Using a Stainless Steel Grill without a Cover

Barbecues are traditionally thought of as open-topped and having no covers. Stainless steel grill barbecues can be bought without lids or covers, and getting a lid may not seem worth it. Nonetheless, cooking without a cover requires a lot more attention, and the cook often has to be on hand to monitor foods being cooked without lids.

Cooking with a Lid

Barbecue lids are designed to increase the heat and circulation inside the barbecue. For the amateur barbecuer, using a lid can help seal in flavor on the meat. With gas barbecues, using a lid enables the cook to apply indirect heat to food, as heat circulates consistently within the lid.

Cooking with a lid is better for use on larger meat joints, entire fish, or with a rotisserie. Covering the barbecue also reduces flames and flare-ups that can burn the skin while leaving the inside of the meat uncooked. Circulating the heat and air also ensures that all of the meat is cooked at the same rate, without requiring constant turning and monitoring.

The lid can also benefit people who live in windy areas: lids act as excellent windbreaks and can prevent the burner from going out in a breeze.

Cooking without a Lid

Turning the stainless steel grill on, adding food, and then closing the lid means that much of the skill of barbecuing is taken away from the cook. You may as well be putting your chicken pieces or sausages in the oven–and so a lot of professional people prefer to do without the lid.

By cooking without a lid, you can actually cause charcoal to burn hotter. As a result, grill without a cover when only small pieces need to be cooked, such as sausages and burgers, or when a piece of fish needs to be quickly seared without losing the flavor. Cooking food swiftly without a lid helps preserve the flavors and aromas of the seasonings, but be careful when cooking larger pieces of meat in this manner: ensure that they are cooked all the way through before serving. Slow-cooking joints on a rotisserie can also be done without the lid, although the cook will need to monitor the flame at all times, particularly on a gas cooker.

Try to keep the barbecue out of fierce winds as much as possible when cooking without a cover, and also keep an eye out for sudden flare ups that can damage the meat. If you are not confident about doing this, you can improvise a cover using aluminium foil, or by borrowing a large pan lid from the kitchen.

In order to keep the flavors and aromas from melting into the air, use oil to seal seasoning on to the fish, and also put pieces of perfumed wood chip onto the charcoal (or stainless steel grill if you have gas). The stainless steel grill can be your ally to, as it heats the meat evenly from underneath, so all that is needed is for the cook to flip the meat regularly.