The temperature has been rising, the days have been getting longer, and the sun has been shining a little more. Spring is here and hibachi grills everywhere are being pulled out of storage and dusted off for the up-coming season. Here are a few quick tips to get this season’s grilling off to a tasty start.

Like most things in life, great grilling is learned and mastered over time. “Practice makes perfect”, right? If you want to learn to grill the perfect steak or the juiciest hamburgers with your hibachi grill it is going to take more than one attempt to nail it.

With that said, I know that you are more ready than ever to get outside and get grilling. Whether it is a couple of grilled rib eyes, cheese burgers with a slice of vine-ripened tomato, or a tasty shish kebob with a jalapeno-kick, the warm and sunny weather has put barbecue on the brain in all of us. So here are a couple of quick tips to help get the season off right.

First things first - you want to start with a clean grill. I’m sure this isn’t a problem with most people because I’m sure that most people gave their hibachi a good cleaning prior to packing it away last year for the winter… yeah right. We all do it, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being guilty of it myself. So, the obvious first step for the barbecue season is to give your hibachi grills a good scrubbing, before you’re first cookout!

Nobody wants to slap their top-dollar steaks on a grill that’s encrusted with unidentifiable charred chunks of last year’s leftovers. And besides just being gross to think about, think about what it does to the flavor.

Get reacquainted with your hibachi barbecue grill. If it has been a while since you used it last, you might find it a good idea to do a sort of “solo test-run” before trying to impress the friends and family. Besides being a good excuse to grill a fat t-bone for yourself, you’ll reacquaint yourself with things like “how much charcoal to use”, “where are the grill’s hot spots”, “the cool spots”, and the all important thing, “proper cooking times and temperatures”.

Speaking of temperature, lets cover a little hibachi grilling 101 re-cap here. Some people still believe that there is no need to pre-heat a grill. This couldn’t be further from the truth, especially with direct heat grilling hibachis. The idea of grilling is to sear-in those juices, the flavor - and this requires high heat. You want to get your hibachi grills raging hot before throwing the meat on. This is another area where a cast iron hibachi excels.

Next, preparation - Make sure you have all of your barbecuing utensils ready and clean. This is a good time to do a quick inventory on things like tongs and spatulas. You also want to note things like how much lighter fluid you have on hand (if you still use it), charcoal, and if you still do not have a charcoal chimney starter, now would be the time to put one on order. I find that making a quick checklist is helpful for all these items. It’s no fun to arrive at your destination, get the grill cranked up, slap the marinated steaks down by hand, and then realize the tongs were left at home.

Being prepared is key. Once the meat goes down, there’s no turning back. So be prepared. Being a hibachi grill master is not tough, but it does take a little practice. Remember, the more you fire up your hibachi grills, the better you’ll get at grilling on them. The better you get at grilling, the more you and your family will enjoy it.

Happy Grilling!

-MarkD

Save time, energy,  and money with this versatile little grill. Son of Hibachi grills have got to be the ultimate in innovative portable grills.

The unique design combines a 170 square inch cast iron hibachi cooking surface with a truly unique folding mechanism that transforms the entire grill into one big charcoal chimney starter.

When you are ready to grill, one of the first things people realize is that less charcoal is needed due to the efficient design. Couple that with the “self-cleaning” feature and the fact that the whole thing is self contained (including any left over charcoal) and you’ve got a pretty amazing little portable grill.

They claim that the cast iron grill is ready to cook on within 10 minutes from lighting but customer feedback suggests that mark can swing up or down a few minutes depending on the type of charcoal used (briquettes taking a bit longer than lump charcoal).

The operation appears fairly simple:

1. Load it with charcoal
2. Fold it up
3. Light it
4. Unfold it when the charcoal is ready for grilling (~10 minutes)
5. Do your cooking
6. Close it up (no clean-up necessary)
7. Pack it up (no waiting to cool)

They also boast that Son of Hibachi grills are “Self-Cleaning”. When you are done cooking, you simply fold the grill back up and all the ash & embers will fall to the retaining tray at the base.

The remaining heat from the left-over coals works as a self –cleaning oven and charcoal extinguisher.

Load the whole thing back into the included Snuff Out Pouch and be on your way. The Snuff Out Pouch has a flame-retardant lining which means there is no real need to wait around for Son of Hibachi grills to cool down.

The cool thing about this is that it means you can re-use the charcoal next time - saving you time, effort and money!

Note: The manufacturer does recommend waiting 30 minutes for it to cool, but the customer reviews I read suggest that this is not necessary and most likely just written for the lawyers.

I have not used one of these myself yet so can not personally endorse it but from what I have been able to gather from the customer reviews these things are pretty rock solid - carrying 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon’s customer reviews.

If you like a spicy little kick or bang to your steak here is a tasty Rib Eye Steak Recipe that is great for hibachi grills. We will start by seasoning-up a couple of rib eye steaks (bone-in or boneless) with a crushed peppercorn, chili powder, and brown sugar mixture prior to grilling and then prepare a tasty little sauce (with a kick!) to pour over them when they come off the hibachi. Easy as that.

