But this pleasing simplicity is nicely balanced by a certain complexity—at least when you're cooking with live fire, which is what our experience is all about. Since each live fire is slightly different from every other one, there's always the potential for ruining your dinner if you don't pay attention and follow certain simple guidelines. So here are some tips for making the right choices along the road to grilled nirvana.
Fuel for the Fire: Those familiar pillow-shaped charcoal briquettes are a perfectly adequate fuel, with the dual advantages of being available practically everywhere and providing a steady, even heat. Their disadvantage, though, is that they are made from rather low-quality powdered charcoal combined with binders. So an even better choice, if you can find it, is hardwood charcoal. Made by the traditional process, this kind of charcoal is almost pure carbon, so it lights more easily and burns hotter and cleaner. We also like using small hardwood logs as supplementary fuel. If you shove one of these into the edge of a glowing charcoal fire, you'll have a portion of the fire that keeps going much longer than charcoal, plus you'll also get some nice wood-smoke flavor.
Give Yourself Options: When you construct your fire, always leave about one quarter of the grill free of charcoal. That way, if your food begins to burn on the outside before it's done on the inside, or if there are flare-ups, you can move it to edge of the fire, in the first instance, or to the area with no fire, in the second.
Fire It Up: The quickest, easiest, and most reliable way to start a charcoal fire is a chimney starter, which works every time. Despite its bad reputation, lighter fluid is also a perfectly fine choice, so long as you let it all burn off before putting food over the coals. Hell, you can just put some newspaper under the charcoal if that's all you have. Whichever starting method you choose, the process will be easier if you remember that you don't have to ignite all the charcoal. Just get a couple of pieces glowing, and they will in turn light all the rest.
How Hot Is It? Not all food should be cooked over the same fire: If you put a delicate fish fillet over a very hot fire, for example, it's going to be incinerated on the outside before it's done on the inside. So always check your fire temperature before you start to cook. To do so, wait until the flames are gone and the charcoal is all covered with gray ash, then put your hand about five inches above the grill grid, palm side down. If you can hold it there for five to six seconds, you have a low fire; three to four seconds is within the medium range; and one to two seconds means you have a hot fire.
Cover-up: The covered grill is a marvelous invention because it allows you to smoke-roast, barbecue, and even cold-smoke in your backyard. But too many grillers overuse the cover. Here's our basic rule: Don't use the cover when you are cooking directly over the coals. It gives the food an off flavor, which we believe comes from the fat that drips directly onto the coals, vaporizes, and is trapped inside the cover. Of course, when you are smoke-roasting or otherwise cooking by indirect heat on your grill, covering is no problem; just remember to leave that cover off when you're doing direct-heat grilling.
Is It Done Yet? The ability to judge doneness is a skill that separates a merely good cook from a great one. This is particularly true when grilling; since each fire is different, the cooking times given in recipes are only approximate. Testing for doneness early and often is therefore crucially important.
Because proteins become firmer as they cook, very experienced cooks can judge the degree of doneness of a piece of meat or fish simply by prodding it with a finger. We recommend you try this every time you grill, and eventually you'll get the feel of it. In the meantime, simply pick up one of whatever you are cooking, nick it slightly with a knife so you can look inside, then take a peek at the interior to check its state of doneness. It doesn't get much easier—or more accurate—and the tiny amount of juice you may lose is insignificant when set against the prospect of serving raw or burned food.
Also remember that food continues to cook a bit even after it's off the fire. To allow for this carryover cooking, take that steak off when it looks rare if you want it medium-rare.
That's it—now go forth and grill.