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Knowledge

Here we take an in-depth look at the science of cooking, different styles of cooking available to the outdoor chef, and cover tips and techniques from knife skills to fire control, from resting meat to brining and dry aging.

We also discuss many cuts of meat, herbs and spices, food preparation, and storage of ingredients.

It’s all critical ‘must-know‘ stuff if you wish to master BBQ and grilling.

Sliced sirloin steak on a wooden chopping board with form and some herbs.
Ingredients

Sirloin Steak: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know

Sirloin steak is a popular beef cut that is fuller flavored than fillet and leaner than a ribeye. Find out all about it, what muscle it is, where it comes from on a side of beef, where to buy it, and how to cook it with three of our favorite recipes.

A raw shoulder steak on a dark surface with rosemary sprigs.
Ingredients

What is Shoulder Steak? What is it Good For? How do You Cook it?

What is shoulder steak? It is a flavorful and bargain-priced cut that should get more love but is often overlooked for pricier and more tender cuts. Learn all about it here, from how to identify it to alternative names, how to cook it, and more.

Denver steak grilled, sliced and placed on a large meat cleaver.
Ingredients

What is Denver Steak? A Tasty New Kid on the Butchers Block!

The Denver cut steak was only 'discovered' a few short years ago, is new to most of us but is absolutely fantastic. It is well-marbled, flavorsome, and tender, and should be on everybody's shortlist of favorite steaks…and probably will be after trying one. Learn all about it here.

Plastic wrapped meat in the bottom drawer of a meat freezer.
Prep & Serving

How to Store Meat in Your Fridge or Freezer Safely

Today, we try to answer all your questions about meat storage in the fridge, the freezer, the temperatures you must use, options for safe wrapping materials, how long you can store it for, what freezer burn is, and how to avoid it, and more.

Skewered picanha steak on a chopping board with veg in background.
Ingredients

What is Picanha? A Detailed Guide with How to Cook it, Plus Recipes

Picanha steak is a Brazilian favorite, sublime with chimichurri, and a cut you really should seek out and try for yourself if you haven’t yet! Learn where it comes from on the cow, alternative names, where to buy it, and how to cook it with three top recipes.

Grilled flat iron steak, sliced and on a black background.
Ingredients

What is Flat Iron Steak? Where to Buy and How to Cook it

Flat iron steak is a well-marbled, rich tasting thick cut taken from the chuck primal, that would make you think it's tough as old boots? But it's surprisingly tender! Learn all about it, alternative names, how to cook it, where to buy it and more.

Close up of dirty and rusted gas grill burners and flavorizer bars.
General How Tos

How To Clean Gas Grill Burners [With Video]

If your gas grill isn't heating as strongly or evenly as it once was, it could be due to clogged burner tubes. A common but easily solvable problem. Here's how to clean them to get the performance back where it should be, with a video to follow along to.

2 photos of smoking and grilling meats, side by side.
General Knowledge

Smoker Vs Grill — What Are the Differences? Which Should You Buy?

The word ‘BBQ’ has loosely come to mean all outdoor cooking, even though techniques and cookers are very different. Do you know the difference between a smoker and a grill? Or smoking and grilling? If you do, that’s great! If not, you will find out in this guide.

Hanger steak on a slate chopping board with some pink pepper.
Ingredients

What is Hanger Steak? Uses, How to Cook it, and More

In this article, we look at the hanger steak, covering what it is, where it comes from, why that name, alternative names, how to source it, how to cook it, and more. By the end, you’ll be a hanger expert, and I’m sure you will want to sample some!

A clean charcoal grill on a grass lawn.
General How Tos

How to Clean Your Charcoal Grill, Ready for the Coming Grilling Season

A dirty grill not only works less efficiently, but it can also spoil the flavor of your food, ruining all your hard work and not impressing guests with the food you produce. So keeping your grill reasonably clean is essential, despite all the highly vocal ‘that grease is flavor’ crowd.

Using a charcoal chimney starter to fill a grill with coals.
General How Tos

How to Use a Charcoal Chimney Starter — Easy Step-by-Step Guide

A charcoal chimney is one of the most efficient ways to get a charcoal grill up to cooking temperatures quickly. It’s also a highly reliable to measure out different amounts of charcoal for different temperature cooks. Here’s when, why, and how to use one properly.

A gloved hand cleaning the inside an electric smoker.
General How Tos

How To Clean an Electric Smoker — In 9 Easy Steps

A dirty smoker can be unhygienic, produce tainted food, and be embarrassingly unsightly for any dinner party guests. So we have provided this step-by-step guide for cleaning your electric smoker, both inside and out, to keep it running smoothly, producing the best food, and extending its life.

