The Thick of It

We call it the Grilling Paradox. Cooking over live fire is about as primal, as simple, as basic as it gets. For us, no cooking experience can quite match serving a subtly smoky bluefish or a fire-singed porterhouse that’s been prepared over a glowing bed of coals using nothing more technologically advanced than a grill grid, two cinder blocks, and a bag of hardwood charcoal.

So why is it that grilling inspires an endless wave of gimmicks, gadgets, and gizmos? A recent visit we made to a kitchen supply Web site turned up more than 380 entries under “Grilling Equipment,” from the downright silly (a multipronged device designed to cook a dozen hot dogs simultaneously) to the merely superfluous (a meat fork with a thermometer embedded in it). In the name of supposed ease, innovators seem hell-bent on destroying the atavistic pleasure of the grill.

As strict adherents of the “less is more” school of grilling, we hesitate to add to a backyard cook’s list of near-essential gear. We did, however, notice that one of our very favorite tools was conspicuously absent from the almost endless list of grilling doodads. This seemed particularly odd given that you will find it in the kitchen of any restaurant that has a live-fire grill. No, it’s not some technologically advanced electronic device or sleek, high-design European import. Look carefully, and somewhere close to the grill you’ll inevitably find a stack of dented, worn, smoke-blackened disposable aluminum pans. This cheap, flimsy item, found hanging on a peg in the kitchen supply aisle of every supermarket in America, is one of those chef’s secrets that few backyard grillers seem to set much store by, yet it paves the way to the holy grail of grilling: thick, substantial cuts of meat cooked so the outside has a dark, slightly crunchy, ultraflavorful crust, while the inside remains juicy and tender.

Where exactly does this humble accoutrement fit into the grilling repertoire? Obviously you don’t need it for classic grilling, which involves cooking thin pieces of food such as a sirloin steak or a skewer of shrimp directly over the flames. And there’s clearly no place for aluminum pans in what we call “smoke-roasting,” where large items like a leg of lamb or a whole chicken are cooked on a covered grill by indirect heat, often for several hours.

What you do need these pans for, though—at least if you want to get the best possible results—is those foods we think of as the “in-betweens.” From a superthick pork chop to a bone-in chicken breast to a small roast of lamb or beef, these items occupy the middle ground of grilling. Too thick to be cooked directly over the flames because they will be incinerated on the outside before they are cooked all the way through, they’re not particularly well suited to covered cooking, either. We like to put the cover over the flames only when we’re smoke-roasting something that needs to be on the grill for at least 45 minutes to cook through. Any less time than that, and the food ends up with a subtle but noticeable off flavor, vaguely metallic, with a kind of stale, soggy smokiness. Like most cooking times, this three-quarters of an hour prescription is somewhat arbitrary. But that is approximately how long it takes for the complex layered smoke flavor to overcome the “covered” flavor.

Putting a disposable pan over the food achieves the same mini-oven effect as putting on the grill cover. It slows down the direct-heat cooking of the outside of the food while allowing the ovenlike radiant heat to continue cooking the inside. In fact, the mini-oven effect is more intense when the food is enclosed in the small space under a pan than it is when the cover of the grill is closed. And there’s no off flavor.

Like most grilling processes, this “sear, move, and cover” technique is actually very simple. But there are a few basic requirements.

First, you’ll need to build a multilevel fire. After the charcoal is well lit, leave about one quarter of the grill vacant and spread the charcoal out across the rest of the area so that the coals are about three times higher on one side than on the other. This not only provides you with an area with no coals at all, it also gives you graduated heat along the area over the coals.

When the flames have died down and all the coals are coated with gray ash, check the temperature of the fire. To do this, hold your hand about 5 inches above the grill rack directly over the thickest layer of coals. If you can hold it there for 3 to 4 seconds but no more, you have a medium-hot fire, which we have found best for this technique.

Once the temperature is right, put the food on the grill, directly over the hottest part of the fire, and sear it really well on both sides. Don’t hurry this part of the process, because a good, strong sear is what gives grilled food much of its ineffable flavor. The time required will vary according to the size of what you are cooking, but it will generally be in the neighborhood of 8 to 12 minutes, turning once. If any flare-ups occur during searing, just move the food over a bit—don’t be tempted to close the cover or, even worse, to squirt the flare-up with water, since that sends up a plume of ash that will get on the food and give it (logically enough) an ashy flavor.

After the food is well seared, use your tongs to slide it across the grill until it’s just along the line between coals and no coals, but has no coals directly underneath it. What you are doing is switching from direct to indirect cooking, just as you would if you took a sauté pan off a burner and put it into the oven. Now cover the food with the aluminum pan and, turning it once, cook it until it is done to your liking.

Remember, too, that when cooking things this large, you need to let them rest a bit after they come off the grill. Don’t worry that they will cool off; carryover heat will continue to cook them, and covering them loosely with foil will keep them warm. If you are using a thermometer to check doneness, which is a good idea with larger items, remove the food from the heat when the thermometer registers about five degrees less than you want the final temperature to be.

Even if you are only a modest fan of grilling, we recommend you lay in a supply of disposable pans. Depending on the size and shape of what you’re cooking, you might need a big pie plate, a small rectangular pan, or even one of those giant roasting pans. The best idea is to keep some of each on hand. Your total bill, after all, will still be less than the cost of a contraption for cooking multiple hot dogs.

Perfect Timing