7 Grilling Tips for Beginners

The Grilling Story….Inspiration for Beginners

Learning to grill can be intimidating, but I believe is an essential cooking skill.  We are all beginners at some point and I hope the tips collected here in “7 Grilling Tips for Beginners”  that I have learned through the years will inspire your grilling skills.

I started grilling when I was in college.  I lived in a big apartment complex off of University of Texas campus.  It was a short walk across to the community pool to grill up some meats!  It sounds sort of funny when I think about it, but I guess I was attempting to cook healthier meals, and grilled meats have always had an appeal for giving great flavor without spending hours at the stove.  In those days, I was grilling pork chops and chicken quite a bit.  

After college, I continued grilling for myself, my roommate, and when we had a group of friends get together.  I would grill up enough that I could bring lunch to work every day, so people would see me at our community grill usually every Sunday night to prepare for the week.  I have grilled for our friends in our various dinner parties and themed events over the years.  And now we host other families at our home where I grill up steaks, ribs, or a variety of meats and veggies.  Never perfect at the beginning or even now, but ongoing grilling experience has allowed my skills to grow. 

#1 Grilling Tip for Beginners:  Grill with Confidence!

The best way to understand how to grill is just to try it and practice it!  I know many people, and it seems women especially, who feel intimidated by using the grill but really it’s nearly the same as cooking over the stove and in the oven.  You are always checking if the meat is done and you are controlling the time and temperature.  Once you realize that, it’s just about practicing it and learning how your grill cooks.  There are some other tricks and tips which I will also include here so that you have some tools to use.   I’m going to run through some ideas about the grill, but don’t think too hard about this.  Read through and then start using the basics to practice, come back to these thoughts when you have practiced a few times.

#2 Grilling Tip for Beginners:  Get to Know Your Grill.

One of the most important grilling tips for beginners is to get to know your grill.  You may have to get out the instructions manual or research online how to light your particular grill to get started.  There will be important specifics, such as if your grill is connected to a gas line that you need to turn on and off before and after grilling.  You may have a button that lights your grill or need to use a manual lighter.  Starting a charcoal grill is very different than starting a gas grill, as well.  Once you have that peice figured out, you can start to practice. 

As you practice, take note of how your grill cooks.  Does it run super hot when just at medium heat?  Or are there some areas of the grill that get hotter than others? 

#3 Grilling Tip for Beginners:  Start with Medium.

When I am firing up the grill to cook almost anything, I heat it to medium heat.   Just at medium heat, my grill will heat up to 450 – 500 degrees so it gets hot pretty quickly which could be too much heat for many cuts of meat.   Meaning, you might put the meat on at 500 and then it cooks the outside too fast for the inside, not allowing enough time to cook it thoroughly.  Then depending what meat I am cooking, I may turn it up or down from there.  Starting at medium heat allows me to get it heating up while I’m cooking  the rest of the meal and isn’t too low or too high by the time I come back to it.  

Ideal Grill Temperature:

For grilling anything, the grill needs to be at least at 300 – 350 or else it’s going to cook but not really obtain that grilled flavor as the grill is not hot enough.  

#4 Grilling Tip for Beginners: Practice on Your Grill.

As with most things, practice makes a difference. One of the most helpful grilling tips for beginners is to practice.

• Start by selecting a meat:  
  • Start with picking maybe 1 or 2 inexpensive types of meat and just grilling those  several times to get the hang of it.  One easy one to practice on would be a frozen or raw hamburger patty, pork chop, or chicken thighs.   
    
• Chicken Thighs:
  • Chicken thighs are an inexpensive but flavorful cut of the chicken.  Great for tacos, bowls, or straight off the grill.

• Burger Patties:
  • The frozen burger patties don’t always let you cook them to perfect medium-rare, or medium temperatures as sometimes they are thin but it’s a good meat to practice on.

#5 Grilling Tip for Beginners:  Practice with Something Cheap and Easy

Here is a practice example to follow using burger patties. They are inexpensive and therefore, if you overdo it, you won’t feel as badly.

Heat the grill to medium.

Let it reach 350 – 400 degrees on your grill.  If your grill is dirty from a previous cooking session, clean the grill with a metal grill brush while it is hot.

Close the grill again to allow it to get back to that 350-400 degrees.

Once hot again, put the hamburger patty on the grill.  Close the top.  Stay close by.  Usually for anything I put on the grill, after I close the top, I’ll check on it a minute or so later to make sure it’s not cooking too hot or catching on fire.  (If it’s catching on fire, I will open the lid and move the meat around a little bit so it doesn’t continue burning.)

Do not flip the meat unless absolutely necessary.

The lid being open will usually cool it down a bit and at that time it might be a good idea to turn the grill burner temperature down slightly.  Sometimes there can be excess grease which has dripped down into the grill over time, causing some unexpected flames.  Once it’s under control again, close the lid and let it finish cooking on that side.

Burger patties can cook pretty quickly.

In 3 – 4 minutes per side, the burger patty might be finished.  I would open the grill after 3 minutes and using a spatula, check how it looks on the side which has been grilling.  If it has some nice grill marks, flip it on the other side and close the grill.   If it still needs a little more time, let it cook another minute or so.

Once you have flipped it:

You’ve already cooked the meat half way through so it’s good to pay attention to the time.  Another 3 – 4 minutes should be sufficient. (This is assuming it’s a thin frozen patty so again depending on the thickness / thinness of the meat.  If it’s thicker, it may need another minute on each side).

After 3 minutes:

Open the grill and using a spatula check the other side for those nice grill marks.

If it seems done, pull it off the grill.  Or if you want to add cheese, add the cheese and close the top for 30 more seconds to allow it to melt a little.  Then scoop it up and serve.

Use this as a baseline for learning your grill and practice it a few times to feel more comfortable in how your grill cooks.  After this one feels comfy, let’s try a chicken thighs on the grill.

#6 Grilling Tip for Beginners:  Temperature Testing

Try not to cut into the meat.

One of the most important grilling tips for beginners: try not to cut into the meat.  There are many ways to monitor your meats when grilling, so don’t resort to cutting into it.   Often times you will see people cutting into the meat to check for doneness but this will not only change how that piece of meat is cooking, but it will also tend to dry out the meat and flavor that was cooking inside.  It’s best to let the meat cook and test doneness using a thermometer.   Then, if by chance it’s not done when you cut in to eat it, you can always put it back on the grill.  There are other methods to use, including the finger test, which I will outline in a future post.  But when you are starting out, the meat thermometer is a tried and true method.  With more experience, over time,  you’ll be able to trust your gut on when something is finished cooking.  

Using the Meat Thermometer, Use these Guidelines for Doneness:

Steak:  medium rare – 135 – 140 / medium – 135 – 145 / medium well 145 – 155 / well done – 155 – 165 

Chicken: 160 degrees

Pork: medium rare – 145 150 / medium – 150 – 155 / medium well 155 – 160 / well done – 160 degrees

#7 Grilling Tip for Beginners:  Practice Practice Practice

As a beginning griller, you may be second guessing yourself a lot.  We have all been there. Over time you will be able to judge the meat cooking time by the thickness and size to get an idea.  I adjust the temperature of the grill according to how fatty the meat is or if there is a marinade that might catch on fire.  If you have either one or both of these, set the temp to medium low so the meat doesn’t automatically catch on fire.  As you practice more, the timing and testing for doneness will get easier and easier!  I don’t consider myself a master griller, but I am the master griller in my house.  I love it and it is a great skill for day to day cooking as well as for entertaining.

Happy Grilling!