Grilling Tips For Beginners – My Personal 10 tips

The 10 top grilling tips for beginners I mention here work for all types of grills.
For electric grills, gas grills, or charcoal grills.

You can also start reading my basics on how to use a charcoal grill. The ultimate guide.

1

Clean Your Grill Before Or After Using It.

Nothing is more frustrating than having done all your preparations and then finding out that you forgot to clean the grill the last time you used it.

Make sure to do this right after using it while the grill is still hot.

This makes it a lot easier. If you cannot do it at that time, make sure to heat it up and clean it before you use it. A hot grill is easier to clean if you use a quality grill brush.

2

Prepare Everything You Need To Grill

Ever been in a situation where you were ready to put your meat on the grill and forgot something?

I have learned the hard way to stay organized and have my plan ready.
Make sure not to wait till the last moment for a cookout.

Even a simple burger can be ruined by not being prepared enough. One of the things I like is a good outdoor grill table to make it easier on me.

3

Buy Good Quality Meat.

I know, it all costs money, and money does not grow on trees. However, if you spend money on charcoal, gas, or plug in your electric grill, you are spending money already.
Buy some quality meat to improve overall cooking.

The meat, after all, ends up on your plate.

4

Heat Up Your Grill.

No matter what kind of grill you use, make sure to heat it up before even thinking about putting meat on it.

Too low or too high a temperature can ruin a good piece of meat in minutes.

Let the charcoal burn until they have a grey layer on it and all the real flames are gone.

With a gas or electric grill, read the manual and guidelines about the time to heat up the grill.

5

Have 2 Temperature Zones

This is also called indirect grilling and can be tricky on a gas or electric grill with only one burner or element.

But by placing a little pan with water on one side of the grill under the grate, you can keep the temperature a little lower there.

This will give you the opportunity, if you have a flare-up, to move the meat away from the heat and keep it in a cooler spot on the grill.

You can also use the hot side to sear and the cooler side to cook a little slower. With charcoal grills, just leave a spot with no charcoal to keep a cooler spot.

6

Use Additive-Free Charcoal

I see so many brands of charcoal in stores that use additives in their charcoal. Let’s be honest. Additives are not good in anything you eat. If you grill your meat with additives in the charcoal, this will get in the meat and your system.

I am no health freak, but I try to avoid simple things like these additives.

I also highly recommend not using lighter fluid to start a grill. There are many other ways to start a charcoal grill without lighter fluid.

Eddie’s Tip! I like using my charcoal chimney. learn here how to use a charcoal chimney.

7

Oil Your Grill Grates

The opinions about oiling your grates are divided into 2 sides. Yes and no.
It is my experience that oiling your grates with a little vegetable or olive oil makes the meat not stick to the grates so badly.

This sticking, however, also has to do with preheating your grill to the right temperature.

8

Use A Meat And Grill Thermometer

This might be one of the most important tips I can give you.

Use a quality meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of your meat.
And if you want to go all out, buy a second one to check the grill temperature at the grate level.

Using a grill thermometer has improved my personal grill results enormously

9

Let Your Grilled Meat Rest

After cooking, make sure to let your meat rest for at least a few minutes. This will give all the juices the chance to flow back into the meat, and this can improve your cooking big time.

Eddie’s Tip! I wrote a whole article about resting and holding meat like a pro.

10

Keep A Log Of Your Grilling

When I started with grilling, I did everything by memory, but now I have a little book where I write down all the tweaks and changes I did while grilling.

Later on, I put it all on my computer for the next time. After I started doing this, I have seen a big improvement in my results.

These are just 10 tips to improve your grilling. I can give, or find you many more tips, but with these 10 grilling tips, you can improve the quality of your grilling without breaking the bank or overthinking it.

Here is a video for some more tips on how to improve your grilling

Feel like reading more? Click on my how-to grill tips. If you have any additional tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section or contact us.

Eddie van Aken

Eddie van Aken brings years of experience from running a full-service restaurant, where he honed his skills with all types of kitchen equipment. His expertise extends to mastering the art of outdoor cooking, utilizing the right recipes to enhance flavors on grills and smokers. Eddie’s in-depth knowledge allows him to provide comprehensive grill reviews and valuable outdoor cooking tips, helping enthusiasts make the most of their grilling adventures. You can read more on the About page for Eddie van Aken