Kabobs make outdoor entertaining festive and fun. They can be easily assembled ahead of time, grilled to perfection in minutes and there's little clean up after the meal. They're perfect for backyard picnics and parties.

Choose combinations of ingredients that compliment each other. Chop and slice meat and larger fruit and vegetables into 1" to 1-1/2" pieces. Create kabobs from meats such beef tenderloin cubes, pieces of boneless chicken or turkey breast, pork cubes, ham cubes, lamb cubes, small meatballs, partially fried & rolled up bacon slices, pieces of sausage, shrimp, scallops and other seafood chunks. Add onions, zucchini or other summer squash, green, red or yellow peppers, partially cooked carrots, canned or partially cooked small whole potatoes, fresh mushrooms, and firm cherry tomatoes. Poultry, pork, and ham also go well with fruit like pineapple chunks, apricot halves, peach or apple wedges. Make veggie-only kabobs with any combination of your favorite fresh vegetables.

To marinate kabobs, choose marinades that go well with the combination of ingredients you're using. There are many marinade mixes and bottled marinades available... from tangy fruit-based versions to spicy hot sauces. You can also use Teriyaki sauce, sweet n' sour sauce or barbecue sauce. Bottled salad dressings like French, Italian or Ranch make great marinades for chicken. Or.... make a homemade marinade using one the recipes below.

Do not use a marinade or sauce that was used to marinate raw food on food that you're grilling. Discard any liquid that raw meat, poultry or seafood was marinated in. Wash all pans, plates, cutting boards, knives and utensils that were used with uncooked food before using the same equipment with food that's about to be eaten.

Fill skewers with pieces that are uniform in size and leave a little space between pieces so everything gets equally and thoroughly cooked. Don't overload skewers with food packed tightly together.

Round skewers can easily turn inside the food, making it difficult to rotate the pieces of food with the skewer. One solution is to use skewers with flat blades like the ones on the left.

Double Prong Skewers like those on the right, will also do a good job of securely holding kabobs together. Double skewered kabobs are also easier to turn from side to side as they grill. Pieces that shrink as they cook are less likely to fall away to burn beneath the coals if they are being held in place by two skewers.

Food won't fall off the ends of these circular kabob skewers. They won't roll around on the grill and they'll fit neatly on a round plate.

When making kabobs for a crowd, use inexpensive, disposable wooden skewers. Wooden skewers must be soaked in water for about 30 minutes before using to prevent them from burning. Use 2 wooden skewers per kabob.

Turn kabobs frequently as they're grilling, Baste with additional sauce occasionally. Wait until the last few minutes of grilling time to baste with sweeter sauces, especially if they contain brown sugar.

The following grilling times are highly variable - depending, of course, on distance above the coals and the actual temperatures. Kabobs with tightly packed ingredients will need more time.

For beef, pork, or lamb kabobs with 1" cubes - Grill time at about 4" above medium hot coals should be about 10 to 12 minutes. For beef, pork, or lamb kabobs with 1-1/2" cubes - Grill time at about 4" above medium hot coals should be about 15 to 20 minutes. For chicken or turkey kabobs with 1" cubes - Grill time at about 4" above medium hot coals should be about 8 to 10 minutes. For chicken or turkey kabobs with 1-1/2" cubes - Grill time at about 4" above medium hot coals should be about 12 to 14 minutes. For for fish kabobs, such as salmon, tuna, halibut etc. with 1" cubes - Grill time at about 4" above medium hot coals, should be about 10 to 12 minutes.

Kabob Racks hold rows of skewers in place. Besides making turning much easier, they raise the kabobs and keep the food at an even distance from the coals so everything browns evenly.

Kabob baskets like those on the right are an easy skewer-less way to make kabobs. Just fill the long narrow baskets with chicken, beef, shrimp, veggies and more, close the lids and place them on the grill.

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Most of the skewers and racks shown in this page can be purchased online.
Click on the pictures for details.

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Kabob Recipes

Bacon-Wrapped Pineapple Shrimp Kabobs Beef, Zucchini & Pepper Kabobs Teriyaki Steak Kabobs Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs Chicken & Fruit Kabobs Turkey Kabobs Honey Mustard Kielbasa Kabobs

Tex-Mex Pork Kabobs Scallop Kabobs Ham & Apple Kabobs Venison Kabobs Grilled Vegetable Kabobs Fruit Kabobs - Fresh or Grilled Surf & Turf Kabobs

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Order my ebook for many more kabob recipes... The Kabob Cookbook has over 65 Kabob recipes plus lots of recipes for extra marinades and grilling sauces. Printable invitations for a Kabob party and a Luau are included. Click here to view the entire table of contents Click Here for more details & ordering information.

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