Step 2: How to properly prep your meat, fish and vegetables for the grill
What knives are perfect for meat, fish and vegetables? Why should you remove fat from meat only after it’s been grilled? When to bring the meat to room temperature? Which tools are ideal for prepping? We show you how to use Victorinox’s most popular tools, so that you too can carve meat, fillet fish and cut vegetables like a professional. Get your apron on and let’s get down to business!
How to prep meat
Meat should be at room temperature before grilling, otherwise it is more likely to become tough. Depending on its size, take it out of the fridge early enough; a steak should rest around 20-30 minutes, larger cuts will need longer. But to ensure a smooth, exact cut, make sure to cut larger pieces of meat while it's still cold. As butcher, Darren O'Rourke, points out, the meat gets softer as it warms, making it harder to cut.
Properly prepared: rib eye steak
If you have decided against a marinade, rinse the room temperature steaks and dab them dry with a paper towel before grilling. Don’t trim any fat before grilling – fat delivers taste and seals in moisture. So if you want to remove it, do so only after the meat has been grilled.
Properly prepared: spare ribs
Spare ribs are one of those dishes that need quite some knife work before they are ready to hit the grill. In particular, you’ll need a sharp knife to remove the silver skin from the ribs. See how it’s done in our video below.
We’ve marinated our spare ribs for maximum flavor, but if you don’t like to marinate, here’s a classic American spice rub suggestion as an alternative. Grind the spices and rub them into the ribs shortly before grilling.
2 tablespoons each of black pepper, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, smoked salt
1 tablespoon each of rock salt, paprika flakes, caraway, paprika powder and garlic chips
Knives with a flexible blade are best suited for preparing whole fish, because you need to make fine incisions on both sides of the fish to ensure even cooking and to avoid the skin curling up during grilling. For filleting and descaling, we recommend our Swiss Classic Filleting Knife because of its sharp and flexible blade.
Properly prepared: sea bass
Put the fish into a plastic bag and descale it inside the bag with a knife or a descaler, this way the cutting board stays clean. Then rinse the fish carefully inside and out and dab dry with a paper towel. Make fine incisions in the skin on both sides at even intervals. Salt the fish inside and out. Coat the incisions with butter or olive oil so they don’t dry out.
If you didn’t choose to marinate your fish, you can add a Moroccan spice rub to fish. Grind the following spices together and rub into the fish shortly before grilling:
2 tablespoons of ground coriander
1 teaspoon each of caraway seeds, ground cumin, paprika,
¼ teaspoon salt and 3 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
De bons couteaux facilitent la découpe précise des légumes et des herbes aromatiques. Une lame dentée est idéale pour les peaux lisses et souples, comme celle des tomates par exemple. Une lame au tranchant lisse et aiguisé vous sera utile pour travailler les peaux dures ou les fruits fermes.
Nous vous recommandons de choisir des légumes de saison qui ne soient pas trop mûrs, sinon ils risquent de tomber à travers la grille. Il est également conseillé de les couper en morceaux de taille égale afin qu’ils soient cuits en même temps. Les légumes entiers, comme les épis de maïs, peuvent être simplement badigeonnés d’huile ou de fleur de sel avant d’être grillés.
Les secrets d’une préparation parfaite : les papillotes de légumes
Coupez les poivrons, l’aubergine, l’oignon et la courgette en morceaux de 2 cm environ, et mélangez-les à du sel et de l’huile d’olive. Laissez reposer la préparation 20 minutes avant de la faire griller. Divisez la feuille d’aluminium en carrés de même taille. Pour chaque carré, déposez les légumes au centre et tordez les coins de la feuille pour la refermer et former une papillote, prête à griller.
