Grill Master: The Ultimate Arsenal of Back-to-Basics Recipes for the Grill

GRILLING BASICS

This section is your go-to resource for all things grilling, from tools and methods to my top tips for success. Let’s kick this off with a few words about the most important tool you can have in your grilling arsenal: the grill. Whether you opt for charcoal or gas, a big, round kettle or a small, square hibachi—or you wind up with more than one model—you’ll find that few cooking tools are as versatile or can flavor food as successfully as an outdoor grill.

The Charcoal Grill Charcoal grills come in many shapes and sizes, from the small disposable picnic grill to the party-sized ranch kettle model. In any case, look for a well-built, high-grade steel grill with a lid and with at least two vents to control airflow and temperature. The most useful size and model is the fairly standard 22-inch (55-cm) kettle. It efficiently and quickly grills cuts of meat and seafood over a hot or medium-hot fire and can also be converted to accommodate longer-cooking foods that require low temperatures. If you plan to do a lot of smoking, look for a grill with a side fire box.

The Gas Grill Gas grills run the gamut from a no-frills cart to a gadget-filled mini-kitchen. Here’s the skinny: two burners are a must, but if you plan to do indirect cooking, three burners will make life easier and give you better control. Don’t get ramped up on BTUs: 35,000 should be plenty. Instead, look at how the heat is diffused: angled metal plates covering the burners are particularly effective and reduce flare-ups. Shoot for cooking racks that are either stainless steel or stainless steel with a powder-paint finish. If your grill has an infrared burner, know that it will cook hotter than regular gas.

The Smoker Smoker grills—which can be round, vertical, or bullet shaped and fired by gas or charcoal—are designed to give you the best result when what you want is low, slow cooking. Most smokers include a water pan to keep the temperature low and the food moist, and often call for wood chunks, which burn more slowly than wood chips. Each model works a little differently, so read your owner’s manual for directions.

Other Grill Types You’ll find a wide array of portable grills on the market that fold up nicely for travel, yet deliver the performance of a regular grill. If you are a tailgater, check these out. Compact bucket grills have been around since the 1950s and with good reason: they may be the best portable charcoal grills available. Ceramic egg-shaped grills have a cultlike following and deliver great results, especially when used for smoking.

Come on Baby, Light My Fire Pit

Just the smell of smoking wood is enough to bring folks together, but it’s also a fun and exciting way to cook food, if you have the right set-up. Not really designed for long-cooking items, a fire pit can quickly put a hickory, oak, or apple flavor nicely into a steak. Here’s how to set one up.

1 Find a spot that’s flat, dry, and clear of buildings, tree branches, and brush. The surface of the pit should be nonflammable (a metal fire ring is ideal).

2 Line the bottom and sides of the pit with large stones to retain the heat and keep the fire contained.

3 Use hardwood, like oak, hickory, or fruitwood; stay away from softwood like pine or fir. For more even burning, you can mix the wood with charcoal briquettes.

4 It’s easiest to light the wood and/or charcoal in a chimney starter (see recipe) and then transfer it to the pit, but you can also arrange the wood in the pit and use some kindling to get the fire going. Place a grill grate securely at least 4 inches (10 cm) above the coals. Let the wood burn down until the embers are covered in ash before you start grilling. Have water or a fire extinguisher on hand in case you need to put out flames (be careful of steam burns if using water).

Grilling Gear

It’s hard to keep track of all the grilling gadgets available nowadays. Some you need, like a chimney starter if you have a charcoal grill. Others can be useful and/or fun, like rib racks, clip-on lights, and gas-tank gauges. Here’s the lowdown on what I think is essential.

Basic Tools A long-handled brush with rustproof bristles is indispensable for cleaning the grill grate: brass bristles are good for porcelain-enamel grates, steel for cast-iron grates. Use it to brush the hot grate both before and after cooking. Employ a smaller, more angled brush for cleaning between the grate bars. You also need a few pairs of sturdy metal tongs of various lengths and a medium-length spatula for turning foods.

Thermometers The best and easiest way to test large meat and poultry cuts for doneness is with an instant-read thermometer. Simply insert the probe into the thickest part of the protein, away from any bone, and in seconds, it registers the temperature. It’s also important to keep track of the temperature inside the grill, especially when you’ll be cooking food for a long period of time. Specialized grill thermometers attached to the grate can be wildly inaccurate. A good oven thermometer is a better choice. A laser thermometer is even more reliable, but also costly.

Protective Gear Burnt fingers don’t look good on anyone—especially a grill master. Keep an oven mitt or pot holder made of heavy quilted cotton close by to protect your hands from the grill’s intense heat. Leather gloves made for grilling or wrangling fireplace fires are also nice to have.

Basting Brush Cotton mop–style basting brushes look good during barbecue contests, but they are hard to clean and not very sanitary. Pastry brushes are usually so short that your fingers get toasty when you apply sauce, plus they are tough to clean. Brushes with long stainless-steel handles and silicone bristles work beautifully, both at the grill and the sink.

