Sure, the Fourth of July has passed, but we still have a couple months of lovely summer left, and what goes better with summer than throwing some food on the barbie and chowin’ down? Oh, and some beers. Afraid of the BBQ? Don’t even know where to begin? Used to letting the guys take care of it?

Ladies, grilling isn’t just for the boys! You too can become a master griller and show up those braggarts who claim the grill is man territory.

I learned how to grill at a young age because my dad is a phenomenal griller (his BBQ ribs are some of the best you’ll ever have…not that you will be having them anytime soon) and taught me the tricks of the trade right from the womb. The truth is, grilling is easy…as long as you know the rules. So, here they are.

There are two kinds of barbecuing: direct and indirect heat.
Direct heat is when you place the food directly over the source of heat/open flame. This type of grilling is best for thinner cuts of meat and items such as hot dogs, bratwurst, burgers, fish and pork chops.
Indirect heat is when you grill items outside of the main source of heat so they cook at a slower pace, more thoroughly, and without burning the outside of the meat. This is used for thicker pieces of meat such as whole chickens, beef and pork roasts. (Note: most of the “basic grilling” people do uses the direct heat method.)

For smaller cuts of meat (like burgers, hot dogs and flattened chicken breasts), you only need 4-10 minutes of cook time (2-5 minutes per side) based on the thickness of the meat. For steaks thicker than ¾ inches, you need anywhere from 8-12 minutes depending on the rareness you desire. For larger pieces of meat, like ribs and roasts, you can need up to an hour on indirect heat, so plan accordingly.

A major grilling no-no that happens all too often is over-flipping. People seem to want something to do with their hands, and so they constantly flip the meat. This is the biggest mistake you can make. Only flip the meat once; that allows the heat to better reach through the meat and to give your meat a more thorough heating. Also, do NOT flip with a fork, as piercing the meat causes juices to escape; only use a spatula or tongs. If you follow these rules, you can do no wrong, which will impress all those beefy (pun intended) grilling guys.

And a couple more great grilling tips…

-Marinades are more than delicious - they tenderize the meat, as well. You can do all sorts of different mixtures with them, just make sure they contain an acidic ingredient like wine, vinegar, citrus juices, etc. in order to soften the tissues of the meat. If you use a tender cut of meat, you only need to marinate for a couple of hours, but for larger and tougher cuts, be sure to marinate for several hours or overnight. And ALWAYS marinate in the refrigerator (leaving meat out for long periods of time = gross). A great marinade I make is BBQ sauce, beer, a splash of teriyaki sauce, garlic and a dash of salt & pepper. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, you can find a plethora of marinade recipes by clicking here.

-If you aren’t a fan of large slabs of meat, you can also have fun grilling veggies. Corn, zucchini, portabella mushrooms, eggplant, peppers and a host of other veggies (and even fruits) can be cooked on the grill and are a great and healthy accompaniment to a meal, or even as a main course.

And for more in-depth grilling tips, go to http://grillingtips.com

[Photo courtesy of flickr.com]