It is no secret that my personal outdoor grilling preference is cast iron hibachi grills but obviously, this recipe can be just as easily prepared on any grill, gas or charcoal.

Fiery Rib Eye Steak Ingredients:

• 1 TBSP crushed peppercorn
• 1 tsp + 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp + 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 C ketchup
• 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
• 1 TBSP red wine vinegar
• 1 TBSP dark brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 C water
• 4 (3/4 lb) rib eye steaks (1 inch thick)
• Olive oil

Here are the Steps that I use:

1. Pull the rib eye steaks out of the fridge and let them stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes prior to grilling.
2. If you are grilling with charcoal, this would be a good time to prepare and light the grill. I prefer to use charcoal chimney starters for this.
3. Mix the peppercorns, light brown sugar, salt, 1 tsp chili powder, garlic powder and 1/4 tsp onion powder together in a mixing bowl.
4. Coat both sides of the rib eye steaks with the peppercorn mixture. You want to be sure to press the seasoning firmly into the meat.
5. Brush the olive oil over both sides of the steaks.
6. Grill the steaks 12 minutes for medium turning once during grilling time.
7. Allow steaks to rest 10 minutes before serving.
8. Prepare the “fiery” sauce while the rib eye steaks are breathing. In a saucepan over low heat simmer together the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, wine vinegar, dark brown sugar, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp onion powder, pepper and water.
9. Allow to simmer 10 minutes being sure to stir often to insure the brown sugar dissolves completely.
10. Pour the sauce over the steaks before serving or use as a dip on the side.

Tip: Using kosher salt will insure that the salt cooks into the food instead of being washed away by the juices as would regular table salt. If you would like to use regular table salt reduce the amount by half.

Hopefully you get the chance to try this rib eye steak recipe out. If you would like to see more tips on grilling steaks with hibachi grills you will want to check out the previous post, 7 Tips for Grilling Steaks.

A hibachi barbecue grill can be a great tool for preparing healthy meals. Grilling in general is healthy by nature, especially when compared to some of the other popular methods of cooking. Here are a few easy tips that will ensure that the next cookout with your hibachi barbecue grill is a healthy one.

When it comes to grilling chicken, first and foremost, cut off the excess fat before placing it on the hibachi barbecue grill. The quickest way to accomplish this is to simply buy skinned and boneless chicken. When purchased this way, the majority of all the fat has already been removed prior to packaging

Removing the fat is a bit different with steaks. You want to remove the fat on the outside of the steak but not the marbled fat that is within the meat. That’s the good stuff! One of the reasons grilling is considered healthy is that the fat will drip away during the cooking process. The same should be done with pork. Don’t be afraid either to ask the butcher for recommendations when selecting the right cut for the grill. They spend their days dealing with meat and are usually experts on the subject, and more than happy to offer advice.

Another reason to consider removing the excess fat is that it falls into the fire and creates flare-ups. These flare-ups can burn and char the meat. Anybody that has spent much time grilling knows what it is like to burn and ruin a top dollar cut of meat by flare-ups.

A hibachi barbecue grill is also great for cooking more than just meat - so why not grill up some vegetables too! The barbecue grill is already hot and they require little preparation. They can be grilled right on the grate or even steamed. An easy way to steam veggies on hibachis is to place them in a piece of aluminum foil that has been lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Wrap the foil around them, tent the foil some to allow the air to circulate within the foil, and toss them on the grill. The heat will create a convection current inside the foil.

A healthy alternative to other meats is fish. Salmon is a favorite of mine and has the added bonus of being packed with omega-3 fatty acids (one of the good fats your body needs). Hibachi grills are an excellent choice for grilling fish. Depending on the type of fish and cut of meat there are numerous ways to grill it. Steaks are the easiest to grill over direct heat, but filets can be done too, with a little care. An easy method for flaky filets is to simply crumble them up in tin foil (like the vegetables) and grill them that way. Even try tossing in some onions and squeezing a little lemon juice over them.

Another healthy alternative is to avoid using salt. Try experimenting with some of the many other, low sodium alternatives. The grilling process sears in the natural flavor of the meat and seasonings will be seared to the outside. These seasonings will combine with the succulent juices once the meat has been cut and add flavor.

Using your hibachi barbecue grill to cook healthy does not mean that flavor has to be sacrificed at all. With a few tweaks here and there you can be grilling up tasty, flavorful, mouthwatering meals that your friends and family won’t even realize are healthy.

What better way to learn how to use charcoal chimney starters for hibachi grills than by example. Leave it to YouTube – check out this useful video by grillingguru. It does a great job at demonstrating the use of a chimney starter.

Chimney starters are inexpensive and are THE preferred way to start charcoal hibachi grills. They are made by all of the major barbecue accessory manufacturers and can usually be picked up for anywhere between $10 to $40.