Skewers Wood or metal, round or flat—folks are divided on which skewers are best. My advice is to buy a set of flat metal skewers at least 8 inches (20 cm) long. The metal conducts heat nicely, which helps your food cook more quickly and evenly. If you opt for wood, soak the skewers in water—or in beer, wine, or fruit juice for extra flavor—for at least 30 minutes before using.

Baskets, Plates, and Screens Hinged grill baskets, plates, and screens come in handy for delicate foods that are difficult to turn, such as fish fillets, or for foods that might fall through the grill grate, such as asparagus. A plate is a perforated metal sheet, and a screen is a fine wire mesh in a metal frame. Brush all three with oil to prevent sticking and preheat over direct heat before adding the food.

Chimney Starter A chimney starter is the most efficient way to light your charcoal or hardwood fire for a charcoal grill. For a medium-sized grill, look for a starter that is at least 7½ inches (19 cm) in diameter and 12 inches (30 cm) tall.

Drip Pan A drip pan is set on the grill bed of a charcoal grill under large cuts of meat and poultry to capture dripping fat and juices, preventing flare-ups. It is also indispensable if gravy is on the menu. Any disposable aluminum pan as long and as wide as the item being grilled and 2 inches (5 cm) deep will work.

Smoker Box A smoker box is a heavy, vented metal container for holding soaked wood chips or herbs in a gas grill. If your grill doesn’t have one, you can fashion your own box out of aluminum foil (see recipe).

Grilling Methods

Dozens of different grill models, both charcoal and gas, are on the market. But when it comes to putting them to work, the same basic grilling methods apply: direct heat, indirect heat, and smoking.

Direct-Heat Grilling For this method, the food is placed directly over the fire of a charcoal grill or the heat elements of a gas grill. The food cooks relatively quickly—usually in less than 25 minutes—over intense heat, which sears and caramelizes the surface, boosting the flavor. Some grill cooks use a lid to reduce flare-ups and control the temperature. Others insist the grill be left uncovered at all times. (For my position on lid use, see recipe). If you plan to swab the food with a sugary sauce, do it just before it comes off the grill so the sauce doesn’t burn from exposure to the intense heat.

GOOD CUTS TO USE Burgers, steaks, chops, pork tenderloins, boneless chicken pieces, kebabs, fish fillets, shrimp, vegetables

Indirect-Heat Grilling Here, the food is placed away from the heat source, so it cooks from reflected heat. In a charcoal grill that means arranging the hot coals so that either the center of the grill bed or one side of the bed is not delivering direct heat, and then placing the food above that space and covering the grill. In a gas grill, that means turning off one or more burners, placing the food over the turned-off burner(s), and keeping the lid on. Use this method for foods that cook for more than 25 minutes. Sometimes you are grilling foods that benefit from a good sear and also take longer than 25 minutes to cook. Barbecued bone-in chicken is a good example. I like to sear the pieces over direct heat until they are nicely browned, and then move them to the cooler area of the grill, cover the grill, and let them finish cooking in the reflected heat.

GOOD CUTS TO USE Beef roasts, leg of lamb, thick-cut pork chops, pork loins, whole chickens, bone-in chicken pieces

Smoking Indirect-heat grilling is also used for smoking and barbecuing. The grill setup is basically the same, with a few additional components: smoke and steam. Soaked wood chips or chunks provide the smoke, and a drip pan filled with water provides the steam. And you’re cooking the food at a very low temperature for a long period of time (usually over an hour) to break down the proteins in the meat.

GOOD CUTS TO USE Brisket, ribs, pulled pork, turkey

For specific instructions for these three grilling methods on both charcoal and gas grills, see recipe.

True Barbecue

Hard-core barbecue enthusiasts may sneer at your kettle or gas grill and proclaim that you can’t make real barbecue without a smoker. This might be true, but I think you can come awfully close. Barbecue is all about smoke and very low heat. Once you get the hang of adding wood chips or chunks to your grill and keeping the temperature steady, you will be a believer, too. It starts with soaking wood chips, and then setting up your grill, charcoal or gas, for indirect heat. Check the temperature inside the grill. It should be 200° to 225°F (95° to 110°C) and never hotter than 325°F (165°C). Use the vents on a charcoal grill or the controls on a gas grill to regulate the heat. Add a small pan of liquid to the grill grate and keep it filled. It creates steam so the meat doesn’t dry out. Keep the grill covered so you don’t lose precious heat. Then sit back and relax as a tough cut of meat transforms into a tender mouthful.

Put a Lid on It

Grilling experts debate this question all the time. I have found that for most home grillers using the lid is the way to go for nearly every type of food. Covering the grill creates a convection-like heat that cooks foods evenly and more quickly. Of course, it is absolutely critical to cover the grill when grilling with indirect heat and when smoking meat. And even though you don’t have to cover the grill for direct heat grilling, I figure why not pass along some of that great gentle heat that the lid provides, along with a shorter cooking time? You can still sear your steaks with the grill uncovered, and then cover it so they cook perfectly.

Grilling with Charcoal

Grilling with live fire, AKA charcoal, still holds the heart of the grill master. Do the results taste better? Possibly. But charcoal loyalty may be more about the satisfaction you feel for your effort than about taste. And, of course, with just a bag of charcoal, you can grill just about anywhere.

