The Ten Commandments of Perfect Grilling

1. BE ORGANIZED. Have everything you need at bacon, beef fat, or chicken skin. Or, lift it off the hot grillside—the food, marinade, basting sauce, season- grate, spray it with oil—away from the flames—then ings, and equipment—before you start grilling. return it to the grill.

2. GAUGE YOUR FUEL. There’s nothing worse 6. TURN, DON’T STAB. The proper way to turn than running out of charcoal or gas in the middle of grill- meat on a grill is with tongs or a spatula. Never stab ing. When using charcoal, light enough to form a bed the meat with a carving fork—unless you want to drain of glowing coals three inches larger on all sides than the flavor-rich juices onto the coals. the surface area of the food you’re planning to cook. 7. KNOW WHEN TO BASTE. Bastes and mari- (A 22½-inch grill needs one chimney starter’s worth of nades made with oil and vinegar, citrus, or yogurt can coals.) When cooking on a gas grill, make sure the tank be brushed on the meat throughout the cooking time. If is at least one third full. you want to use a marinade for basting, to avoid cross- 3. PREHEAT THE GRILL TO THE RIGHT contamination set some of it aside before you begin TEMPERATURE. Remember: Grilling is a high- marinating the meat. Never use a marinade that has heat cooking method. In order to achieve the seared contained raw meat as a baste or a sauce. crust, distinctive flavor, and handsome grill marks asso- When using a sugar-based barbecue sauce, apply ciated with masterpiece grillmanship, you must cook it toward the end of the cooking time. The sugar in over a high heat. How high? At least 600°F for high-heat these sauces burns easily and should not be exposed direct grilling. Although I detail this elsewhere, it is to prolonged heat. worth repeating: When using charcoal, let it burn until 8. KEEP IT COVERED. When cooking larger it is covered with a thin coat of gray ash. Hold your hand cuts of meat and poultry, such as a whole chicken, leg about three inches above the grate. When the grill is of lamb, or prime rib, use the indirect method of grilling hot enough to cook, after two to three seconds, the or barbecuing (see pages 2 and 3). Keep the grill tightly intensity of the heat should force you to snatch your covered and resist the temptation to peek. Every time hand away. If you are using a gas grill, preheat it to high you lift the lid, you add to the cooking time. (at least 600°F); this takes ten to fifteen minutes. When indirect grilling, preheat the grill to 350°F. 9. GIVE IT A REST. Beef, steak, chicken—almost anything you grill—will taste better if you let it stand 4. KEEP IT CLEAN. There’s nothing less appetiz- on a cutting board for a few minutes before serving. ing than grilling on dirty old burnt bits of food stuck to This allows the meat to “relax,” making it juicier and the grate. Besides, the food will stick to a dirty grate. tastier. Clean the grate twice: once after you’ve preheated the grill and again when you’ve finished cooking. The first 10. NEVER DESERT YOUR POST. Grilling cleaning will remove any bits of food you may have is an easy cooking method, but it demands constant missed after your last grilling session. Use the edge of attention. Once you put something on the grill (espe- a metal spatula to scrape off large bits of food and a cially when using the direct method), stay with it until stiff wire brush to finish scrubbing the grate. it’s cooked. This is not the time to answer the phone or mix up a batch of your famous mojitos. 5. KEEP IT LUBRICATED. Oil the grate just before placing the food on top. Use a tightly folded Above all, have fun. Remember that grilling isn’t paper towel soaked in oil, or rub it with a piece of fatty brain surgery. And that’s the gospel!