Showing posts with label Grilling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grilling. Show all posts

Monday, January 25, 2010

Create Healthy, Delicious Meals with a Rotisserie

Chicken cooking on a gas grill rotisserie. The...Image via Wikipedia
If you've ever eaten rotisserie cooked foods, you already know that healthy doesn't have to mean a salad for every meal, and delicious doesn't have to mean high fat. Rotisserie cooking results in tender, juicy meat and flavorful vegetables that have been slow cooked to perfection... without the added fat and calories of frying, or the potentially dangerous consequences of grilling.

Most people know that deep frying can have cholesterol-raising and artery-clogging side effects, but what could make grilling unhealthy? Grilling is certainly lower fat than frying; however, recent studies showed that particles called benz pyrenes found in charred food might lead to cancer. In other words, if you prefer your steak or hotdogs to be charbroiled black, take heed. Those charred black bits could contain carcinogens.

Another potential health hazard in grilling is the use of lighter fluid and some charcoal with additives to help start the fire. Overuse could make these unhealthy chemicals end up in your food. Grease dripping down into grills can also cause dangerous flare-ups that burn food (or even an unwary cook).

Rotisserie cooked food avoids all of these issues. When meat is cooked on a rotisserie, the fat and drippings from the meat baste the meat, while the excess is caught in a pan on the bottom of the rotisserie unit. The result is delicious, moist meat with less fat than other cooking methods. (You can also opt to make a delicious sauce or gravy out of the pan drippings if the fat isn't a concern.)

Chicken, turkeys and Cornish hens, as well as various beef, pork and even lamb roasts, are not difficult to prepare on the rotisserie. However, kitchen product innovations can allow you to cook a much wider variety of foods than you might expect using this delightful method. Rotisserie baskets can be used to cook store bought or freshly caught fish to add more variety to your meals.