A gas grill being cleaned with a reversible grill brush.
General How Tos

How to Clean a Gas Grill — Inside, Outside, Grates and All Parts

In this guide, we take you through cleaning your gas grill inside and out in a few easy-to-follow steps. We cover the cleaning of all parts, surfaces, grates and all, to keep your grill looking immaculate and performing optimally while adding potentially years to its life.

Close up of a burger with tomato and lettuce.
Prep & Serving

How to Make Burgers — From Choosing the Right Meat to Perfect Grilling

Learn how to make delicious, moist, flavor-packed burgers from raw ingredients yourself, at home, to achieve perfect flavor and moistness…and no falling apart patties. We cover it all from meat selection to choosing binders and finally making and cooking the perfect burger.

A porterhouse and ribeye steak on a cutting board, with vine tomatoes, greens, and salt.
Ingredients

Porterhouse vs Ribeye, What’s the Difference and Which is Best?

Porterhouse and ribeye are both epic prime cut steaks worthy of being on any menu. But which is best? Why and when would you choose one over the other? Which has more flavor? Which is the leanest or healthiest cut? We answer all this and more below.

Two spatchcock chicken on a kamado grill.
Prep & Serving

How to Spatchcock a Chicken (With Video) — And Why You Should Try it!

Spatchcocking a chicken allows us to get dry rub and flavor onto more surface area while reducing the grilling time of a whole bird by half. It also lowers the chances of us over or undercooking the bird for a higher chance at a better end result. Here’s how to do it.

skirt steak vs flank steak, in two photos side by side, both on a slate board with herbs and spices.
Ingredients

Skirt Steak Vs Flank Steak, Which is Best? How do they Differ?

Skirt steak and flank steak often get confused, probably due to them being so little known. So we thought we’d clear up the confusion in this comparison. Read on if you want to know the differences between them, and become an expert in these two lesser-known cuts.

A whole chicken defrosting on a white plate.
Prep & Serving

How to Defrost Chicken Fast — and Above all, SAFELY!

Cooking chicken from frozen is a recipe for disaster — or illness. But defrosting chicken can take from hours for small cuts to over 24 hours for a whole bird. But all is not lost: Here’s how to defrost chicken fast, for those inevitable times you were unable to prepare properly.

Dry aging beef in a refrigerator.
Prep & Serving

How to Dry Age Beef and Steak at Home — A Step-by-Step Guide

Try it to believe it! Dry aging concentrates and intensifies the flavor of meat, taking the flavor to a whole new level. Here’s how to dry age your beef and steak at home yourself, which can save you A LOT of money over buying it pre-aged from a butcher.

A mans hand liberally sprinkling dry rub over pork ribs.
Prep & Serving

How to Use Dry Rub — How Much, When, And on Wet or Dry Meat?

Using the right amount of rub in the correct way, can be the difference between a superbly complemented and elevated tasting piece of meat or an overpowered disaster. Learn how much rub to use, when to apply it, proper technique, and more in this guide.

A smoked and sliced wagyu brisket on a cutting board.
Brisket

What is Wagyu Beef? What Makes it so Special and so Loved?

Wagyu beef is widely regarded as the best in the world, and it’s certainly up there with the most expensive! Epic marbling and flavor, it’s a luxury and a treat. Combine that with the king of low n slow smoked meats to get Wagyu brisket? Now we’re talking epic!

USDA graded fillet steak on a chopping board with a Japanese style knife.
Ingredients

USDA beef grades, How They’re Decided, and What They Mean

When you are faced with buying choice, select, or prime beef, do you know what this means and what the difference is? There are, in fact, eight different grades of beef as determined by the USDA, based on meat maturity and level of marbling. Here’s what they all mean.

Close up of some smoked beef short ribs on a wooden chopping board.
Ribs

Types of Beef Ribs — Their Differences and What to Tell Your Butcher

Beef ribs have a real caveman element about them, are unctuous, flavor-packed, and are always real crowd-pleasers. But did you know there are different types, that are very different in size and how you would cook and present them? Learn all about these BBQ’ers favorites in this guide.

A raw prime rib and a raw bone in ribeye, side by side in two separate photos.
Ingredients

Prime Rib vs Ribeye — What’s the Difference?

Prime rib and ribeye may look similar, but they are different cuts that should be treated and cooked differently. But how do they differ? When would you choose one over the other? Why do we have to cook them differently? We answer all your questions below.

Close up of two bits of hanger steak — tough and benefit from tenderizing.
Prep & Serving

How to Tenderize Steak — Turn Cheap Cuts Into Prime Equivalents!

Here are six popular ways to tenderize steak, to take even the cheapest of available steak cuts and make them feel like more expensive, higher-quality prime steaks than they are. You will be able to find at least one method using things you already have in your kitchen!