Recipes, cooking tips for grilling season

The grill has been hosed down. The gas tank is fully loaded. The steaks are marinating in the secret sauce. Let the backyard-grilling season begin.

In addition to recipes worthy of a social barbecue, we've gathered tips to help you get through a summer of outdoor eating. On your mark, get set, grill!

General grilling tips

1. For direct grilling, place food right over the fire. Start food over the hottest zone and move it to a cooler zone to finish cooking after it's seared.

2. For indirect grilling on a charcoal grill, rake embers into two piles at opposite sides of the grill. Place an aluminum foil drip pan in the center. Place food on grate in the center.

3. For indirect grilling on a gas grill, light one side to high. Cook on the other side.

4. Barbecue means slow and low. To do it on a grill, use the indirect-grilling instructions above to get a lower temperature.

5. For more complex flavors, soak hardwood (hickory, maple, apple) chips or chunks in water with beer or other flavored liquid for one hour, then drain. Toss the chips on the coals or wrap in a perforated aluminum foil packet and place near a gas burner. Run the gas grill at high until you see smoke. Then lower the heat and cook food.

Best beef choices

1. For burgers, buy ground beef with some fat in it. Usually, about 10 percent fat is best for flavor and juiciness.

2. Rib steak, lightly marbled with fat, is tender and juicy.

3. Flank steak has great flavor, but it can be tough, so lightly score it on both sides at an angle across the grain and marinate it for at least an hour before grilling.

4. Tri-tip is lean and tender with little waste. It takes on the flavors of a good rub or marinade. Cook it quickly to prevent shrinkage. One will serve about four hungry people.

5. Tenderloin is one of the most tender cuts, and it's a good choice for inexperienced grillers.

Grilling tips for beef

1. Use tongs or a spatula instead of a fork to turn beef. Forks pierce the surface and allow juices to escape.

2. Allow meat to come to room temperature before placing it on the grill. Placing cold meat on a hot grill can make it tough.

3. Marinate for at least an hour but no more than 24 hours; otherwise, the meat will get mushy. Beer, by the way, makes a great marinade.

4. When using a rub, apply it at least an hour or two before grilling to allow the flavors to penetrate the meat.

5. Buy the best quality you can afford. USDA Prime is the best. If that's not available, buy Choice.

Best pork options

1. Ribs are at the top of the pork list. Spare ribs are fattier but also have more meat than baby backs and are less expensive. Baby backs, though, are usually more tender.

2. Boneless pork butt makes for great sandwiches. Use a rub for extra flavor, and add a drip pan to the grill to prevent flares. One roast takes three to four hours at medium heat.

3. Tenderloin cooks quickly on a grill. Turn it frequently to prevent burning. An average tenderloin of 1 1/2 pounds takes about 20 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 170 degrees.

4. Double-thick pork loin chops are juicy and tender. Sear them about two minutes per side, then reduce the heat, close the lid and slow roast them for about 15 minutes.

5. Boneless loin roast is great when cut into cubes and used for kebabs.

Grilling tips for pork

1. Trim fat to avoid flare-ups.

2. To prevent burning a sweet sauce, apply it at the very end of grilling time.

3. Don't parboil your ribs because you'll just boil away all the flavor.

4. Grill pork ribs slowly over indirect medium heat rib side down for about one and a half to two hours. Use direct heat for small cuts and indirect heat for larger cuts like a tenderloin.

5. Cook until the internal temperature is 170 degrees.

Best vegetable options

1. Brush asparagus with olive oil. Grill it just until it develops dark grill marks.

2. Artichokes turn sweet and tender when grilled.

3. Eggplant slices are simple. Just brush the slices with oil and grill until lightly browned. Then top with tomato slices and grated cheese.

4. Corn on the cob is king of the grill. Pull husks down, but leave them attached. Remove the silks, then pull the husks back over the cob. Soak the corn in water about 15 minutes, and then grill until it's hot and looks charred.

5. Potatoes and onions are simple to cook in a foil packet. Add a pat of butter or oil and a sprinkle of your favorite herbs.

Grilling tips for vegetables

1. Before grilling, parboil hard vegetables, such as artichokes or potatoes, to help them cook faster.

2. Don't salt vegetables before grilling; it's believed that salt causes them to release water and makes them dry out faster.

3. Small vegetables or small pieces of vegetables should be cooked in a grill pan, in a basket or on a wooden plank to prevent them from falling through the grate.

4. When making skewers, use vegetables with similar textures that require the same amount of grill time.

5. When grilling vegetables on wooden skewers, soak the skewers in water about 15 minutes before threading on the vegetables, and wrap the tips of the skewers in foil to prevent them from burning.

Best poultry options

1. Whole chickens are much less expensive than pieces. You can either roast them whole or use chicken shears to split them down the middle along the backbone and lay them flat on the grill.

2. If you prefer to buy chicken pieces, you can't go wrong. Pick and choose your favorite parts.

3. Whole turkeys. Why wait for Thanksgiving?

4. Game hens. They cook in about one hour and are a bit easier to handle than a whole turkey or chicken.

5. Boneless turkey breast. Use indirect medium heat to prevent them from drying out. Try not to take the lid off the grill too often.

Grilling tips for poultry

1. Oil the grill before placing the chicken on it to prevent sticking.

2. Boneless chicken pieces should not be marinated much longer than 15 or 30 minutes, otherwise they will get mushy.

3. If you baste chicken with the marinade it was soaked in, stop basting 10 minutes before the chicken is done to allow the marinade time to rise to a safe temperature.

4. Poultry should be grilled to an internal temperature of 165 degrees, which will take about 35 to 40 minutes for large pieces with a bone and about 12 to 15 minutes for most boneless pieces.

5. When grilling boneless, skinless chicken breasts, use direct heat. For other pieces or whole birds, slow cooking with indirect heat and lower temperatures works best.

Best fish options

1. Large shrimp and scallops are easy to cook on skewers or in a fish basket.

2. Tuna steaks are firm enough to cook directly on the grill without falling apart.

3. Snapper or other white fish fillets are delicate, so cook them in foil packets or on a plank.

4. Salmon steaks or fillets should be turned just once during grilling to keep them from falling apart. Brush them liberally with oil to prevent sticking.

5. Halibut, like tuna, is firm enough to cook directly on the grate.

Grilling tips for fish

1. Marinate no longer than two hours, otherwise fish will get mushy.

2. When cooking fish in a foil packet, leave enough space in the packet to allow fish to steam as it cooks.

3. Wrap fish with Prosciutto or bacon to keep it from drying out.

4. Always brush the grate with oil or spray it with nonstick cooking spray designed for high heat to prevent fish from sticking.

5. Cooking fish on a cedar plank is a great way to add flavor.

Sources: "Weber's Charcoal Grilling: The Art of Cooking With Live Fire" by Jamie Purviance (Sunset Books); "Barbecue Nation: 350 Hot-off-the-Grill, Tried-and-True Recipes From America's Backyard" by Fred Thompson (Taunton Press); "Barbecue! Bible Sauces, Rubs and Marinades" by Steven Raichlen (Workman Publishing); and "King of the Q's Blue Plate BBQ" by Ted Reader (Penguin Group).