Even more than other cooking methods, grilling is an inexact science, adding the vagaries of live fire to the many standard variables. So the cooking times in grilling recipes are guidelines, not precise end points; you have to be able to decide for yourself when something should come off the fire. There are basically two ways to judge this. The first, which is used by professional chefs and very experienced grillers, might be called the "poke it" method. This time-honored technique relies on the fact that as proteins cook, they coagulate and become firmer. So when you poke whatever you're cooking, its firmness can tell you how done it is. This is a fine method for those who work with food all the time and can therefore evaluate one poke in the context of hundreds of others. For more casual cooks, it can be mystifying. Even so, it's worth trying every time you grill. For one thing, it will make you look like you know what you're doing. More importantly, if you keep at it, eventually you will know what you're doing. In the meantime, use the "nick and peek" method. As the name implies, you simply pick up one of whatever you are cooking and nick it with a knife so you can get a look at the center to see how done it is. Obvious, right? But many people don't do it. One reason is that they fear the juices escaping when they make the cut. Well, a very small amount of juice may escape, but that miniscule loss pales in comparison to serving raw or burned food. And be sure to test for doneness early and often. After all, your food is underdone for a long time; then a window of perfect doneness opens; then it shuts and the food is overdone forever. Jump through the window.
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