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Welcome to Grilling 101: Ryan’s Favorite Tips and Tricks.

My love for the grill runs deep. In our family catering business, there were an array of tasks I was assigned at early ages. Most were forgettable (or unpleasantly memorable). Grilling was the first job that I actually enjoyed and felt I excelled at. I remember being 15 years old, carting around our rusty old barrel drum grills, breathing in dangerous amounts of mesquite smoke, singeing off all the hair on my hands and arms (and sometimes eyebrows), blistering my fingertips, shoveling out bucket after bucket of ashes every night....and loving every minute of it.

For me, lighting a row of 18 chimneys full of lump charcoal or searing 5000 fillets of trout is a pleasure, even an indulgence. I grill to eat—I love the flavors. I grill to feed others—it’s my favorite role as a host. But I also grill just to get right—you could say it’s how I ponder and pray. Mastering the grill can be a long process, but it’s also fun and exciting. Whether you already have an elaborate outdoor kitchen with many grills under your belt, or whether you have never so much as roasted a hot dog over the campfire, I invite you to up your grill game. And start today.

What Is and Isn’t Grilling

Many outdoor cooking terms are often confused or misused, so my first piece of advice is to learn basic grilling terms and use them properly.

Grilling refers to a very specific type of cooking: cooking directly over an open fire, usually with a grill/grate/gridiron at a relatively high heat. Hence, a "grill" is a device that allows you to cook directly over a high heat open fire. These three elements are necessary conditions of grilling: direct heat, open fire, and a potential for high heat.

Smoking ribs in your pellet cooker (like the very popular Traeger models)? Delicious, but NOT grilling. Brisket for 18 hours in your offset barrel cooker? Wonderful, but NOT grilling. Pan searing a skin-on chicken breast in duck fat and herbs? My mouth is watering, but still NOT grilling.

What about cooking burgers over briquettes in your Weber kettle? That’s grilling! Tossing vegetables in a wire mesh basket over a log fire? Yep! Reverse searing a garlic- and chocolate-rubbed, dry-aged Wagyu ribeye over mesquite charcoal? That’s not only grilling, that's my personal idea of paradise!

How to Choose Your Grill(s)

There are lots of factors to consider when choosing a grill, from size and portability to brand, cost, and dozens of possible bells and whistles. But the first question you need to answer is "Gas / propane versus charcoal / wood?"

Pros and Cons of a Gas / Propane Grill

• Easy startup. Turn on the gas, hit the igniter. Even if your ignition system is broken, a stick lighter gets you going quick and easy. No lighter fluid, no chimneys, no heating coils, very little forethought and waiting required.
• Easy heat management. Need it hotter? Turn the dial up. Cooler? Turn it back down. Very little practice and finesse is required to adjust and control your heat.
• Easy cool down / cleanup. Turn the gas off. Done.
• Clean burning. Less smoke and fumes for you to breath and to float off into your local environment.
• Limited temperature. Admittedly gas grills can get hot. And certain features (infrared burners) can ramp up the heat. But even the hottest gas grill can’t reach the temps you can achieve with a hardwood charcoal fire.
• Limited flavor. True, gas grills create a wonderful Maillard reaction with your food, and juices that drip below generally burn off into tasty vapors. It's also true that wood chips can be burned in a smoker box to create flavor in a gas grill. Nonetheless, even the best gas grills employing all these measures can’t match the wood flavor of a charcoal or wood burning grill.

