Grilling Fundamentals: The Six Things That Change Results

Most grilling advice is about food. This is about the fire, because that is where nearly every disappointing result comes from, and it is the part people change last.

1. Two zones, always

If you do one thing differently, do this. Set the grill up so part of it is hot and part of it is not. On gas, that means leaving one or more burners off. On charcoal, bank the coals to one side.

You now have somewhere to sear and somewhere to finish, and somewhere to move food that is browning faster than it is cooking. Anything thicker than about an inch and a half needs this, and so does anything with sugar in the marinade, which will burn long before the middle is done.

Cooking on a single blazing surface is the reason for charred outsides and raw centers. It is not a skill problem.

2. Preheat longer than you think

Give a gas grill 10 to 15 minutes with the lid closed. Wait for charcoal to be fully ashed over, grey rather than black, before you spread it.

The point is not the air temperature, it is the grates. Hot grates release food. Cool grates hold onto it, which is what people are experiencing when they say food sticks and then blame the grill.

3. Dry the food

A wet surface has to boil off before anything browns. Meat straight from a marinade, patted dry, will sear. The same meat dripping wet will steam, go grey, and take on none of the crust you were after.

Pat it dry. Salt in advance or right before, but not twenty minutes before, which is the window where salt has drawn moisture to the surface and has not yet reabsorbed it.

And oil the food, not the grate. Oil on hot bars burns off and turns to smoke before the food arrives.

4. Close the lid, mostly

Thin and fast, like burgers or thin steaks, is fine with the lid up. Anything thick needs the lid down so the grill works as an oven and the middle cooks before the outside is ruined.

Every time you open the lid, you lose heat and add time. Turning food repeatedly does not make it cook better, it just means you are looking at it. Leave it alone long enough to build a crust, then turn it once.

5. Use a thermometer, and rest the food

Timing charts assume a grill temperature you are not measuring, a starting meat temperature you did not check, and a thickness that is not what you have. An instant-read thermometer removes all three variables for about the price of one ruined roast.

Then rest it. Five to ten minutes for steaks and chops, longer for large cuts. Cutting immediately dumps juice onto the board.

6. Handle flare-ups by moving the food

Flare-ups are fat burning. The fix is to move the food to the cool zone you already set up and let it burn out.

On a gas grill, do not spray water into it. You will spread grease, throw ash onto the food, and risk cracking hot components. If flare-ups are constant rather than occasional, the grill is telling you it needs cleaning: grease is collecting where it should be draining.

When it is the grill, not you

At some point the fundamentals stop explaining the results, and the honest answer is that the equipment has worn out. It is worth knowing the signs, since these are all inexpensive parts and people replace whole grills over them.

• One side of the grill is noticeably cooler than the other. Usually corroded burners with blocked or enlarged ports, or a burner that is no longer sitting correctly.
• Yellow, lazy, uneven flames instead of crisp blue ones. Blocked venturi tubes, often from insects, or a regulator that has gone into its low-flow safety mode.
• The grill will not get hot any more. Frequently the regulator, and frequently after a tank was connected with the valve open too fast.
• Constant flare-ups and no even heat. Worn out flame tamers or heat plates, which are consumable and are supposed to be replaced.
• The igniter clicks but nothing lights. Usually the electrode, the wire or the battery, rarely anything expensive.

Most of these are a part and an afternoon. Browse grill parts, or call us on 1 (866) 850-3450 with the make and model and we will work out which part you actually need.