Do you think that being the person in charge of the grill is a lonely and thankless job? You can make the grill the center of attention at your next gathering by making appetizers on the grill. Just about any hot appetizer can be prepared on the grill and it is much easier then you may think.
You can prepare tasty appetizers such as mini pizzas, mini tacos, buffalo wings and potato skins on the grill and they will be tastier than if you prepared them in your oven.
The main difference between cooking appetizers on the grill and cooking them in the oven is that a grill will have a much more intense heat, even if you are using the indirect method. But if you coat the cooking surface with oil, use indirect heat and the upper rack and keep a close eye on your food you will be successful.
A tool that can be very useful when making appetizers is the grill topper. You can find grill toppers at hardware and department stores and it will be a good investment. You can use it as a tray and transfer everything to the preheated grill at once. When the food is cooked, just remove the grill topper and serve..
The trick to making the best appetizers for your gathering is to do as much of the preparation as possible in advance. You can prepare most of them a day in advance The mini pizzas, potato skins and buffalo wings can be already to cook and will just require a little heating on the grill to be ready to eat. The grill will heat them up fast too, so you won't need to stay around the grill to long.
You will want to match up the appetizers to the meal. If you are preparing steak a great appetizer is the potato skins. If you are making a Mexican meal try grilling up some beef strips and vegetables for fajitas as an appetizer. Another great appetizer that goes with almost anything is beef or chicken kabobs. They are easy to make if you prepare them the night before. My favorite is to use a good cut of roast and cut the meat into 1 inch cubes.
Throw the cubes in a dish with thousand island dressing and let soak overnight. The next day cut up red and green peppers, mushrooms and sweet onion and alternate them on square metal skewers. They will cook in a few minutes and be ready for your guests.
If you plan on making appetizers and you use a charcoal grill, (My preference-I believe you get a much better flavor with a charcoal grill!) then I would suggest a two or three level fire. If you are making foods like the mini pizzas then you will be best served by the three level fire.
You can heat the pizzas over the area of the grill with no coals. Other foods can be prepared at the same time over the other areas of the grill and when you are ready to make the main course you just need to add some coals.