Pros and Cons of a Charcoal / Wood Grill

• Demanding startup. I use a chimney starter(s) for nearly all my fires. These are basically a fool proof method that require only a little newspaper and a match. Lighter fluid can also get a fire going quickly and easily. Nonetheless, these are more work and require more forethought than simply starting up a gas burner.
• Demanding heat management. Need it hotter? You might need to add fuel, increase the airflow, sweep the ashes, or some combination of these. Need it cooler? You might have to reduce the airflow, remove some of the fire, or even spritz your fire with a little water. Eventually, the finesse to manage your fire will become second nature, but it requires significant practice.
• Demanding cool down / cleanup. In general I prefer to let the fire burn itself out. This takes patience. Sometimes I need to actively extinguish the fire using suffocation or even ice / water. This can make for a big cloud of steam and soot. Either way, after the fire’s died, there will be ashes to deal with.
• Dirty. More smoke and fumes for you to breath and to float off into your local environment. Although I’m a huge proponent of charcoal and wood fire cooking, I also support measures to protect our environment, especially improving air quality here in Utah. I think grilling on bad air days should be legally prohibited. Until we get there, I strongly encourage local readers to only grill with charcoal on clear days with no inversion.
• Very high temperature. This is where charcoal grills really shine. Searing is a joy and at its best on a grill that is crazy hot. Gas grills just can’t compare.
• Very rich flavor. Once you’ve had a burger cooked over mesquite coals, you can’t go back to one cooked over a gas grill or in a cast iron skillet. It just tastes better. A lot better.

As you read these lists, you might get the impression that gas grills win out. After all, they best their charcoal counterparts in 4 of the 6 key factors considered here. But it's up to each individual to decide how much weight each of those factors should be given. For me, when I fire up the grill (as opposed to sauteing on the kitchen stove), it’s because I’m after the highest heat and deepest wood flavor I can get. So for me, the two areas where charcoal grills win are the ultimate trump cards. At my house, I have 3 grills (also 2 smokers and 1 wood oven) and they all use charcoal or wood.

What to Look for In a Charcoal Grill

If you do decide that a charcoal grill is for you, here are the key features you look for when choosing one.

• Airflow. The ability to control the flow of air to speed up or slow down your fire is crucial. You want vents below the fire and a lid above the fire that allows you to control airfow.
• Charcoal grate. Elevating the fire off the floor of the grill container allows the fire to burn efficiently as the ashes to fall away. Some grills have adjustable charcoal grates which allow you to move the fire closer to or further away from the food.
• Food grate. Cast iron grates are wonderful to cook on. Just like your grandmother’s cast iron skillet, these season in, become naturally nonstick, retain heat wonderfully, and with care can last a lifetime. That said, other grate materials can also cook wonderfully. Most important is a gridiron pattern that prevents small and delicate foods from slipping through, and thick gauge materials that can take the high heat without warping and wearing out.
• Ash removal. This is important, but it doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, simpler is better. A tray or bucket that ashes fall into that is easily removed and dumped is great. You just don’t want to have to shovel or vacuum out ashes after every cook.
• Quality of materials. You want all the grill components to be thick gauge and heavy duty enough to last for years with reasonable wear and tear. Powder coat is better than paint, and enamel coating is even better than powder. It’s awfully frustrating to buy a grill with fancy bells and whistles that looks great in the store but is dented, rusted, and falling apart a year or two later.

A wonderful charcoal grill does not need to be fancy or elaborate. The kettle grill (a bowl with domed lid sitting on a trio of metal pipe legs) has become an iconic grill image precisely because it has remained basically unchanged for so long, and because the design works so well. Indeed, if I could only have one grill and it needed to be at a moderate cost, my choice would be easy: a Weber Original charcoal grill.

Tools of the Trade

Walk into the outdoor cooking section of your local hardware store and you’ll likely be inundated with an array of grilling tools, gadgets, and assorted accessories. It can be overwhelming to decide which ones are necessary, which ones are a luxury, and which ones are a waste. Listed below are how I like to break out and consider these items.

I set out these must have tools every time I grill:

• Chimney starter - the best way to start charcoal. Avoid all the fumes, mess, and volatility of lighter fluid.
• Gloves and apron - You want a 100% cotton, heavy canvas, or leather apron (any poly or poly blend will melt onto your clothes when you get your grill really rolling). You'll also need thick lined leather or cotton gloves. Pro Tip: Buying welding gear in the tool section is often cheaper than the nearly functionally identical gear in the cooking section.
• Oil & onion - Don’t use cooking spray on your grill. Don’t use a paper or cloth towel. Dip the onion in the oil, and use this to lubricate and season your grates.
• Tongs - I like tongs that are springy enough to release quickly, but not so springy that my hand gets tired using them. I like enough teeth on the ends to firmly grasp the food, but not so sharp that they bite into and shred the food. Most important, I like thick metal tongs that won’t go soft and flexy when they get hot.
• Spatula - Just like the tongs, you want a thick metal spatula. Thin metal will flex, bend, and break if it gets too hot while cooking.
• Fork - Again, thick and sturdy. Built to take the heat. I use this primarily for the oil and onion listed above.
• Rake - A tool dedicated to breaking up, moving around, and sweeping the fire. I used to use my spatula, but a rake is so much better. I use it all the time.
• Basting brush - I prefer a silicone brush and / or a cotton mop. Natural hair brushes don’t last, especially when used over heat, and start to fall apart shedding hair into the food.
• Thermometer - You want something digital with a fast / instant read. You’ll see units ranging from $10 - $100, but you should target the $20 - $50 range for solid quality and good value. My Lavatools thermometer is my favorite I’ve tried.

