The Oil Mistake To Avoid When Grilling Up Vegetables

While the star of any summertime barbecue may be a rack of ribs or a big, juicy steak, meat is not the only thing you can throw on the grill grates. Grilling helps vegetables taste better, too, and you can grill anything from eggplant to barbecue-spiced cauliflower. (You can even grill pickles.) There's just one caveat you need to be aware of: Don't oversaturate your vegetables with oil. Doing so might result in flare-ups while they are cooking. The excessive use of oil can also make the finished vegetables taste greasy and ruin their texture. This is especially true of eggplant and mushrooms as both of these vegetables can absorb huge amounts of oil. 

Luckily, it's not necessary to oil vegetables to keep them from adhering to the grill. According to Anthony Reynaga, who is chef de cuisine at the Scottsdale, Arizona restaurant Tiki Taka, you should be oiling the grill grates instead. He tells us "This practice is very helpful," since, as he explains, "Vegetable oil keeps [food on] the grill from sticking." He also mentions that keeping the grill at a high temperature helps prevent food from adhering to it.

Another major benefit of oiling the grill grates instead of vegetables is that it helps to condition the grill in the same way you "season" cast-iron cookware. Of course, oiling the grates doesn't mean that you can't use a little oil in your vegetable marinade or lightly spritz them with olive oil to add flavor. It does mean, however, that you should refrain from covering them in oil since the combination of oily vegetables and oiled grates could be a grill disaster waiting to happen.

Before you begin oiling your grill, it needs to be as clean as possible. An easy way to clean it is to fire it up and let any gunk burn off for 10 minutes or so. You can then use a brush to scrub off the ash, although half a cut onion can also be used to clean your grill grates. (Save the other half for grilling.)

When the grill grates are clean and have cooled down to the point where you can touch them, you can apply the oil. Don't use cooking spray on a hot grill since the chemicals used to propel it out of the can are highly flammable and may lead to flare-ups when you restart your grill. Instead, dip either a paper towel or cloth (Anthony Reynaga favors the latter) into vegetable oil and rub it over the grates until they shine. A basting brush will also work for this purpose. Apply just a light coating and be sure to wipe off any excess oil with a paper towel. As with the surface of the vegetables, excess oil on the grill grates may lead to flare-ups and charred food.