Why You Should Always Preheat Your Kamado BBQ Grill?
Preheating your kamado bbq grill is a critical step in ensuring you get the most out of your food and your grill. In this article, we’ll discuss all the reasons why you should preheat your kamado ceramic grill. By the end, you’ll learn all about why it’s so important and how it can make your food better and more consistent.
Reasons why you should preheat your grill
Extend cooking time
If you put food on the grill too early, your food will have to spend extra time on the grill. Too much time on the grill can easily lead to dry and tough results. Not only that, but extended cooking times can affect your recipes—making it harder to judge how long your food should sit on the grill for best results.
Even Cooking
In addition to extending the cooking time, not preheating the grill will almost certainly cause food to cook unevenly.
Think about it, if you just throw a steak on the grill before it’s properly preheated, one side will cook differently than the other. The side of your food that touches the grate first will cook at a lower temperature than the side that starts facing up.
When you turn the steak over, the grate is already heated and the second side takes less time to cook. Uneven, inconsistent results will naturally come from an unheated grill.
Epic BBQ Markers
One of the best parts of grilling is creating beautiful, high-quality grill marks on your food. The part of the food that comes in contact with the hot grill can develop grill marks when it sears at high heat.
Roast marks not only look beautiful, but they also add flavor to your food. When your food burns, the natural sugars in the food caramelize, creating a delicious layer of flavor on the outside of the food.
One of the main reasons you should preheat your grill is because if you don’t, it’s impossible to get grill marks on your food. If your food is to produce these signature marks, you will need to allow your grate to warm and reach temperature before your food comes into contact with the grate.
Reduced Likelihood of Food Sticking to the Grill
Proper grill marks and sear also means your food is easy to release from the grate. The reverse is also true – if your food is not burnt, you may have issues with food sticking to the grill when you need to flip it or remove it from the grill.
If you don’t preheat and let the grill warm up, this increases the likelihood of food sticking to the grill and being uncooperative when it’s time to flip and remove grilled food.
Removes Residue from Previous Use
Preheating the grill will also help remove residue from the last grill, especially if some of the residue was difficult to remove the last time you cleaned the grill. At the very least, preheating your grill will make it easier to use a grill brush to scrape up any remaining residue before you start cooking again.
How to Preheat a Kamado Gas Grill
Preheating a kamado gas grill is simple. All you have to do is light your burner with the grill lid open. From there, turn the burner knob to the medium setting and close the lid. Wait until the cooking chamber heats up and stops (usually about 10 to 15 minutes). Now your grill is preheated and ready to go! Adjust the temperature as needed based on the type of food you are cooking.
How to Preheat a Kamado Charcoal Grill
Light your charcoal (I always recommend using a charcoal chimney starter) and let your coals burn until they are smoldering and ashes. Pour the lit coals into the grill’s charcoal basket, open the kamado charcoal grill damper, and close the lid. After pouring in the lit coals, let the grill preheat for about 15 minutes, then adjust the dampers to fine-tune the temperature.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article sheds light on why it is so important to preheat the grill before each use. This might not seem like a big deal, and it’s certainly an easy step to skip. But professionals and seasoned grill masters know that preheating your grill is the key to getting your food cooked properly and with consistent results.
So the next time you take the kamado barbecue grill off the grill for a delicious dinner, plan to preheat for an extra 15 minutes. It can have a huge impact on the final taste of your food!