4. START COOKING, USING THESE RECIPES

Your new grill can be a source of healthy eating, or (with the application of enough greasy, fatty sauces) a source of heart attacks. It all depends on your eating habits, and what your taste buds crave.

A few general grilling tips:

  • Cooking times will vary depending on your grill. Most grills come with a cookbook, or charts that list suggested cooking times for that particular grill.

  • Precook ribs, thick cuts of meat, and whole turkeys indoors before grilling.

  • Let frozen meat defrost as much as possible before throwing it on the grill. It'll taste better that way.

  • Trim excess fat from meat before cooking to minimize flare-ups - and your waistline.

  • Brush barbecue sauces and glazes on only during the last several minutes of grilling; if they splatter and drip down on the flames, the sugar in them can cause flare-ups and smoke.

  • If your meat gets burned or charred, simply cut away the blackened portion (unless you like it that way).

  • Try to practice a few times before you start cooking for people you care about… as with any other activity, a little practice will go a long way.

While it's possible to get fancy with your grill and create mouthwatering, gourmet-style meals, we've decided to start simple. Just for you grilling novices, we've compiled a list of the most popular grill-friendly foods, along with simple instructions on how to cook 'em.

Hamburgers
Hot Dogs
Chicken
Steak
Vegetables

Hamburgers

Although you may be tempted to buy those pre-formed frozen burger patties, we recommend that you buy fresh ground beef (a.k.a. "chopped meat") and form your own damn patties. And make that chuck ground beef while you're at it, with a fat content of around 20%. Here's how to start:

  1. Mash the meat into tight balls (about the size of a baseball).

  2. Press them firmly into little flat cakes, about ½ inch to ¾ inch thick.

  3. Place them on medium-hot grill.

  4. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes for each side (depending on how bloody or charred you want them).

  5. Turn them over when you suspect that one side is getting burned. You'll be able to tell.

  6. Resist the temptation to press down on your burgers with a spatula during cooking. All that does is encourage flare-ups and dry out the meat. It also can make the meat stick to the grill, making it tough to turn over.

  7. If you want to add cheese, do so during the last minute or so.

  8. Make sure that you cook until there isn't any bright red meat. We don't want you eating any nasty bacteria.

Hot Dogs

Hot dogs are a cinch. It's ideal to grill fresh dogs, but if yours are frozen, defrost them first for a few minutes in a pot of boiling water first. Here's the drill:

  1. With a sharp knife, ever so slightly slice the top of each hot dog a couple of times, to make sure that the insides cook nicely.

  2. Throw them on a medium-hot grill.

  3. Cook hot dogs until they're slightly blistered on all sides (approximately 5 minutes).

  4. Turn them frequently.

  5. Invite us over to help you eat them.

Chicken

Grilling chicken is challenging because it needs to be cooked long enough so that the inside is THOROUGHLY done (ever hear of salmonella?) without the outside being burned. Here's the recipe:

  1. Make sure the chicken is dead. And plucked.

  2. Throw the chicken onto a medium-hot grill.

  3. Cook for between 30 and 45 minutes.

  4. Turn every 10 minutes.

  5. If you're doing thin chicken cutlets, that time can be decreased slightly.

  6. Brush the chicken with BBQ sauce (or a sauce of your choice) during the last 10 minutes.

  7. To check and see if your bird is done, cut into the thickest part of the meat. It should have turned a white color. If the juices run clear, you're good to go.

Steak

The best steaks for grilling are no thicker than 1½ inches, and have narrow streaks of fat running through them.

  1. For optimum flavor, marinate your raw steaks in the refrigerator for approximately 2 hours before grilling (by "marinate," we mean stick them in a bowl of your favorite sauce or dressing, like teriyaki or red wine).

  2. Throw those babies on a hot (setting = high) grill. You should hear a sizzle.

  3. Cook for about 5 to 10 minutes for each side.

  4. Again, don't go the bloody-red route. While rare steak may taste good, it's a major health risk.

Vegetables

Nearly any vegetable can be prepared on the grill. The biggest problem is that they take kinda long to cook. Speed the process by parboiling your veggies indoors until they are nearly done. Then brush them with a good oil and sprinkle them with seasonings. Now, on to the grilling:

  1. Put them on a medium-hot grill.

  2. You can thread a variety of vegetables on skewers to make them easier to manage, or you can cut large veggies in half and grill them individually.

  3. The best veggies for grilling are tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, squash, and, of course, corn on the cob.

  4. Turn the vegetables frequently, as they burn easily.

  5. Vegetables should be removed when they can be easily pierced with a fork.