Buying your first home is an exciting time. With the warm weather we’ve had in Georgia recently, an outdoor BBQ is the perfect way to celebrate finally finding your dream home. To make sure things go smoothly, Keystone is offering the following tips for grilling.

• Use non-stick cooking spray on the grilling rack to prevent food from sticking and to make clean-up simple.
• For shish kabobs, be sure and soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes before you grill. This will help keep the skewers from burning or smoking.
• Grilling steaks? Get the meat to room temperature, and season it about 15 minutes before placing it on the grill. Once your steaks are on the grill, use tongs to turn them. Using a fork will puncture the meat and allow the juices to escape (resulting in dry, tough steaks.)
• Once the steaks are done, let them sit for five minutes before cutting to allow the juices to settle.
• If you’re adding barbecue sauce, wait until the steaks are done grilling. Otherwise, the sugars in the sauce will burn.
• For grilling fish, use a fish basket to make turning the fillets over while cooking. Before you grill, brush the fish and the basket with oil to reduce sticking.

Grilling in your own backyard is one of the best things about owning your own home in the summer. If you’ve yet to find your perfect Augusta, Ga., home, let Keystone Homes help. We have homes for first-time buyers at Stone Creek that are priced from the $110’s and range in size from 1,100 to 2,200 square feet. For those who need a bigger home to support a growing family, Chamblin Ridge has homes that range in size from 2,000 to 4,000 square feet and feature fully sodded yards.

For more information, visit the Keystone Homes website.