We love fun facts about food and cooking!
Check out some neat stuff about grilling at the bottom of this recipe. This should be enough to get your mouth watering and wheels turning about what you'll be cooking on your grill next.
*Any of our savory Kitcheneez dip mixes can be used as a marinade. Follow the same directions to try others. For example, our Mexican Mambo dip mix is amazing as a pork marinade.
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chicken marinade
Grilling
Lisa Shively
So good and so easy!
Try our Kitcheneez Mexican Mambo dip mix as a marinade for pork using these same directions.
2-3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Kitcheneez Garlic Herb dip mix
Combine the marinade ingredients in a resealable bag.
Add the chicken. Refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight.
Grill, bake or cook on the stovetop until the chicken tests done with a meat thermometer.
Here are some of the best fun facts about BBQ and grilling that will make you want to pop open your grill hood and fire it up.
1. Around 64% Of Americans Own a Grill
Yes, 2/3's of Americans,love grilling so much that they have a grill or a smoker at home. Most of them own gas barbecues but charcoal, electric, and wood pellet grills are also common.
2. The Biggest BBQ Pit Is in Texas
This is likely one of the least surprising BBQ facts because of course the biggest BBQ pit is in the Lone Star State. It’s the Undisputable Cuz and it lives in Brenham, Texas.
The pit doubles as a truck, it’s 76 feet long, and it is big enough to cook four to six tons of bbq'd food at once.
3. July 4th Is the Most Popular Day for Grilling
July 4th is by far the most popular day for grilling food. In fact, almost all the Americans who own a grill cook food using it on this day. And who wouldn’t want to do something so American on the most American day of the year?
Other common BBQ days are Memorial Day, Labor Day, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Super Bowl Sunday. Winter weather isn’t enough to keep keen grillers away from their grill.
4. Wood Affects the Flavor of Barbecued Food
One of the nerdiest pieces of BBQ grilling trivia is that if you use wood to grill your food, it’s important to choose the right type. Mesquite, hickory, maple, guava, cherry, pecan, apple, and oak are all okay. But you should avoid conifer trees as they release tar and resin and affect the flavor.
5. Kansas City Is the BBQ Capital of the World
Lexington in North Carolina would likely contest this fact. But most people would stand by the statement that Kansas City is not only the BBQ capital of the US but also the world.
It boasts over 100 BBQ joints within city limits and has a unique style of marinating its BBQ meat.
6. Grilling and Barbecuing Are Different
Though most people use the terms to mean the same thing, grilling and barbecuing have different definitions. You grill your food on the direct source of heat with the lid up. But barbecuing involves putting the lid down so the hot air surrounds the food and cooks it that way.
7. Humans Have Barbecued for Thousands of Years
Archeologists have traced evidence of humans cooking food over an open fire back to the stone age. They even found some of this evidence at Stonehenge, which humans first built around 5,000 years ago.
8. Barbecue Meat Needs 30 Minutes To Rest
Some pitmasters think that leaving your meat for 30 minutes between cooking and eating isn’t long enough. Some want you to leave it for an hour!
But why is it important to let your BBQ meat rest before eating anyway? Well, this allows for the meat to reabsorb the juices it lost during the cooking process.
If it doesn’t rest, the juices will escape and your meat might be dry. If itdoesrest, it will be flavorful and tender. But don’t leave it too long or else it will be cold!
9. The Word “Barbecue” Only Appears From the Mid 18th Century
Anthropologists, archeologists, and other historians aren’t 100% sure about the origins of barbeque. People were likely starting to cook their food in similar ways all around the world without being aware of what everyone else was doing. But the English word derives from the native Caribbean word barabicu.
10. You Can Grill More Than Pork and Beef
It might sound crazy, but it’s true. You can grill avocado, melons, tofu, clams, meatballs, and even oysters. Your grilling skills are only limited by your imagination!
11. Uruguay Hosted the World’s Biggest BBQ
The city of Minas in Uruguay set the Guinness World Record in 2017 of hosting the biggest BBQ ever. 200 cooks served 16.5 tons of meat for around 14 hours to beat Argentina, the previous record holder.
12. The Most Popular Food to Grill? Burgers!
The classic hamburger is by far the most popular BBQ food that Americans like to cook on their grill. It’s a crowd-pleaser and even the most inexperienced griller can cook them. Other well-loved BBQ foods include steaks, hot dogs, and chicken.
13. The Majority of Grillers Are Still Men
Only around one-third of people who are the primary grill chef in their household are women. Grilling is still a male-dominated pastime but that is changing slowly.
14. Lyndon B. Johnson Held the First White House BBQ
Trust a Texan to bring BBQ to the White House. President Johnson hosted the very first official White House BBQ in the 1960s on the lawn. But there are reports that Andrew Jackson was the first president to BBQ while in office albeit in an unofficial capacity.
15. National Barbecue Day Is May 16th
July 4th might be the real National BBQ day, but if you ever needed another excuse to barbecue on a random day in May, this is it. May 16th is National BBQ Day and celebrates all that’s wonderful about the art of grilling.
Use These Grilling Facts To Impress Your BBQ Buddies
Shakespeare said, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Well, whether you call it barbecue, BBQ, or bar-b-que; it all tastes delicious. And now you know a lot more facts about grilling and BBQ trivia, you’ll have an even bigger appreciation for this all-American pastime.
Credit for these facts goes to: www.grinningcheektocheek.com
Here's a bonus fact that we love...
You’ve probably heard of Weber Grills but did you know its classic grill was inspired by buoys? Prior to the 1950s, most barbecues were open charcoal braziers, which meant the food and flame were susceptible to wind and rain. A salesman from Weber Brothers Metal Works solved this problem by bringing home one of the metal buoys the company manufactured, cutting it in half, and rigging up a homemade lidded grill. This became the model for the Weber Kettle Grill.
Shown is a photo of our Kitcheneez Ultimate Steak & Vegetable Rub on what is going to be a delicious dinner!