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Slide of the basic carving fork between the grill can gently test and lift grilled foods without mangol – no fashionable equipment needed.
Keeping the carving fork next to the grill may seem obvious – you will need it when it's time to carve, right? But this is much more useful under grilling like after. In fact, this can be the most undervalued grill device. The reason for this is that a carving fork solves the main barbecue problem: the liberation of stuck foods, especially delicious food, without shredding.
I learned this trick from chef Dave Pasternack many years ago as I worked on a story about fish grilling. Pasternack showed me how to insert the long teeth of the carving fork between the grill rods to put it under the food (in this case cooked a whole fish) and carefully lift it over to turn it to the other side.
Raising the food from the bottom with a carving fork achieves some key things that can otherwise be difficult to do with the usual grilling equipment:
- First of all, it allows you to try the food really gets stuck or ready to release. The stuck of the spatula under things that still melt to the grid usually ends with a disaster. “Oops, I think I shouldn't have done this” – not a great strategy to make the conclusion. If you get stuck, give another minute – you probably need more time for natural liberation (assuming it's properly cleaned and oiled the grill and prepared the food for grilling, drying it properly). A carving fork helps determine that this is the case.
- Second, when it gets stuck, the carving fork allows it to be free from below. This gentle upward pressure is almost always more effective – and less destructive – when you try to scrape a spatula loosely. Once liberated, you can turn it over with the Fork, if necessary, with a spatula or pliers.
I've written about this technique before Complete grilled fish recipeBut it is just as useful for chicken on the skin, tofu, eggplant or tomato-like that can get stuck or collapsed when it gets stuck. So this grill season, don't wait for the carving time to the fork: use it from the beginning.