Introduction

If you have ever sacrificed a rack of ribs to the incendiary powers of a backyard grill, or tried to convince yourself that “black and crusty” is exactly how you like your chicken, then you know firsthand the ambiguous art of cooking over an open flame. The problem is not always a lack of skill; it may be a lack of understanding. Many of us operate under the delusion that grilling is little more than throwing the desired number of edible items over a blaze and sitting back until they heat through. However, cooking outdoors, without the high-tech benefits of things like thermostats and heavy-gauge saucepans, requires greater vigilance and knowledge than anything demanded from indoor cooking.