Manning the Grills for a Memorial Day Barbecue

It’s May and that means that Memorial Day weekend barbeques are a thing. We’ve gathered some tips for grilling, plus salad recipes to share with members of our apartment community here at Riverscape. Head out to your favorite park or campground in Odenton, Maryland soon and grill up a batch of burgers and brats. Enjoy!

Grilling Tips

• Preheat your grill 15 to 25 minutes before you start cooking to make sure it reaches the right temperature (and to kill any bacteria). A properly heated grill sears foods on contact, keeps the insides moist, and helps prevent sticking.

• To gauge the temperature of a grill without a thermometer, place your open palm about 5 inches above the grill rack; the temperature is high if you have to move your hand in 2 seconds, medium if you have to move your hand in 5 seconds and low if you have to move your hand in 10 seconds.

• Food safety is a top priority, so avoid cross-contamination by using separate cutting boards, utensils, and platters for raw and cooked foods. Refrigerate foods while marinating and never baste with the marinating liquid.

• Pat your steaks dry on both sides after you marinate them to prevent them from steaming instead of searing when you put them on the grill. Also, even though it’s difficult, resist the urge to lift the lid and turn the steaks over and over. You develop the richest flavors in steaks when you leave them alone as much as possible, turning them just once or twice.

• If you’re doing burgers, check out The Burger Lab’s Top Ten Tips for Making Better Burgers to help you create the perfect burger.

Salads

• Potato salad is the perfect side to take to a barbecue, and this Mom's Potato Salad recipe from Cutestuff Cooks will bring back all your fondest memories of past BBQs.

• Pasta salads are also a staple of the barbecue, and we found a wide variety of pasta salads from Taste of Home. It will be hard to choose just one!

• We love BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato) sandwiches, but take it from sandwich to salad with this BLT Chopped Salad recipe.

• And if you are looking for something completely different, try one of these 15 unconventional summer salads for a different mix of ingredients.

And there you have it. Fire up the grill this month and we’ll be over to eat with you! Please feel free to share your grilling tips and recipes in the comments below. Thanks!