Free I'm Just Here for the Food by Alton Brown

contamination.
• Flip burgers only once.
• For a burger that’s medium-rare (130° F), cook 4 minutes per side. For a burger that’s medium (150° F), cook 5 minutes per side. Anything beyond medium just ain’t worth cooking.
     
     
FAVORITE GRILLABLE FRUITS
     
It used to be that once my steaks, chops, ribs, whatever, had come off the fire, I felt a little guilty—seemed like such a waste to let the fire just die without putting anything else on it. Now whenever I grill I make sure I have some fruit prepped to take advantage of those final BTUs. By the time dinner’s done, the fruit is soft with a little char—perfect for topping with ice cream or sorbet. Here are some fruits that work well on the grill:
• Peaches, halved, pit removed
• Pineapples, skin on, cut into long wedges
• Mangoes, the meaty cheeks only
• Bananas, whole in the peel (make slits to allow steam to escape)
• Grapefruit, halved and seared, then turned cut side up and sprinkled with sugar
• Honeydew melon, chunks can be skewered or long slices can be grilled Brush or spray the fruits with a neutral oil. This will prevent sticking, and the oil will help get high heat into the fruit.
     
Cooking times vary but I usually sear the cut sides over direct heat while I’m standing there, then turn the pieces cut side up, set them off direct heat, and leave them until the fire dies down. The sweeter the fruit the more I like to let it char… Ah, contrast.
     

HOW TO GRILL BY INDIRECT HEAT
     
    On the surface, the use of indirect heat or grill-roasting would seem to be no more than an imitation of cooking in an oven. After all, we’re talking hot air and an enclosed space—sounds like an oven to me. So why is it that grill-roasted foods taste so much better than anything that ever came out of an oven? Well, I’m here to tell you why: magic!
     
    Okay, there’s a little more to it, but we’ll come back to magic later. Here are some unique characteristics of grill-roasting to consider:
• It’s a truly dry method (as noted earlier, the burning of natural gas produces some water; electric coils do not).
• The heat source is mobile (so far, no one has come up with a home range or oven in which the heat source itself can be moved around).
• Smoke: Even if a great majority of the volatiles have been driven out of the charcoal there still are compounds being released. Add a few smoke-creating elements, and you’re really onto something.
     
    Indirect grilling is suitable for just about anything that will fit on the grates. No, you don’t want to bake a pie here, but you should try a wide range of plant life from onions to bananas in the peel. Chiles are especially wonderful when their heat is tempered by smoke. Other veggies I grill are asparagus, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, leeks, and carrots.
RED, WHITE, AND WHAT THEY CHEW
     
Somewhere along the line “red” meat got a bad reputation, while “white” meat was deemed healthful. But should we really judge an animal by the color of its flesh? What makes red meat red and white meat white? Grazing animals, like cattle, eat grass. Grass contains iron, which fuels myoglobin, which in turn tints red meat red. Non-grazing animals, such as pigs, don’t eat grass; they primarily eat corn, and therefore their flesh is lighter in color.
     
Master Profile: Grilling
     
Heat type: dry
 
     
Mode of transmission: The metal cooking grate acts like a heat antennae, carrying heat to the food via conduction.
 
Rate of transmission: high
 
Common transmitters: Glowing coals, ceramic rocks, calrod, gas flame
 
Temperature range: very low to very high
 
Target food characteristics:
• Meats, fruits, vegetables, and doughs that profit from some degree of surface browning and/or smoke exposure
     
Non-culinary use: space heaters—but never inside
WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO ADD TO THE GRILL FOR INDIRECT COOKING
     
• probe-style thermometer
• hinged cooking grate that allows coals to be added