Labor Day means the end of the grilling season for some people, but that season never ends at my house. I was thinking about what was important for Labor Day when I was out walking Dreyfus Dog, and I smelled the lighter fluid coming from the neighbor’s yard. I immediately had the urge to go help them out by giving them a chimney, but realized that wouldn’t come across as being a good neighbor.

Here, though, I can give out tips trying to help improve the typical household’s grilling experience, so here are my 5 tips for better grilling:

1. If you’re using charcoal, use a chimney starter
Lighter fluid always leaves a flavor that you can taste in the meat. It just does. A chimney, on the other hand, lights charcoal without using anything but some wadded up newspaper and a lighter. Also, the coals get hot much faster using a chimney, meaning you can start grilling that much sooner.

2. Set up a 3-zone fire
A three zone fire is done by laying the coals the thickest to one side of the grill, then a bit less in the middle, and having no coals under the other side of the grill. This lets the grilling use the hottest part of the grill to sear meats, the middle part to do most of the actual cooking, but without enough heat to burn, and the coolest side to keep foods warm.

3. Cook to temperature, not by time
The heat from the grill can vary, and one grill can be different from another. To ensure proper, safe cooking, know the temps to which to cook meats. Steaks should be to 125 and higher; hamburger and poultry should be 165; pork should be 145 and up.

4. Don’t cut into the meat, let it rest
Resting the meat for at least five minutes after removing from the grill, covered loosely with foil, allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat. This means less is lost when the meat is cut, and the meat tastes juicier.

5. Use wood chips or chunks to add flavor
You can’t beat the flavor that wood smoke imparts on foods. On a gas grill, soak wood chips for 2 or more hours in water and place on some foil. Fold the foil over and fold over the edges to make a pouch. On the top of the pouch, poke a few holes, then put the pouch right down near the burners. Make a few of these to swap out as the smoke stops coming out of the packet.

For charcoal fires, just use wood chunks, which don’t need to be soaked. Just place them on the top and sides of the fire, 3-4 per cooking session.

These tips should help most home grillers improve their grilled meals!

I want to also throw in my favorite side dish for barbecue or grilling this time of year: Tomato Pie!

This is a simple but excellent way to enjoy tomatoes. Blanche 4-5 medium tomatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds, then immerse in ice water to stop them from cooking. Remove the skins, cut the tomatoes into thick slices, then lay the slices out on paper towels and salt them. Let the slices sit for 30 minutes or more to help remove some of the water from the tomatoes.

Layer the tomatoes in a pie plate, adding pepper. If the tomatoes aren’t very sweet, add up to 1 tbsp of sugar, then 2 tbsp fresh basil and 1 tbsp fresh thyme, both herbs chopped.

Mix together 1 cup or less of mayonnaise with 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Spread the mixture on top of the tomatoes and herbs evenly. top with 1/2 sleeve of crushed saltine crackers.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Happy Labor Day! I hope you all continue grilling well into the fall, when the weather makes it even nicer to be out next to a hot fire!

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