1. Be sure to clean out the ash catcher underneath a charcoal grill before starting the fire, so that the bottom vents can properly draw air over the coals.

2. Do use a good grilling mitt while working over the grill. It should be flexible and allow you to pick up pots, pans, and skewers off the grill with ease.

3. Know when your coals are ready. During the daytime, 80% should appear ashy gray. At night, the same percentage should glow red with no flame. For gas grills, preheat for 10 minutes before using.

4. When grilling at night, place the grill near a light source.

5. Marinate a tough cut of meat before grilling, which will tenderize and add flavor to the meat.
*Click here for tenderizing marinades

6. To add flavor to a tender cut of meat, consider using a flavored olive oil, seasoned liquid, or dry rub. These methods add flavor to the cut without adding the acidic ingredients commonly found in marinades used for tougher cuts of meat, which break down the connective tissues in the meat.

7. For the perfect hamburger, use ground beef that is 80-85% and 15-20% fat. This is the ratio in chuck, and I believe this provides the juiciest hamburgers.

8. When grilling pork, look for a cut that is firm, finely grained, the lean part of the meat has a healthy pink color, and the fat is firm and white not yellow.

9. Remember that chicken comes in cuts that are dark and white. Legs and thighs are dark meat and take a bit longer to cook on the grill. Breasts are white meat, cook quickly, and can dry out easily if not watched carefully.

10. Always keep poultry refrigerated, even when in a marinade, until it is ready for cooking.

1. Don’t start up the grill for the first time of the season without inspecting its gas hoses for cracks or holes.

2. Don’t grill indoors or in an enclosed area, unless it is part of you in-home range with proper ventilation.

3. Don’t grill in the path of strong winds, which may stir up the embers and make them fly.

4. Don’t use a charcoal grill on a wood deck without having a deck protector under it.

5. Don’t grill near anything that could potentially be flammable, such as piles of leaves or dry grass, gasoline containers, machinery containing gasoline, paint or aerosol cans, awnings, or trees.

6. Don’t use a Teflon or nonstick spatula during grilling. It may burn or melt on the grill or on the food.

7. Don’t use a metal spatula with a metal handle. The handle will transfer heat to your hand.

8. When marinating an item in olive oil, don’t take the item from the marinade and go directly to the grill. Make sure you properly drain the oil off the item to prevent the oil from burning on the item and giving it an unpleasant taste.

9. Don’t avoid grilling pork, because you think it is all fatty meat. Hot dogs and sausages are fatty, but cuts from the loin and leg are not particularly fatty. A 3-ounce portion of pork actually contains less cholesterol than beef or lamb.

10. Don’t leave lamb unattended on the grill. Lamb has a good degree of fat, so you have to watch carefully for flare-ups.

Grilling Tips and Tricks
1. Prepare as much of your meal ahead of time before you begin grilling. For when you begin grilling, you should watch the items on the grill so they don’t burn. Don’t try to scramble to make the rest of the items you are having for lunch or dinner while you are grilling.

2. Mold your burgers into a uniform, fairly flat patty, no more than ¾” thick. When a fat burger is grilled, it tends to burn and crumble on the edges while the center doesn’t properly cook.

3. Never press the meats down with a spatula on the grill. Pressing squeezes out the juices and leads to a dry and flavorless piece of meat.

4. Compound butters are great on grilled meats, burgers, fish, poultry, and vegetables. A compound butter is just a butter that has been dressed up with herbs, spices, or other seasonings. Try making a lemon herb butter, chile butter, or garlic butter for your grilled dishes. *Click here for compound butter recipes.

5. Try jazzing up burgers with such common condiments as guacamole, pesto, tapenade, black bean salsa, or Italian dressing. *Click here for condiment recipes.

6. Use tongs rather that a fork to turn over food on the grill. A fork pierces the food, which releases its juices.

7. Sweet basting sauces, such as ones that contain honey, molasses, sugar, or ketchup, should be used only during the last 15 minutes of cooking to prevent surface charring.

8. Place larger, thicker pieces of food towards the center of the grill where it is hotter, and shift cooked pieces of food to the edges of the grill to keep it warm.

9. Soak wooden skewers in water at least 30 minutes before threading food on them to prevent the skewers from burning.

10. Brush the grill with vegetable oil before heating it to keep the food from sticking.