Filled with a variety of meats and seafood, a mixed grill is a buffet of grilled goodies that excites everyone’s taste buds. Whether your guests want steak, salmon, a burger (or a taste of all three!), you can satisfy all of their cravings. To help make your mixed grill a success, we offer the following tips.

The Secret’s in the Marinade

Think of your selection of meats as a blank canvas that can be seasoned with whatever flavours you fancy. A single marinade saves time and effort, and gives every bite consistent taste, while a mix of different rubs or marinades offers your guests a variety of flavours. When you pick your palette of seasonings, think beyond the simple marinades – you can explore flavour combinations from around the world!

Portugual: Our Meat Mixed Grill recipe is inspired by southern Mediterranean flavours, with a paprika, thyme and sherry wine vinegar marinade finished with a dash of hot sauce. This single time-saving marinade works for all the mixed grill meats.

Italy: Rosemary, garlic and lemon make a crowd-pleasing combo for all ages. Serve with grilled lemon halves to squeeze over top.

Caribbean: For a tropical-style twist, try a blend of orange juice, allspice, garlic and jalapeños.

Japan: Soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger give a teriyaki twist to your meats.

Set up the Grill

Start off with a sizzle by making sure the barbecue is preheated to medium-high. Next, clear away old food and debris. Alternatively, try sticking a fork into half an onion and rubbing the cut half over the hot grills — it works!

Ensure that raw meat, fish or poultry is kept cold until it is cooked. It’s also important to make sure raw proteins do not come into contact with ready-to-eat food (like cheese, sliced onions, tomatoes or bread). Remember to never place cooked meats on the same plate or pan that held raw meats, as this can permit cross-contamination. Use separate utensils, cutting boards, dishes and other cooking equipment when handling raw and cooked meats.

Order of Operation

A meat thermometer is your best friend when grilling, as it makes it easier to gauge when meat, poultry and fish are cooked to the required doneness.

1. Start off with any poultry, which takes the longest to cook and has the highest internal temperatures to reach: 165˚F (74˚C) for chicken pieces and 185˚F (85˚C) for a whole chicken.
2. Next comes pork, which is cooked until its internal temperature reaches 160˚F (71˚C).
3. Steak time! Grill until preferred doneness, or until 145˚F (63˚C).
4. While chicken, pork and steak are set aside to rest, it’s time to grill sausages and burgers, which are ready to be served when their internal temperatures reach 165˚F (74˚C).
5. Last but not least are fish and seafood, which cook up fast. Fish is ready at 158˚F (70˚C) and seafood is done at 165˚F (74˚C).

Mixed Grilling Tips

• Arrange meats in orderly lines, moving from left to right, so you can keep track of how far along everything is.
• Allow meats to develop a good sear first before flipping, which helps lock in flavour and juices.
• Resist the urge to poke, prod and flip continuously. This only makes cooking times longer.
• As the experts say: lookin’ ain’t cookin’. Keeping the lid closed not only controls flare-ups, but also allows your grill to do its job in a shorter amount of time.