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Dry-heat cooking · intermediate

Grilling

Also: barbecuing (direct heat)

Cooking food on a grate directly over a strong heat source.

93 recipes use it

What it is

Grilling (American usage) means cooking over direct heat from gas, charcoal or a ridged grill pan. Food sits on bars that leave seared marks while radiant heat from below browns the surface. In British usage 'grill' often means the overhead element, which this library calls broiling.

Why cooks use it: Intense direct heat gives fast browning, char and smoky flavour from fat and juices dripping onto the heat source.

The science

Most heat arrives as infrared radiation from the coals or burners, with conduction where food touches hot bars. Fat dripping onto the heat vaporises and creates flavourful smoke. Thin pieces cook through before the surface burns; thick pieces need a cooler zone.

How heat moves into foodThe Maillard reactionHow proteins set when cookedFood-safety temperatures

Step by step

  1. Heat the grill or grill pan thoroughly (10–15 minutes) and clean the bars.

  2. Set up two zones if you can: one hot, one cooler.

  3. Pat food dry, oil the food rather than the grate, and season.

  4. Lay food on the hottest area and leave it until it releases easily.

  5. Turn once or twice; move thicker pieces to the cooler zone to finish.

  6. Check the internal temperature and rest meat a few minutes.

Heat and timing

  • Grilling 200–300 °C · Grate temperatures of roughly 200–300 °C; hold your hand about 12 cm above: 2–3 seconds is hot, 5–7 seconds is medium.

Time: 3–10 minutes for thin cuts and vegetables; longer with a cooler zone for bone-in pieces.

How you know it’s right

  • Food releases from the bars without tearing
  • Defined brown grill marks
  • Juices beading on the surface of steaks

Common mistakes

  • Turning too often
  • Pressing burgers and squeezing out juices
  • Sugary marinades burning before the inside cooks
  • Not preheating the grate

Troubleshooting

Food sticks
Preheat longer, clean the bars and wait until the crust forms before turning.
Burnt outside, raw inside
Move to the cooler zone and cover, or finish in the oven.
Flare-ups
Trim excess fat and move food away from the flames briefly; do not douse with water on a gas grill.

Restaurant DNA

How professionals do it

Restaurant grills usually run hot and cool zones permanently, and cooks move items across them by feel, often marking food on the grill and finishing in an oven.

At home

A heavy ridged grill pan or a two-zone kettle barbecue reproduces the same hot-and-cool logic.

General professional practice — not any particular restaurant’s recipe.

Food safety

  • Grill outdoors only; charcoal and gas give off carbon monoxide.
  • Use separate tongs and plates for raw and cooked meat.
  • Poultry to 74 °C; minced meat burgers to 71 °C.

Practise it

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