How To Grill Eggplant

Cooking on the grill offers a variety of surprising dishes, which you will discover when you learn how to grill eggplant. Grilling eggplant is easy, only takes a few minutes, and compliments grilled fish, steak, chicken, or ribs. If you have never tried eggplant, try grilling it with your favorite meat.

To grill eggplant, you will need:

• Grill
• Steel brush
• Paper towels
• Vegetable or olive oil
• Pastry brush
• Eggplant
• Salt

1. Start with a clean grill. To clean a charcoal grill, light some charcoal to heat the grill and burn off anything stuck to it from the last use. To clean a gas grill, turn it on high, close the lid, and wait five to ten minutes then shut the heat off. Use a steel brush to scrape the hot grill clean. Let the grill cool.
2. Oil the Grill. Use folded paper towels to apply a coat of oil to the cool grill. Pour a small amount of oil onto the folded paper towels and wipe the oil on the grill. Heat the grill for cooking by lighting the charcoal and waiting until the coals look like they are coated in ash or turn the gas grill on medium.
3. Prepare the Eggplant. Wash the eggplant thoroughly in clear water. Cut a large eggplant into ½ inch slices like a loaf of bread. Cut a smaller eggplant lengthwise in half. Sprinkle salt on every slice and place them in a colander for twenty to 30 minutes. The application of salt will cut the bitterness from the eggplant. Rinse the eggplant in the colander to rinse off the salt. Use paper towels to dry each piece of eggplant, brush oil on each side of each piece with a pastry brush, and sprinkle with salt before grilling.
4. Grilling Eggplant. Place the eggplant pieces on a medium heat grill. Turn the pieces every three minutes. It takes six to twelve minutes to cook eggplant until tender depending on the thickness of the eggplant pieces. Serve hot.

Tip:

• Eggplant is an amazing fruit, yes fruit, which is either male or female. The male eggplant fruit is less bitter than the female fruit making the male eggplant more desirable for grilling. To tell the difference between a male and female eggplant, compare the indentation at the bottom of the eggplant. If the indentation is sharp and deep it is female, if the indentation is round and shallow it is a male.

Warning:

• Spray on oil is not the best choice for oiling the grill because it will spray oil the elements below the grill and cause flame and smoke.