Help with BBQ

You know what's good, I always marinate my meats especially chicken with lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper. It is very good. I got this from my mom. And, the chicken stays good and moist even after it's gotten off the grill.

I also bought a recipee book from target a few years ago. Its a BBQ cook book and very practical. It's called

Cookshelf Barbecue & Salads for Summer by Jacqueline Bellefontaine

Keep practicing It'll get easier. Soon you'll be having friends over for BBQ

Don't make the flames all on 'high'. It will burn your food, cook it too fast on the outside and singe/burn it, but not cooked enough on the inside.

You can grill anything: meats, poultry, fish, fruits and veggies, pork, pork tenderloin.
I've grilled all of these.

Marinate first. For several hours.
I also like to add a tad of EVOO Olive oil in my marinades.
You can marinate with home-made, bottled sauces, or rubs, or salad dressings.

I don't cook by temperature.
I eye ball it and kinda just know, when it is done. OR, I slightly cut into one piece to see if it is cooked. (that cut piece will be 'mine' to then eat. Since I broke off a piece).

Your Husband WAY over cooked, the meat.
It should be pink inside.

Also, what makes meat dry is, piercing it or slicing it or cutting it right away. Meats... has to REST for about 15 minutes, after cooking... to seal in the juices. Otherwise, if you cut it up or slice it up right away, ALL of the juices, will drizzle out. I even heard this on the cooking channel.

I always, marinate my things for at least, 6 hours or overnight. Adding a tad of olive oil. My meats/chicken never come out dry. I don't over cook it.

Thicker sauces, will tend to burn and singe. So, add it/brush it on closer to when the cooking time is done.

Just try, different sauces.

For veggies or fruits, I grill:
Pineapple
Clementines (peel it first and grill whole)
tomatoes
onions
potatoes
bell peppers
eggplant
Zucchini
lemons (sliced)

Fruits, and veggies, gets really caramelized and the tastes gets sweeter, when grilled.

I pretty much, just make up my own marinades.

You just need to learn your grill, don't get frustrated.
We have hot spots on our grill (where the flame is stronger). So to start we put skewers or meat where the flame isn't high. This starts the cooking process. Then once it's got a nice color I throw it on the hot spot and it give it those nice char marks.
There are TONS of marinades, and all you can do is experiment. I like Lawrys brand and Jack Daniels. McCormick makes great rubs. I just bought the steak rub and use it on everything...super tastey. I just marinate or put my rub on and leave it in the fridge for a few hours (or over night).
My FAV vegetable to grill is corn. MMMMM so yummy. But you can do just about anything. Potatoes, zucchini, whole peppers. I like Lemons, Limes and Oranges on the grill to sort of make a grilled fruit salad (most people think it's weird, but I love it).
You'll get the hang of it, don't worry. Happy grilling. =)

On how to use a gas grill... well I am no help. I hate them and will only use char-cole (I know it is supposed to worse for you, but it is taster!)

What to grill I can help you with!

I love grilled pineapple, apples, pears and even watermelon (don't know it until you try it!)

There are as many ways to grill as there are people. Some start off searing, others do a wrapped/steam/braise (when things are in tinfoil), heat up, heat down, marinade, no marinade. For grilling methods... there are actually tons of books out and about... http://www.foodnetwork.com/ is my online go to source (how to videos in addiction to recipes... huh... typo, & I'm leaving it).

The SINGLE most important thing about cooking meat (indoors or out) is the temp: Best investment you'll ever make is a $5 meat thermometer

Poultry = 180 degrees (pull at 170)
Beef = 160 degrees for well done (pull at 150)
Beef = 140 degrees for medium (pull at 135)
Beef = 130 degrees for rare (warm center - pull at 125)
Pork (not 'natural' pork) = 140
Pork ('natural' pork) = 210+ ((because of all the parasites in it))

......... Times vary WILDLY depending on the heat. I get my grill so hot (about 800 degrees) that I have a 1" steak done with 3 minutes a side ... then I cool it down to apx 600 for poultry/ seafood/ veggies... My dad's gril, otoh maxes out at about 600... and that same steak is 6 minutes a side.

Fish = opaque and flakes (barely any time at all... unless I'm making a grilled ginger garlic cream sauce, or 'planking' fish... it's about 2 minutes... the cream sauces I let cook for ages, and planking adds great flavor, but they're annoying... turns a 2 minute fillet into a 20 minute fillet)

Shrimp = pink and white (often less than a minute... lay out, flip, pull off... always do shrimp last)

Veggies on the grill... cook in a 'cooler' area... here are the ones we do regularly:
- Portobello shrooms... EVOO on the gills, salt, and pepper
- Asparagus... olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper
- Corn ... still in it's husk (easiest way to cook corn EVER, just toss it on. It shucks in seconds since the silk doesn't stick)
- Peppers (green, anaheim, jalapenos... mmmm.. bacon wrapped jalapenos)
- Zucchini / squash
- 1/2 eggplant
- greens in a fry pan
- fennel
- rough chopped potatoes with EVOO, garlic, onion, in foil box

((Sigh... do you realize it's between 40-60 here and raining??? We won't have 'gril season' until after july 4th... do I miss so cal))

You should lay the skewers on foil to cook for the first few minutes and then throw them on the actual grill to get the char. You cant have too hot of a fire, and make sure you make your meat pieces small enough to cook through. I always do mine with top sirloin, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and mushrooms. The meat is small and cooks pretty fast. You may want to precook the meat so that you only need to leave it on the barby until you get the desired warmth and char for the veggies.

I have a propane grill - sometime I burn things, sometimes I don't - in three years I still have not mastered it.

But I have learned to let my grill heat up to 300-350, then I pop on the whatever, usually a couple of burgers and sausages for me and the teen. I close the grill for about 3 minutes, open, flip and leave open for the remainder of the cooking time.

I have grilled fruit, veggies, romaine lettuce - pretty much anything I cook in the oven I will throw on the grill.

Just experiment and practice. It's fun!

God Bless

J.,
IME it's REALLY hard to do kebabs on a grill. (Many things with different cooking times) What I've done is kind of pre-cook the meat (and even veggies) after it's marinated. The kind of finish up on the grill. Good luck!