get started, according to grill experts
TikTok has lots of grilling tips for beginners and amazing recipes to try once you are ready. For those who picture an image of their dad or uncle manning the grill from their childhood, it can seem daunting to pick up the tongs yourself. Though a lot of grill content seems to come from older men, there are many new and female faces coming to the grilling world, changing the #grillmaster to #grillmistress, like Lauren and Paula of All Up in My Grills.
“We encourage anyone who is interested in grilling to dive in and be comfortable with the learning curve,” Paula said. “You will fail, but through that, you will learn and fall in love with smoking and grilling the more you hone your craft. Practice and enjoy the experience of being outside and sharing good food with friends and family and learning along the way. When all else fails, pour your favorite drink and read the grill manual.”
Lauren recommends splurging on some good equipment that will be worth it. “Invest in a good meat thermometer and use it,” she said. “Stop guessing when cooking food! Temperature is an amazing guideline but it also helps you ‘feel’ the food and check for tenderness. Get to know your grill. Know where the hot spots are. Know how it handles high heat and low and slow cooking.”
How to start your charcoal grill
Starting your grill can be one of the most intimidating parts of the grilling process for beginners, but we’ve got your back. There are a few different methods you can try to light your charcoal, like using a chimney starter, lighter fluid, or newspaper, so you’ll have to experiment and figure out which method works best for you and what you are cooking. There is no need to fear an open flame or hot coals if you take our advice, and there are a lot of great options that avoid the use of lighter fluid. Here are the steps to use if you decide to use the chimney starter method:
1) Gather your materials: You’ll need your charcoal, chimney starter, long grilling matches, and a couple of fire starters or newspaper.
2) Fill your chimney: Fill your chimney with charcoal about halfway
3) Place firestarters in the grill and light them with matches: Remove the grate and add the firestarters and newspaper. Once they are lit, place the chimney starter directly over them.
4) Wait for charcoal to fully heat up: You'll know your charcoal is ready when it turns from black to gray and glowing. Carefully pour hot charcoal into the base of your grill underneath the grate. Replace the grates back onto the grill and you are ready to get grilling.
Let’s get cooking
Now that you’ve got the grill, let’s get cooking! Once you have everything you need, it’s time for the best part, turning your grill on and getting cooking. Most beginners will fall back on the basic grill recipes like burgers and hotdogs, but here at Spoon University, we want to inspire you to go beyond a frozen burger patty, so we’ve included some more original and delicious ideas to try out this summer.
Proteins. The star of any cook-out, you’ll first want to decide what kind of proteins you’d like to grill when deciding your menu. It’s always a good idea to have both meat and non-meat options, but beginners often default to burgers and hot dogs. We recommend trying something more exciting like chicken, Italian sausage or brats, pork or beef ribs, or even salmon if you want to impress at your next cookout.
Vegetables and Sides. Though some may not bat an eyelash at the veg and sides at a cook-out, no barbecue is complete without them. Some staple sides from classic cook-outs may include corn on the cob, potatoes, veggie kabobs, or other seasonal vegetables. While cold sides are often found on the cook-out spread, trying something outside of store-bought sides like potato salad will set you apart and keep you at the head of the grill with the tongs in your hand!
Grill the unexpected at your next cookout by offering grilled pineapple on your menu. This side can be served either sweet or spicy and can be a perfect addition to your summer menu. Grilled pizza may have become more common on cook-out menus, but it is still a great alternative to more traditional barbecue menus that will be sure to impress your guests.