Although not necessary, these convenient accessories see a lot of use on my patio:

• Grill basket - simply an alternative to your grate. This allows you cook smaller items that don’t work on a flat open grate, while still exposing them to the open fire and smoke.
• Wood chip soaker - this keeps your chips under the water while soaking, so you don’t have dry chips floating on top.
• Meat hook - I use this as an alternative to tongs when I’m grilling large cuts or large amounts of meat. This allows me to quickly move food on, off, and around the grill without the constant squeezing of the tongs. Very handy in certain situations.
• Meat claws - great for shredding pork butt or beef brisket. Also really great for moving very large cuts. Since these don’t have a long handle, you just have to be aware that your hands and arms will be close to the fire if you use these over the grill.
• Dedicated grilling knives and scissors - you can certainly use the knives from your kitchen. But I love having a simple set (only includes a carver / slicer knife, a flexible boning knife, a small utility knife, and a pair of meat shears) that I keep in my grilling table always at the ready.
• Spray bottle - using water on your coals is a last resort and short term fix for flare ups and other mishaps. But sometimes a quick fix is all you need and super handy to have ready.
• Wood grill scraper - after grilling, I use this to scrape large bits of food off the grates, and let the fire burn everything else off. I try to avoid using wire brushes and cleaning chemicals on my grills.
• Wood planks - a great way to infuse extra flavor and/or keep delicate food (like a whole salmon) intact while moving on and off the grill.
• Kerchief - soaking this down and tying around your neck or over your face can be a lifesaver when the heat and smoke get too intense.

Additional tools that I only use occasionally / rarely:

• Grilling stones - fun to use, but easy to crack if you’re not careful. Also, since these create a barrier between the open fire and the food, they limit the flavor impact you get from a great wood fire.
• Silicon mat - similar to the grilling stones. Handy for certain situations, but I rarely use these.
• Extra lighting - great if you travel with a grill and/or don’t have enough light in your yard.
• Grill Brush - like I said earlier, I try to avoid using these (I prefer a wood scraper and the fire itself to clean the grill). That said, there are a few occasions where a little extra grit is required.
• Skewers - I prefer flat and wide skewers to the round style. This way, the food doesn’t roll around on the wire.
• Cast iron pan and wok - Can open options for you over your grill, but like the stones, they create a barrier between the open fire and the food, which kind of misses the point.
• Smoker box - especially handy for gas grills that don’t have the flavors of wood and charcoal. Also useful in a lot of indirect cooking recipes.

Finally some of my favorite grilling (and BBQ) cookbook references include:

• Weber’s Charcoal Grilling, The Art of Cooking with Live Fire by Jamie Purviance (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If you only buy one grilling book, feel confident about making it this one).
• The Cook’s Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue by Cook’s Illustrated Magazine Editors (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. In depth and exceptionally reliable information that helps you understand why certain techniques succeed, which helps you expand your own skill set and personal innovation.)
• Charred and Scruffed by Adam Perry Lang
• Essentials of Grilling by Williams-Sonoma
• Feeding the Fire by Joe Carroll
• Franklin Barbecue by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay
• Smoke & Spice by Cheryl and Bill Jamison

Hopefully there’s enough here to get a new griller started and to make a seasoned griller excited to jump back in and learn something new. In both cases, stay tuned, I’ll be back with more favorite tips and tricks for becoming a Grillmaster!