How to Speed Up Grilling Time – Outdoor Kitchen Shortcut

Now that the grilling season is upon us, it’s time to get outdoors and get our grill on.  Usually, I think of summertime cooking as relaxed and leisurely. I rarely look at the time and having dinner on the table for the hungry little people at 5:45 on the dot isn’t such an issue. (Because they are swinging, in the sandbox, or kicking a ball around the yard, and have completely forgotten they are hungry!)

But perhaps you are in a time crunch and you need to speed up the grilling process some. Perhaps you really waited too long and the kids in the yard are getting antsy. And I don’t mean that they are poking around ant hills and have ants all over them! 😉

Here are a few ways to speed up the grill time for different ingredients…

1. Meat or Chicken – Place a disposable pan directly over the meat or chicken.   This will create an intense mini-oven on the grill and will help the meat cook through faster.

2. Really Thick Chicken Breast – Place the chicken on a clean surface and pound it flatter with a meat tenderizer.

3. Baking Potatoes – Boil whole potatoes for a few minutes before placing them in foil and onto the grill.

4. Small Red Potatoes – If you plan to skewer red potatoes, it’s a good ideas to boil or pierce and microwave them for a few minutes before adding them to a kabob.  They will cook through faster and at about the same rate as other vegetables or meats that are on the skewer.

5. Keep a Constant Temperature – Don’t be lifting the lid of the grill over and over to check the meat!  Learn the typical cooking times for different meats, like 7-8 minutes per side for chicken breast, or 4-5 minutes per side for thin pork chops, so you don’t have to constantly be checking and worried if you should be turning them. And with time and practice, it will become like second nature!

What are some tricks that you use to speed up grilling time?!