Helpful Hints
Craig Yaryan is a member of the Red Devil Chefs, a volunteer organization that grills a variety of meats (steaks, hamburgers, sausage links, chicken, hot dogs) for various organizations. After 15+ years of grilling over 7,000 steaks to various temperatures for large events, many times up to 300 at one time, Craig knows a thing or two about grilling steaks.
Cooking with Charcoal
Cooking with charcoal is a great way to cook, but it can get you into trouble. Quite often people will pour charcoal into their grill then apply lighter fluid and immediately light the briquettes. Before you know it, the charcoal has burnt off the lighter fluid prior to coming up to the proper cooking temperature. Then they will apply more lighter fluid to the hot coals. STOP! This is how people get themselves into a serious problem as the hot coals flame up and potentially burn the one who applied the lighter fluid. After several decades of grilling using charcoal, this is the way we get the coals to their proper temperature without the danger of burning yourself.
1. Pile up the charcoal in the grill into a single mound.
2. Generously apply the lighter fluid to the entire pile of charcoal. Make sure the charcoal is thoroughly soaked. Let stand for at least 10 minutes.
3. Safely light the coals and burn for another 10 minutes.
4. Once the outside of the coals has developed a white ash, you can now take a rake and evenly spread them out.
Cooking to temperature
Cooking meat to a certain internal temperature is very important, not only for food safety but also for the specific taste of your guest. The most accurate way to accomplish this is to use a meat thermometer. When checking the temperature, always insert the thermometer horizontally into the side of the meat. If you insert the thermometer vertically into the meat you run the risk of getting the probe too close to the grill the meat is sitting on thereby giving you a false reading. Click Link below for a meat temperature guide.
