The Grilling Tips and Tricks You Need for Memorial Day

You promised yourself one last year and never followed through. This summer, let $15 change your life.

Synthetic charcoal perfumes food with synthetic flavor. You don't want synthetic flavor do you?

See Articles 1 and 2 above.

Chances are you haven't touched your grill since September—maybe October—of last year. The best way to clean it: Heat it up. Once your grill is good and hot, brush the grates aggressively with a wire grill brush. Next, grab a cloth kitchen towel (one reserved especially for this task) and dip it in vegetable oil so that it's just coated but not dripping. Using tongs to hold the towel, rub the oil all over the grill grates. According to Joe Carroll, chef of Fette Sau and co-author of Feeding the Fire, “if you’re cooking steak, your grill is now primed and ready” But, he notes that if you’re cooking something more delicate or with a higher sugar content, “wait 5 minutes and then oil the grates again.” He suggests oiling three to four times—and up to 10 times for fish—every time you grill.

Now just remember to clean it when you're done cooking—using the same process while it's still hot—and it will be all set for next weekend.

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You will be tempted to toss your ashed-over, chimney-started coals over the entire bottom grate. Resist this urge. Instead, Carroll suggests using a disposable aluminum casserole pan that fits on one half of the bottom of your grill and arranging the coals in that pan. This will create both a hot section and a relatively cooler one for two-zone grilling, giving you the freedom to cook two dishes with different heat level needs at the same time—say chicken with a side of grilled zucchini—or to move coals around easily if something is cooking too quickly or not quickly enough.

Follow Epi co-worker Anna Stockwell's easy-to-follow ratio, and you'll be ready to tenderize your flank steak (or chicken thighs, or mushroom caps) in no time.

You could rely on any of the dry rubs here, but it's easy enough to make your own signature summer rub using the principals laid out therein. Make a big batch now, and you'll use it all summer long.

These days even the "cheap stakes" are getting pricey. Opt instead for one of these new butcher's cuts if you're looking to save a little dough.

A two-step approach to cooking hot dogs is frankly ideal.

If you're the 'more is more' type in regards to surface area, get slashing.

Keep a spray bottle of water handy to tame flare ups. Or, fill it with red wine and herbs to baste the big guy while it cooks. No spray bottle? Tie a bundle of herbs together—like long stems of sage and rosemary—then dip them into a pot of red wine, melted butter, and garlic and use the herbs as a brush to keep meat moist.

Slow-Smoked BBQ Chicken

Photo by William Hereford

Beyond that, here's some tips to make sure you're right. Not that we were questioning it.

Even a grilling pro like Carroll says a good thermometer is one of his essential grill tools (great tongs are the other). Here's our favorite. When judging doneness, just remember the scale from 120º to 160º: 120ºF = rare / 130ºF = medium rare / 140ºF = medium / 150ºF = medium well / 160ºF = well done. And always allow 5 to 10 minutes off the heat (longer for larger pieces of meat) for carryover cooking, which will raise the temperature by at least 5 degrees.

When it comes to corn, we figured out a sure-fire way to achieved smoky grilled perfection.

Not when turning your grill into a smoker is a lot easer that you'd think.

There's a world of ribs out there to explore.

There's a grilling cookbook out there for everybody.