Choosing the Fuel Standard charcoal briquettes deliver the most even heat and steady burn rate, but they are pumped full of ingredients that are not natural. All-natural hardwood briquettes burn a bit hotter and also burn cleaner. Natural lump hardwood, the real thing, burns superhot (great for steaks), and burns even cleaner. Given the choice, I think hardwood briquettes are the way to go, because they are easy to work with and produce quality results. If you are grilling food for four people, use about 20 briquettes, which will burn for about 1 hour. If you are grilling double that amount of food, double the number of briquettes. For indirect and low and slow cooking, calculate the cooking time, then start with 80 briquettes, which should last for about 2 hours. Add about 40 briquettes directly to the fire after about 1½ hours, or start more briquettes in your chimney starter and add to the fire after about 2 hours.

Lighting the Coals Lightly stuff newspaper (two or three sheets) in the bottom (under the grate) of a chimney starter. Don’t use too much or you will smother the fire. Pour the briquettes or hardwood chunks over the grate, filling the chimney, then light the paper. The fire will burn upward and ignite the fuel. In 15 to 20 minutes, the coals should be covered with gray ash and glowing. Pour the hot coals onto the fire bed of the grill.

Controlling the Heat Before you can control the heat, you need to know how to measure it. The low-tech way is to hold your hand about 6 inches (15 cm) above the fire and count: one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, and so on. A count of one is a hot fire, two is a medium-hot fire, and three is a medium fire. A count of five is just right for smoky barbecue. On a thermometer, 450°F (230°C) is hot, 400°F (200°C) is medium-hot, and 350°F (180°C) is medium. A temperature of around 225°F (110°C) means the grill is ready for barbecuing and smoking. To control the heat, move the food closer or farther away from the fire, or adjust the vents, wider for more heat or narrower for less.

Flavoring Your Fire

You can use smoldering wood chips or chunks to flavor food as it cooks on a grill. Here are some flavor-and-food combinations to get you started: Intensely flavored hickory, oak, mesquite, and pecan chips or chunks complement chicken, turkey, pork, or beef. Hickory is too intense to use alone; temper it with a milder wood. Moderately intense fruitwoods like apple, cherry, and plum are a bit sweet. Pair them with pork, salmon, game birds, chicken, or anything with a sweet sauce. Mild alder wood is perfect for fish. You can use herbs, too— rosemary and lamb, basil and chicken, pork and bay—or grapevine cuttings. Always soak the woods and herbs in water before using. see recipe to learn how to add wood chips to a charcoal grill.

Dealing with Flare-ups

Foods with a high-fat content—steaks, burgers, chops—usually cause flare-ups. You want the food to develop a little char, but it shouldn’t look (or taste) like a burnt marshmallow.

One solution to this problem is to punch holes in a sheet of aluminum foil and slip it between the food and the grill grate. Or, you can douse the flare-ups with water from a spray bottle (but watch for steam burns).

Two better options: move the food to a cooler part of the grill, or close the vents a bit to reduce the fire’s oxygen supply. If the flare-ups can’t be tamed, remove the food until you regain control over the fire.

Direct-Heat Grilling with Charcoal

1 Light the coals as instructed on see recipe.

2 After 15 to 20 minutes, the coals will be covered with gray ash and glowing. Remove the grill grate from the grill and pour the coals onto the fire bed.

3 With tongs, spread the coals in a single, snug layer, leaving a few cooler areas for dealing with flare-ups or food that is cooking too quickly. You can also create different heat levels by spreading the coals in a thick layer on one part of the fire bed, and a thinner layer on another part.

4 Place the grill grate on the grill and heat for a few minutes. Scrub the grill grate clean with a wire grill brush and oil the grate with a rolled-up paper towel dipped in oil.

5 Place the food directly over the fire and cook according to the recipe.

Indirect-Heat Grilling with Charcoal

1 Follow steps 1 and 2 for direct-heat grilling. Arrange half the lit coals on one side of the fire bed and half on the other, leaving an area in the center free of coals. (Or, bank the lit coals to one side of the bed, leaving the other side free of coals.)

2 Put a drip pan (such as a disposable aluminum pan) in the free space. Position the grill grate so that its handles are over the coals, and let it heat for a few minutes. Scrub the grate with a wire grill brush and oil it with a rolled-up paper towel dipped in oil.

3 Place the food on the grate over the drip pan, cover the grill, and adjust the vents as needed to reach the desired temperature. You can also use the direct-heat area of the grill to briefly sear the food, either before or after cooking it all the way through over the indirect-heat area.

4 The temperature of the fire should hold for about 2 hours (depending on what fuel you use, and how much). If you need to cook longer, add fresh charcoal directly to the burning coals after about 1½ hours. Or, start more coals in the chimney starter and replenish the fire after about 2 hours.

Smoking with Charcoal

1 Soak the desired wood chips in cold or lukewarm water to cover for at least 30 minutes, wood chunks for at least 1 hour.

2 Light the coals as instructed on see