Nothing says summer like a perfect steak, hot from the grill, crisp and browned on the outside and tender and pink on the inside.  Grilling is one of my favorite ways to cook, but if you’re new to grilling, or if you’ve always let someone else take on the grill, it can be a bit intimidating.  Since grilling season has officially arrived, now’s the time to get out there and try it.  You’ll catch on quickly.  Here are some basic tips to get you started:

Fuel: Charcoal briquettes are what most people use in their charcoal grills.  They work just fine, but you might enjoy trying hardwood charcoal.  This type of charcoal is almost pure carbon (briquettes are a compressed mixture of low-quality charcoal powder and binders), and will light more easily and burn cleaner and slightly hotter.  You can find hardwood charcoal at some hardware stores and other stores that sell grills.

Gas grills do not give food the smoky flavor you get from charcoal, but they offer great convenience and the char that you get from live-fire cooking.

Starting the Fire: I have been using a chimney starter for charcoal for years—it’s simple and very effective.  A chimney starter is a wide metal tube, open at both ends with a grate and ventilation holes at one end and a handle on the side.  You fill the bottom section (with the ventilation holes) with crumpled newspaper, set the starter in the grill bottom, and fill the top section (over the grate) with charcoal.  Light the newspaper, and the flames from the newspaper move upward to light the charcoal. When the charcoal is red hot (after 20 minutes or so), dump it into the grill, adding any additional charcoal you need on top.  Chimney starters can usually be found at hardware stores or anywhere that grills are sold.

Laying the Fire: One of the best tips I can give you is to build a multilevel fire.  When you transfer the lit charcoal into the grill, leave about one quarter of the grill empty and bank the charcoal in the remaining three quarters of the grill so that the coals are about three times as high on one side as they are on the other.  This arrangement gives you varying levels heat so you can sear food over high heat and then move it to lower heat to finish cooking, and if there are flare-ups, you can move the food to a cooler portion of the grill until the flare-up subsides.  If you’re using a gas grill, preheat it and turn one of the burners to low or off before you start cooking.

Checking the Fire Temperature: When the coals are uniformly gray, hold your hand, palm side down, about 5 inches above the grill grid.  If you can hold it there for 5-6 seconds, you have a low fire; if you can hold it there for 3-4 seconds, you have a medium fire; if you can hold it there for only 1-2 seconds, you have a hot fire.

Checking for Doneness: There are basically 3 ways to see if your meat is done.  For larger pieces of meat, use an instant-read thermometer. Be sure to take the meat off the grill when it is about 10 degrees below the desired temperature and let it rest for 10 minutes; during this time it will continue cooking and reach the right temperature.

For all other grilling jobs you can check for doneness by touch or by cutting into the meat and taking a look.  The more cooked any protein is, the firmer it becomes.  Each time you grill, prod the meat with your finger to see how firm it is before you make a small cut and look inside to see.  You will gradually train your fingers to be able to tell if your meat is done just by touch and can do away with cutting it open to look.  Smaller cuts of meat should also rest after grilling for about 5 minutes.

Other things to remember: Have everything you need to grill laid out nearby (foods, tools, etc.)  This will keep you from having to run back and forth to the kitchen retrieving stuff while your chicken turns to cinders.  Clean your grill after you use it every time—that way it’s ready to go for the next cookout.  Oil the grill grate before putting the food on it (I usually do this with a wad of paper towels held with tongs and dipped in vegetable oil) to prevent food from sticking and make clean up easier.  Brush on sauce at the end of cooking time, just before the food is done.  If you brush it on earlier, the sauce can burn and ruin the taste of the food instead of turning into a nice, flavorful glaze.

For some great grilling recipes and recipes for grilling sauces and sides, check out a few of ours—The SauceDude’s Brats, Best Barbecue Sauce, Grilled Shrimp Kabobs with Coconut Curry Sauce, and more.  We also have 10% off deal right now on products to in grilling recipes at our Featured Sauces page.

Happy Grilling from MTG!