Throughout Chicago on Monday, you could smell the steaks, chickens and ribs sizzling. Jamaal Johnson says he is in charge of grilling up the meat on Memorial Day. He's been doing it for a while; it's a family tradition.
"Celebrating Memorial Day cooking for all the friends and family, cooking hot links, chicken wings, turkey burgers," Johnson said.
Stephanie Minter knows the ins and outs of grilling on a hot summer day. "You have to make sure the coals are just right, the meat is seasoned real good, the grill isn't too hot and you just have to have the right meat," Minter said.
The Hernandez family purchased 25 pounds of steak to grill in the park for Memorial Day. They drenched it with lemon and seasoning. It is a big day for the family. "Yes it is. We are expecting more people," Nancy Hernandez said.
The Weber Grill was invented in 1954, and the people at the Weber Grill restaurant in the 500-block of North State Street are masters when it comes to grilling your meat perfectly.
"You want to start your charcoals and get them white hot before you start grilling. The other thing is direct heat is great but only for a couple minutes, depending on the size of the item. You really want to cook over indirect heat for the most part," said Mark O'Sullivan, general manager Weber Grill.
O'Sullivan has some advice for grilling in your backyard or in the park, and doing it with style and grace, just like their master grillers: "When you're trying to figure out the temperature of your steak, you can do a feel test, which is just to push down and each temperature, medium rare, well done, will have a different feel to it. Sometimes you can see the blood come out of the steak. That's generally a sign of medium rare."
There is also a Weber Grill Hotline you can call if you get in to trouble. Just call 1-800-GRILL-OUT with your barbeque questions.
