Top Tips from our Head Grill MasterGrilling Inspiration: Ultimate Easter Brunch

I have some fun ideas to bring Easter brunch to your backyard. Remember, your grill is like your oven. Anything you can do in your oven you can do in your grill.

• Use your favorite French toast recipe or use one of our recipes designed for the grill here. 
• Make sure you have the right grill temp: Pre-heat your grill on high for 10-15 min and prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat 350-400. 
  
• Use the right bread: I love using a Brioche bun or Texas toast, you'll want a bread slice that is ½ to ¾in thick. You need thick enough bread to absorb the batter without being soggy. If you only have sandwich bread, put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes so that it doesn’t absorb as much batter, thus sticking to your grates.
• Grill for 6-8 minutes, flipping halfway.

• Try mini King’s Hawaiian rolls cut in half.
• If you’re worried about the bread falling through the grates, use a veggie basket or a griddle. Just pre-heat the accessories when the grill is starting up.
• Grill Master Bonus Idea: French Toast Breakfast Sandwich with French toast, egg, bacon, and shredded hash browns. Ketchup is the new syrup in my house, so we like to dip the breakfast sandwich in ketchup or drizzle some over the top. 

• Make sure you have the right grill temp: If you can, grill bacon over indirect heat at 350-400, it’s a little more forgiving. If the bacon is over direct heat, set the grill up for low heat at 350 or lower. If you have a SmokeFire, use the upper grate and set the grill to 350.
• Grill for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the bacon, flipping once. 
• It's always a good idea to check every 5-6 min to see how the bacon is cooking. If you notice it cooking faster and the sides are starting to curl up then it's time to flip.

• Make candied bacon. Use brown sugar, maple syrup, regular sugar or whatever you have on hand. 
• If you love the rub you put on your ribs, then use it on your bacon. Rib rubs are usually heavy on the sugar, light on the seasoning.
• My favorite bacon seasoning:  2-3tbs coarse pepper, 2-3tbs fine pepper, 1tbs brown or regular sugar to sweeten, then drizzle over the top of the bacon.   
• Do all of your seasoning over parchment paper for easy clean-up.

• Remember that your grill is like your oven. If using sausage links, follow instructions on the package. 
• Grill sausage patties directly on the grates at 425-450, same as you would a traditional burger.

• Buy bulk sausage and form it into patties. Use a slider press or keep the patties the same size so they cook at the same rate.  Remember to put a thumbprint down center just like you would a burger. 
• Add flavor with a rib rub and/or drizzle the patties with maple syrup before they go on the grill. 

• Your grill is like your oven. Simply follow instructions on the package for thawing or cooking temps and times.

• Grill shredded hash browns on a griddle or in a veggie basket. Make sure to coat the griddle or pan with butter or cooking spray first, the spray helps the hash browns caramelize nicely. 
• Add sautéed onions, peppers, and bacon. You’ll want to add the veggies and bacon to the hash browns at the beginning so they mix together well. The extra time on the grill will help the veggies and bacon caramelize. 
• Get creative, add pulled pork or chopped brisket to the mix!

• Your grill is like your oven. Most ham off the bones are already cooked, so you are just warming it up on grill. Follow the reheat procedures listed on the package. 
• Use a drip pan so that the sugar and glaze don't drip into the grill.  You can put the ham in a roast holder in a drip pan or put the ham directly in the drip pan. You can also put the ham right on the grates and put a drip pan underneath either on the charcoal grate or on top of the flavorizer bars.

Leftover grilled ham is awesome in ham sandwiches such as a Monte Cristo or grilled cheese, or add even more flavor with a French toast ham breakfast sandwich.

Mimosas with grilled strawberries

• Grill strawberries on a skewer for 3-4 minutes. Put the whole skewer in your champagne glass or add an individual strawberry to the rim.

Ultimate Bloody Mary

• Add a grilled sausage patty slider, just slice it halfway so it can sit on the rim like an orange slice would. Then dunk it or have a bite of it.
• Add even more flavor!  Throw some bacon crumbles inside of grilled sausage patty before grilling it for the ultimate breakfast patty of pork on pork.
• Add a whole slice of grilled bacon in the glass.
• Skewer a mini Hawaiian roll French toast sandwich. 

The options are endless for enjoying a great Easter brunch at home. Have fun with it and share your grilled meals with us! #StayInGrillOut