BALTIMORE — Baltimore cook Josh Dow stopped by the WMAR-2 News kitchen this Fourth of July weekend to share grilling tips to help you cook safer and eat better at your cookout.
Dow's first recommendation: ditch the lighter fluid and use a chimney starter instead.
"You put your charcoal inside and you use a fire starter at the bottom, light it, let it sit for like 10, 15 minutes. It's gonna get real hot and you dump this into the grill versus using lighter fluid, which changes the taste of your food," Dow said.
Baltimore cook shares Fourth of July grilling tips for a tastier cookout
Dow also warned against spreading charcoal across the entire grill, calling it one of the biggest mistakes backyard cooks make.
"You want to divide it in half. The hot side and a cool side because it's easy not to burn your food. When you got the whole grill lit, where can you put your food if it's getting too hot? You're gonna burn it," Dow said.
For the holiday menu, Dow smoked ribs on a pellet grill for two hours unwrapped, then three hours wrapped with butter and Carolina sauce. He also suggested a Baltimore twist for anyone looking to elevate their cookout.
"You wanna really turn up your Fourth of July cookout, get you some fresh live crabs, put them on ice for about 10, 15 minutes, bust them open, put them on the grill with some J.O. seasoning, some garlic butter, about 10-15 minutes," Dow said.
Dow can be reached for bookings at JoshuaDow3@gmail.com.
