Grilled Food - Cook them thoroughly

When you directly expose food to a source of heat like a stove, gas , charcoals or fire you are said to be grilling your food. It can be considered to be a modern day version of roasting food over the fire - what our ancestors of the pre historic age used to do.

Now grilling food has benefits like you have to use little to no fat when you grill food and the food tastes wonderful as it retains its flavour.

However, the underside to grilling is that the food is exposed to very high temperatures, so the surface of the food gets charred even before it is properly cooked from inside. Improperly cooked meat contain a lot of bacteria which can cause serious health problems.
When we grill meats over charcoal, the fats from the meat drips into the charcoal producing harmful and poisonous smoke which gets deposited into the meat and can cause cancer. Also toxic compounds are produced when food is cooked at high temperatures.

So, while grilling just remember -

• Grill fast- cooking foods like fish, vegetables like eggplants and guccini, fruits like apples and peaches and lean cuts of meat and poultry. this will ensure that the food is thoroughly cooked from the inside as well as the outside.
• Completely remove the fat from the meat.
• Place a pan to catch the melted fat so that it does not drip into the fire or better still place the charcoals a little towards the side while grilling.
• Do not char but also take care to cook till completely done. Throw away the charred pieces.
• Keep the grilling portions small so that you do not have to spend a lot of time grilling them.
• Defrost before grilling.
• Make a vegetarian barbeque.

Most important, eat grilled food in moderation.