Five Ways to get Great Flavor on the Grill with Low Sodium

By Dawn Fischer, Co-owner Brentwood Spice & Olive Oil

It’s BBQ season again and if you are like us, we BBQ as often as we can and everything that we can.  We BBQ for several reasons, but there are two that stand out; one to keep the heat out of the house, the other main reason is because we love it.  Chicken, steak, hamburgers, brats, and every kind of veggie we can.  This year we decided to make grilled pizza one of our favorites.

Barbequing is not as difficult as some think.  Open flame, bad experience previously and the like scare some away and keep them in the kitchen, done be afraid!  Think of it as a gas stove, use your old or specifically designated pots and pans for the grill, or look for mesh or wire baskets to aid in grilling.

One thing that comes out with the grilling is marinades.  Marinades add great flavor to whatever you put into them, but they can weight heavy in SALT.  Yes, I said it salt that nasty four letter word!  Studies show that most adult Americans consume 3,436 milligrams of salt daily - that is about 140% of the recommended allowance.   The recommendation for salt per day is 1,500 to 2,400 milligrams or the equivalent of 1 teaspoon.  So we look for other ways to get flavor into our foods.

Number 1 - Marinades

A marinade is a liquid that veggies and meats rest in before they are cooked.  No matter how long you soak beef the marinade only goes so far, chicken a little more, seafood soak it up and most veggies, are impervious to them sans mushrooms.  Marinade recipes often call for soy sauce.  Soy sauce (1/2 cup) can be replaced with 4 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce mixed with 1 tablespoon of water.  There are many other ingredients that can be used in marinades and you don’t have to be am accomplished chef to make a great one. 

Marinades have three basic ingredients, an acid, oil, and seasonings.  Acids are wine, citrus or pineapple, or vinegars, olive oil is best, and seasoning, onions, garlic, herbs, and spices.  For example Worcestershire sauce, lime and olive oil make a quick marinade for taco and fajitas.  Worcestershire, pineapple, garlic, and brown sugar make a great base to marinade, believe it or not, prime rib – the best, lemon, orange, lime, and garlic, a marinade for shrimp.  As we use in many dishes, our Hometown Spice Blend adds a great flavor to everything we put it in or on.  One of our new blends, Squished Garlic, is as well and it makes great garlic bread.  Wrap the bread in foil and place on top in your gas grill or out of direct heat on a charcoal grill.  Both of these, and many of our other custom blends, are low sodium and when we do use salt we use sea salt which is better for you.  And as you can see there is no salt mentioned in the marinade combinations l just listed. 

Number 2 – Spices

There are so many spices out there that can add flavor to whatever it is that you are hitting the grill with, potatoes, veggies, bread, seafood, and meats.  For an example, we have 60+ custom blended spices, blends that we have put together most of which are low or no sodium that can be used as rub, seasonings to enhance flavor, add to butter for a compound butter, or sour cream for a veggie or chip dip, but mostly as a tool to use when going to the grill.  Since we are all different when it comes to our taste buds, use what you like, and don’t be afraid to flavor anything.  Chicken is a plain taste so add your favorite flavors to bring it to life.  Beef is a bit more challenging, but still can tolerate a little citrus to brighten the flavor.

Number 3 – Brine (Meats only)

A brine is a salty, flavored liquid that your meats sit in completely covered, for longer periods of time that allows the meat to absorb the liquid well into the depth of the meat while the salty flavorings only reach a shallow depth into the meats.  Brining your meats sets a barrier on the outside keeping the good juice in.  Now most brines use copious amounts of salt, and I suggest that sea salt be used, but the recipient does not get very salty.  Usually brines are 16 parts of water to 1 part salt; diluted fruit juice, allspice, cloves, juniper berries, cinnamon, onions, apples, and much more can add great flavors to poultry, seafood and pork.  Since most of these are normally a bit dryer they can stand up to the brining process, beef on the other hand, don’t do as well and can benefit more from a good marinade.   And yes I know we are looking for ways to eliminate salt and if done correctly, more citrus, the use of salt goes down and the flavor goes up, see flavor options above.

Number 4 – Salt vs Sodium

Sea salt and table salt virtually are the same.  Both consist of sodium and chloride, sea salt has more beneficial minerals and elements, tastes better and has a different texture, table salt is way more processed and is small granules and you get more table salt in a tablespoon than sea salt, with sea salt there is more air as the granules are generally larger than the table salt.  Why use sea salt?  Sea Salt is produced via evaporation of seawater and usually not processed beyond that.  This process leaves behind other trace elements and minerals.  Depending on the source of the sea salt, these minerals and elements create color and the slight differences in the taste of sea salts.  Table salt is processed and the process eliminates minerals and contains additives.  Many table salts have iodine added to them; sea salt contains only minute amounts.  It has been said that Himalayan Sea Salt is the most beneficial, it is stated that it has more than 84 minerals.

Number 5 – do nothing

Yes that’s right, do nothing.  Chef’s talk about “the depth of flavor” but sometimes I like to just grill it and add the flavor later, top with a compound butter (butter that has seasoning added, rolled into a ball and left to rest in the frig.), a nice sauce of one kind or another and when I do this after flavor and I know what that flavor is and what to expect, I don’t want to clutter up my palate with intruders! 

Regardless of what you do flavor wise there are a few things to keep in mind.  When dealing with beef, bring it out 30 minutes before you cook it and let it warm up, just not too long, with beef and the rest  pat them dry, and once they are done cooking, let them rest 5 to 15 minutes depending on varieties and size as they will continue to cook after they are removed.  DON’T overcook the meat, it is easier to put something back on the grill, or wherever you are cooking, you cannot take overcooked away.  And since everything continues to cook once removed from the heat source you can rest assured that if it was perfect when you removed it from the heat source it will be over done by the time you sit down to eat.  And if you cover it with tin foil, it will cook even longer.