If you're new to grilling and have no idea about what to do first, here are 5 useful tips that can surely better prepare yourself for this adventure. Also be sure to check our Grilled Out Cooking Guide for more techniques and recipes.

1. Preheat Your Grill

A good beginning makes a good ending. After igniting your grill or lighting the charcoal, it’s better to wait for it to heat up. In most cases, gas grills heat quickly with around 10 minutes of preheat time, while charcoal grills take longer. Refer to your grill's manual for specific preheat instructions and times.

2. Prepare food before grilling

To avoid being in a flurry of action, instead of doing it while cooking, it's recommended to set up your meats and veggies before getting to the grill. Slice vegetables, make burger patties and marinate chicken inside, then bring them outside.

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3. Flip meat only once

Being impatient is one of the most common grilling mistakes. Remember, try to resist the temptation, and turn meats only once while they're cooking so that the moisture and flavor could be retained. Bigger cuts of meat can be turned more than once, just to ensure the meat is done.

4. Wrap veggies in foil

Due to their smaller sizes, veggies can easily fall through the rack and are hard to grill. Wrapping them in heavy-duty foil will make it easier to cook and keep them tender and the grates clean.

5. Clean your grill

We know cleaning grill is hard, but to keep your grills in tip-top shape and for safety purposes, you’d better get a grill brush with firm bristles and scrub the rack with high heat until all the leftover food pieces are gone.