5 Tips to Become a Grill Master

After years of throwing barbecues for Steak Club, here are the 5 tips to become a Grill Master.

It’s only by learning from mistakes that we continue to grow.

Thus, learning from earlier mistakes (and thankfully saved by the quality of our beef), I became a grill master.

But first a little bit of education.

It should be noted, that grilling is very different from barbecue.

Grilling involves cooking tender, fatty cuts of beef, over a hot flame. This is “normally” a fast process (depending on the cut of the size of course (more on this below).

As for barbecue, you can check out the other post I’ve created at -> How to smoke brisket.  

So…here goes…

1. Preparing the barbecue

Your grill or barbecue is your all-in-one kitchen, the centerpiece of any outdoor barbecue.

Whether you’re using an open top barbecue, grill weber, or in our case offset smoker, there are some rules when it comes to becoming a grill master.

The first is to do a thorough cleaning of the grill. You can either use vinegar to scrub off old residue, or the more efficient preferred method of scraping off residue at high temperatures while you’re waiting for the beef to rest. 

2. Preparing the Fire & Timing

Preparing the fire (if you have gas, you’re missing out on the flavor) is where most people get their timing wrong.

When people arrive to your barbecue, they’re hungry.

Missing the agreed to meal-time (I normally serve 1 hour after the start of the event) will only give you added stress from hungry friends.

So here are two suggestions. 

The first, use briquettes (brykiet), not wooden coal (węgiel drewny). These will last longer, and give you a much higher temperature -> this will guarantee the perfect grilled steak.

The second, buy yourself a chimney starter. This will cut down the time of getting coals started from 30-40 min., down to 10 min.

3. Temperature Control & Preparing 

Did you purchase briquettes as instructed? Good.

Now the key to not burning the meat (or buns for that matter), is to setup two temperature zones.

Let’s call one, the hot zone (1), and the second, the warm zone (2).

The overall temperature of the barbecue should be 250°C-280°C.

However, by putting the coals to one side (not in the middle), you can adjust what needs to go where. 

If something is burning but not yet cooked through (especially true with thick steaks, check Step 4), move what you’re cooking to the warm zone until done.

A good example of this is placing burger buns into the warm zone (2) 

In addition, to achieve grill master perfection, there are a two more steps to take when preparing your cuts for the grill.

First, do not put cold meat onto the grill! Let the beef come to room temperature (you can only do this with beef/ruminants), as this will ensure an even cook throughout.

Second, season your beef with salt before & pepper after.

The larger the cut, the more seasoning you should add. This simple combination will bring out the full potential of that beefy flavor (beef fat is the second factor).