Many people own some type of grill for their backyards, camping or tailgating. Barbecuing has become a national pastime and a hobby for many. While people use their grills constantly, a lot of home cooks leave their barbecue side burner untouched. Whether it’s being unsure what it is used for or how best to use it, the barbecue side burner has become an extremely unused component.
With some tips and ideas, this underrated barbecue tool can become a backyard cooks helping hand. Some of the many uses are listed below in hopes to help everyone understand and utilize the side burner more frequently.
Some tips on how to use your side burner
- Sauces
- Cooking foods with odors
- Side dishes and toppings
- Coffee and tea
Sauces
The side burner is the perfect accessory when making chicken, ribs, and wings. Placing a pot of barbecue sauce, or wing sauce to heat up on the burner is simple and convenient, since you don’t want to put a cold sauce on hot food as it slows down the cooking process. Being able to transfer chicken wings directly to a pot of buffalo, or other sauce, is so much easier than having to bring a plate of food into the house.
Simple gravy for turkey and sausages can be easily done on the side. Anytime the burners in your house don’t need to be on, especially in the summer, is a positive. Any sauces that need to be cooked or heated up can be done right on the side burner.
Cooking foods with odors
Strong smelling vegetables, fish and other seafood are just a few examples of foods that can leave a strong odor in your house which can be unpleasant. The side burner on a grill is a great way to quickly sauté some vegetables or prepare a piece of fish and keep the smell out of the house.
Side dishes and toppings
Side burners are great for preparing side dishes as well. Warming up any kind of vegetable, baked beans, cooking potatoes, boiling corn, can all be accomplished with a side burner. Another fabulous use is for toppings. Throwing a small pan of onion and mushrooms and sautéing them in order to top a steak is another convenient purpose for the burner. Frying up bacon on the burner for burgers or warming sauerkraut for hotdogs are another way to get tons of use from this accessory.
Coffee and tea
Believe it or not many people serve coffee or tea after a big barbecue. The caffeine will help wake up the guests and prepare them for their drive home. Brewing a pot of coffee right on the side burner allows you the ability to have the pot outside, and it is much easier to access for your guests.
Some people like to sit around a fire pit on a cool night with friends and family. Now you can throw on a pot of coffee or hot tea, or even water for hot chocolate and keep everyone happy.
Think of other ways to use your barbecue side burner
With so many people enjoying grilling and backyard barbecuing these days, finding any way to enhance this experience is useful. Especially in hotter climates, having the ability to not run your stove inside the house can be a blessing. Stoves and ranges can produce massive amounts of heat, so keeping them off in the summer is a bonus. This is where having a barbecue side burner can really come in handy. Whether it cooking sides, heating up sauces, keeping those strong odors out of your house, or just brewing a pot of coffee, a grill’s side burner can do it all.
So next time you have friends or family over, try some of these tricks with the grill. Your guests will be impressed, and you’ll be happy your house stayed cool. The most under-appreciated tool in a cook’s arsenal could end up becoming a griller’s best friend.