question for meat eaters

[fakesurfers]

Why does meat taste better on a grill? Scientifically speaking, that is...

[Memo]

I don't know if there could be a scientific reason.....because the fact that meat tastes better on a grill is an opinion.

[molecularfire]

Actually... I prefer meat in a pan with a lot of butter.

[fakesurfers]

Originally posted by UT Memo
...the fact that meat tastes better on a grill is an opinion.

your indecipherable comment was enlightening

[mojo]

Originally posted by UT Memo
I don't know if there could be a scientific reason.....because the fact that meat tastes better on a grill is an opinion.

i thought the question was kinda along the lines of:
his opinion is that it tastes better on the grill....and so, why does it taste the way it does? it actually does taste different off of the grill.

my answer to that is that i dont freakin know and that it is a very good question.

also, are we talkin about grilling it yourself? or does it include "grilling" that occurs at the restaurant?

[fakesurfers]

Originally posted by DarkFury
I would have to say that the "open flame" with the juices just running off the meat into the coals/briquets has something to do with it...along with the "smoke flavor" that you get from a grill.

Also, as your "grill" gets "seasoned" from continual use... your grilled meats will taste even better over time.

That's basically what someone at work said, but if you think about it logically you would lose flavor.

example:

10% of the 'flavor' drips off in juices onto the briquettes. You'll never get that whole 10% back, as some of it will stay stuck to the grill and some will get vaporized. Therefore, your meat would only be 98-99% as flavorful due to runoff.

[edit] typo fixed per DF[/edit]

[topane]

The smoke from all that vaporized runoff permeates the whole piece of meat, getting that flavor through every little bit.

[Grimm]

It's not what's there, it's how it can be tasted. I'm thinking that the flavor that is returned as smoke is more detectable by the tongue. Like when you mix two sweeteners together. The sum of parts is greater than the whole.

[zenbooty]

I prefer my meat grilled because the meat doesn't sit soaking in a pool of its own fat and grease as it cooks. The fat drips off into the pit. I find those brown fatty gel-like bits on the side of a fried burger pretty gross.

[welfareloser]

Originally posted by zenbooty
I prefer my meat grilled because the meat doesn't sit soaking in a pool of its own fat and grease as it cooks. The fat drips off into the pit. I find those brown fatty gel-like bits on the side of a fried burger pretty gross.

that's exactly what i was thinking.

and i think DF hit all the other reasons why grilled is superior. a little bit of burning, a little bit of smoke, a little bit of the last ten years' worth of meals still on the grill... mmmmm... and don't discount cooking in fresh air instead of a stuffy ol kitchen! it has karmic value, and your tongue knows it!

[Jihforce]

You know, all this talk about grilling stuff has made me want to go out and buy a grill...I think I saw one on the deals page....

[welfareloser]

Originally posted by Jihforce
You know, all this talk about grilling stuff has made me want to go out and buy a grill...I think I saw one on the deals page....

amen. maybe i put on my xmas list. my $20 little weber finally ate **** last month, the legs rusted out and it fell to smithereens... i miss grillin and chillin...

[Jihforce]

you know, at times like this, I wish it snowed in cali during winter...if it did, I could still use the grill. But no...we'll be getting rain instead.

[ChrisMG187]

I dunno, but I prefer my meat on a plate.

[YanksFanRy]

But it also makes it more compact, condensing the flavorful flavors

[Markel]

It's probably that the "over the fire" cooked flavor stirs our primal instincts.

[Sir_Froggy]

Originally posted by ChrisMG187
I dunno, but I prefer my meat on a plate.

ya me two....cuz if u eat it over the grill yule get burnt ibrows.....ore yule get smoke in ur I's.



isn't it fun two type with words that sound the same butt mean different things? it's grate fun

[Markel]

Originally posted by chosenfool
exactly!

it hearkens back to our primeval emotions, back to the time when our collective consciousness was still in its infancy. The hunt and the seared flesh, the smell of burning meat, has been engraved in our subconscious so much that it just makes it taste better for us when the meat is grilled.

Well, at least it sounds somewhat "scientific".

[zenbooty]

Originally posted by chosenfool
it hearkens back to our primeval emotions, back to the time when our collective consciousness was still in its infancy. The hunt and the seared flesh, the smell of burning meat, has been engraved in our subconscious so much that it just makes it taste better for us when the meat is grilled.

I don't know. If it harkened back that far, wouldn't we be eating our meat raw?

[brainsmile]

better on the grill if it is over a good charcoal... gas just bites

[welfareloser]

Originally posted by brainsmile
better on the grill if it is over a good charcoal... gas just bites

i generally agree, but my dad has this rodaggin old gas grill that's so nasty that it tastes as good as charcoal.

[Markel]

A definite agreement on the convenience of gas over charcoal. My old house had an original Webber gas grill that was an adaptation of the standard kettle grill. (That design never caught on.) This grill was mounted on the deck and supplied by the natural gas from the house - the ultimate in convenience because there was never a tank to fill/swap. I loved cooking turkeys/oven-roaster-chickens on that grill (it used lava rocks).

Now I just have a standard Webber charcoal grill. I do have to give the charcoal an edge in the flavor department.

[Markel]

Originally posted by DarkFury
The main thing I worry about is when people use too much "lighter fluid" on their coals... makes the meat taste like "gas".

When I'm just grilling for my family (meaning, I don't need a bunch of coals) I have one of those "newspaper coal starters", so no lighter fluid at all.

[attgig]

same reason why peole prefer grilling ribs with hickory chips mixed with the charocoal..
the flavors from the fumes....

[Markel]

Originally posted by DarkFury
Heh... you must be using "Matchlight" charcoal...

No "Matchlight" - just standard Kingsford charcoal. The device is a cylinder (with some air holes in the side) and a grate a little up from the bottom. You pour the coals in the top, crumple a few sheets of newspaper and stick them in the bottom, and light the papers. They burn long enought to get the coals started, and because the coals are contined in the "chimney", they tend to get started pretty quick.

Now, my boys like it much better when I use the lighter fluid.

[brainsmile]

ROFLMAO...Man DF ... I haven't thought about Eddie's old stuff in a while. Falling down the stairs, "My shoe!"

[Burzhui]

gas grill, briquettes...


come on people, wood is the only true way, there you get a nicely smoked piece of meat.... or if you fail to get wood, then at least use the wood chips.

And grilled is better, why??? well it's a mistery of the church

[oblongmelon]

OO MATCHLIGHT charcoal is BRILLIANT stuff.. It's so loaded with lighter fluid I'm afraid to carry it in my car for fear of spontaneous combustion..but man o man-not having to wait for the fire to "catch" is great!

[Burzhui]

Originally posted by DarkFury

It just takes too dayuum long. We're HONGRY now!!!!

Camper here