8 tips to make the best grilled fruit

Grilled fruit has intense flavour enhanced by the natural sugars caramelising, the juicy fruits become even juicier and the smoke gives the atmosphere a woodsy.

Not to mention the grill marks, gorgeous. Let's look at eight tips to get the best results when grilling fruit.

1. Best fruits for the grill

Any fruit can bow to the grill as long as it is fairly firm and not too ripe. These fruits will hold their shape over burning charcoal; Peaches, melons, pineapple, pears, avocado, tomatoes, bananas, and figs.

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2. Go big

Give the fruit a chance over the grill by cutting it into large chunks, wheels, and slices. Since most fruit is fairly fragile, giving it a bigger body will make sure the fruit structure is against heat and breakdown. The large pieces are also less likely to fall between the grates.

3. A hot grill minimizes sticking

Heat your grill to medium-high fire for at least 10 minutes before grilling your fruits. Remove scrapes and oil the grates before laying the fruit down. Check out this list for oils that withstand high heat.

8 tips to make the best grilled fruit/Courtesy Pulse

4. You don't always need to oil the fruit

If you're grilling fruit for cocktails or desserts, you don't need to oil the fruit as this will leave your bowl with an icky oil slick. However, if you're going for a savoury recipe with lime or onions, then oiling the fruit isn't a problem. Moreover, the unoiled fruit gets better grill marks.

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5. Sugar-coat your citrus

Cover the cut sides of citrus fruits like limes, grapefruit, oranges, lemons, and limes with granulated sugar before putting them on a hot, oiled grill. This keeps them from sticking to the grates and gives them a beautiful caramelised finish.

6. Leave it alone

Give them time to sit and sear so they don't stick. However, keep in mind that sometimes the fruit will stick no matter what you do.

8 tips to make the best grilled fruit/Courtesy Pulse

7. Denser fruit takes longer to grill

Pineapple, for example, needs more time to cook than citrus fruits do. To help dense fruits heat all the way through, you can put the lid on the grill for a few minutes at a time, checking every 5 minutes or so for doneness. Take a sample slice and see if it's hot in the middle if that's what you're going for. Some recipes might just require surface grill marks.

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8. Don't waste the juice

High heat causes some grilled fruits to give off a lot of juice. While some of that juice will drip through, you can take some measures to harvest it. Place grilled fruit on a rimmed baking sheet to hold the juices or grill them on heavy-duty aluminum foil.

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