In this article, you will find the answer to the following questions
- Is charcoal grilling bad for you?
- Is charcoal grilling carcinogenic?
- Which are the tips to make healthy grilled food?
Charcoal is a less expensive fuel as compared to propane and gas fuel sources. But the food cooked on charcoal will be smoky and flavorful. Everyone loves to eat grilled food and vegetables. In America, charcoal grilling becomes popular in the winter season.
Charcoal grilling affects your health and contains some dangerous components. How charcoal grilling affect your health? Let’s start the topic.
Is charcoal grilling bad for you?
Char is more bad than charcoal
Charcoal grilling is the older method that our ancestors have used. They grilled the food that they hunted. If you are free, you can spend time grilling food on charcoal. Propane has become popular since the 1960s, but charcoal grilling was already used.
When the fat and juices of meat fall on the charcoal, this liquid will be vaporized, rising back to the food, and creating a smoky aroma in food. Most people love to eat the crispy layer of grilled food. The charcoal released a compound that is polycyclic aromatic, and the charcoal-grilled food has heterocyclic amines. These two compounds increase the risk of colorectal cancer.
Many health specialists stop people from eating grilled food frequently, but no one answers the question that how much grilled food is safe to eat, which will not increase the risk of cancer. But you should eat less grilled food. Carcinogens are found in peanuts plastic containers. If you want to eat healthier food, then you have to follow these guidelines.
High temperature
When grilling, you can keep the charcoals on one side of the grill and food on another side. You should protect the food from high temperatures. This will decrease the chance of producing dangerous chemical compounds that cause cancer.
Avoid eating burned food
The meat should be slightly cooked. It should not be burned to create a crispy layer .the burned food over charcoal contains carcinogens.
Don’t use a lighter to burn the charcoals
Using lighter and other liquids to burn the charcoal may result in serious burns. And due to high heat, the meat will be burned. You can use a charcoal chimney starter.
Low-temperature charcoal
You should use the charcoals that burn at low temperatures avoids using charcoal that creates high temperatures. You can use maple and hickory.
Find out: Best Charcoal Grills under $300
Cleaning
After every use, you should clean the grill first, remove the ash from the grill, and then use a dish detergent with warm water using a towel to clean the dirt and grease stains from inside and outside of the grill. The grill should be dry before use.
Marinate
If you marinate meat in vinegar, lemon juice, garlic ginger paste, spices, and herbs, then the carcinogenic heterocyclic amines will be less, and the meat will be delicious. This process of marinating before grilling will reduce the HCAs by 92% to 98%
Small cuts of meat
Cut the meats and vegetables in small size because they will be cooked more quickly; hence the amount of carcinogenic heterocyclic amines will be reduced. In this process, the harmful compound causing cancer will be reduced by 90 percent.
Grilled vegetables
Harmful compounds are not present in veggies. The compounds produced by the fats fall on charcoal. The grilled vegetable is better to eat against grilled meat.
Flip the meat
Flipping food frequently will prevent the meat from high temperature and decrease the risk of harmful compounds.
Merits of grilling
Grilled food is healthy as compared to food cooked on the gas grill. Grilled charcoal food has less fat because a large amount of fat falls on the charcoals. Charcoals are the less expensive method of grilling. Grilled food has a unique flavor that you cannot found in the food cooked on a gas grill.
Bottom line
The charcoal grilling is not bad if you follow healthy grilling tips and avoid cooking meat at high temperatures. You have to marinate meat and cut the meat into lean pieces so it can be cooked quickly. The harmful compounds will be decreased. The charcoal grilling method is better than frying because frying meat absorbs too much oil, so the fried meat will have more fat than grilled food. Do not worry much about the carcinogenic substance. Spend summertime with friends, eat the smoky flavored food and enjoy.