- Although steaks can be eaten rare, hamburgers must always be cooked thoroughly to kill any bacteria in the ground meat. You can use a meat thermometer or simply cut the meat in the middle to see if it is cooked enough. For larger or tougher pieces of meat like pork shoulder and beef brisket, grill them over indirect heat, meaning on a higher grill shelf or to the side of the grill away from the hottest part. This will cook the meat more slowly and ensure that it becomes tender. All meat should be thoroughly defrosted before grilling it to ensure even cooking, but keep it refrigerated until you are ready to put it on the grill.
- When grilling chicken, it is important to use a meat thermometer to make sure the inside temperature is high enough to kill any bacteria. If the pieces of poultry still have their skin, take extra care not to burn it. The fat from chicken skin, particularly on dark meat joints, drips down and causes the grill to flare up, which can burn the meat. If this happens, turn the temperature down if possible, move the pieces to the side away from a direct flame, and have a spray bottle of water handy to tame big flare-ups if necessary. If you are using barbecue sauces that contain a high level of sugar, as most store-bought barbecue sauces do, then brush them onto the poultry only near the end of the grilling time. Otherwise the sugars in the sauce have a tendency to burn and will leave your grilled poultry with a bad taste.
- Many types of fish are flaky and cannot be grilled whole or they will fall apart. To grill these types of fish, such as cod and halibut, either use a grilling basket to hold the fish, or wrap the whole fish in a foil parcel and place this on the grill. For firmer fish like swordfish and trout, you can place the whole fish, steak or fillet directly onto the grill. Brush the rack with a little oil first to prevent the fish from sticking and try to only flip it once. Shellfish like shrimp and lobster can also be placed directly on the grill if they are big enough to not fall through. Keep your eye on them as they will not take very long to cook. Even big shrimp will only need a few minutes on each side and are done as soon as they turn pink.
- Vegetables can be cooked in several ways on an outdoor grill. They can be chopped into pieces and skewered to make kebabs, placed in a grilling basket, or wrapped into a foil package. Large, firm vegetable pieces, like corn cobs, bell peppers and onion wedges can be placed directly onto the grill, but check and turn them often and baste with oil to make sure they do not burn. If you are cooking more than one type of vegetable together, consider the different cooking times of the vegetables. If you skewer a large piece of onion, raw potato, a mushroom and slice of bell pepper together to cook, the potato and onion will still be hard by the time the mushroom and pepper are cooked, so it is better to make separate skewers and start the firmer vegetables first.
