If you’re an aficionado of iconic street foods such as anticuchos, chuan or kebabs, you may want to try making yourself some right at home on the grill. When grilling anything on skewers, however, there is one step you have to take first: soaking your skewers.
Much like setting yourself up to make the perfect steak or grill chicken properly, grilling meat or vegetables on a stick also requires preparation before you even thread anything onto the skewer. Not only is meat harder to pierce onto dry wood without breaking apart, but wooden skewers can burn easily and dry wood is more liable to become burnt to a crisp, at which point the skewer will fall apart.
Dry wood is also at more risk of going up in flames entirely, creating a potential safety hazard. To avoid this fate, first place the skewers in warm water for 30 minutes to one hour before piercing any food onto them. Wet wood has a much lower chance of catching fire or breaking apart than dry wood.
Using dry skewers is just one of the many rookie grilling mistakes you definitely want to avoid.
By Syjil Ashraf
