BY Hugh CARPENTER and TERI SANDISON The ESSENTIAL equipment for grilling is not the grill, it's the griller The best grill chefs hover over the fire, baby the food: and share their thoughts about the theory, practice and mysteries of grilling to all who approach their cooking sanctum. The following tips will help ensure a successful grilling experience: ·Always build a larger fire than you think necessary so that the coals do not burn out before the finishes cooling. The area of the spread-out coals should be two inches to four inches beyond the food. ·When cooking over briquettes, lump hardwood or wood. plan ahead. Briquettes will be ash covered in about 20 minutes. Lump hardwood, which burns much hotter, will take about 30 minutes to 40 minutes to reach the gray-ash stage. If you add the food before this stage, the intense heat will burn the food. If the briquettes are still partly black, the heat will be uneven. Once the fire is lighted, spread the coals into an even layer. When using a kettle grill, instead of moving the coals with long tongs, hold the grill by the handle and give it a little shake to redistribute the coals. ·Once the coals are covered with ash and are evenly distributed, place the cooling rack over the coals. Let the rack become very hot. If the cooking rack is not clean, brush it vigorously to remove all food and carbon residue from the previous grilling session. As soon as you remove the food from the rack, scrub the rack with a wire brush. ·To prevent food from sticking, brush the cooling rack with flavorless cooking oil. Never use non-stick cooking spray. It is better to err with heat that is too low rather than too high. If cooking over briquettes, lump hardwood charcoal, or wood, control the heat by opening and closing the vents. If the heat is too high, cover the grill and partially close the vents. This reduces the amount of oxygen feeding the fire, and the intensity of the heat will be reduced quickly. ·To add an intense flavor to grilled meat and seafood, add hardwood chips, oak bark or barrel staves. This is an especially useful technique for gas grills, because gas flames and vaporizing slats or lava rocks do not create the intense flavor that briquettes, lump hardwood charcoal and wood do. Wood chips are available at supermarkets and hardware stores. Immerse a cup of chips in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain. Scatter the chips over the charcoal just before adding the food. On gas grills, remove the cooking rack and turn on the gas jets. Place the chips on a layer of aluminum foil and position this on the metal vaporizng slats or over the lava rocks at one corner of the fuel bed. Reposition the cooling rack. Wait until the wood begins to smoke. Then place the food on the rack and cover with the Lid. (Cau tio~: if there is any danger of the foil hoidi~~g the chips extinguishing the gas flames, place it on the eooldng rack instead.) Other flavor options mclude adding rosema~y spligs. whole ualnuts mlshed with a hamleer and soaked in cold water, unpeeled garlic cIoves, cinnan~on sticks and whole nutmegs, and citrus peels ·Most foods should be g~illed over nlrriiun~ heat. mace y~,ur open hand, palm side down, 4 inc2les above the heat, and count "I,W1, 1,002, 1,003." The heat is medium if it's hot er~ough to make you pull your ha~ld away at "1,003.`· W~ule moat gas barbecue come with a built-in thernnorneter, we fmd that the hand technique is: a more accurate way to judge tenlperature ·Don't overcrowd U~e grill so that items touclr one ariother. It's important that the hear ~i~p around the sides olthe food. ·If flare-rips occur due to fat dripping from the meat or because of oil in the ma~inade, spr~v Ual fire withaw-aterspritzer. ·Glill most f~lods with the ~ill covered. The exceptions an, boneless chicken breasts. shrimp, vm_ thin steaks. vegetables and skew ered fo~xls. These foods m~rd be rotated often and cook so qruckly that they rieed collstant anrn~on. Marinating 101: safe, easy ways to add flavor Asso~iatedProri WHAT'S the secret to a great marinade' Melanie Bamard, author of "Marinades" (Iiarperperennial, S LO), provides thess clues: The word "Inarinade" is derived front the Latin or Italian marinam, meaning "of the sea." Like seawa ter, the original ma~irrades were briny solutions meant to tenderize, preserve and navor foods. Today, refrigeration and high product quality have eliminated the tenderizing and prrserring needs, but Inaril~atirlg continues to be tire most effective way to add flavor and character to food A liquid mannade is composed of an acid, an oil and some seasoning. The acid, which allows the marinade to permeate the food, might be vinegar, citrus juice, tomatoes or ~ine. The oil acts both as a protec tor for the surface of the food and as a carrier for the seasonings. The seasonings are often whole or ground spices. fresh or dried herbs. This combination of acid, oil and seasonings can be a homemade concoction that is whisked together or simply a bottled italian dressing. ·Eecause acids react with metal, he sure to nrari- nate food in glass or crockery dishes or in hea\ydaty resealable plastic bags. Br sure to use enough to coinpletely coat the food. Pour in the marinadf, add the food, rum it to coat all sides. Then refrigerate, tunling often, as the recipe directs. ·Refrigerate 111 foods that are !sarinating longer than 15 nlinutes. If you pla~r to use I,art of the IllaJinadtl as a table sauce, reserve ar~d set it aside at We beginning of the recipe before adding the poultry, meat or seafood. Marinades tllat have been in rorrtact with raw meat, poultry or seafood must be boiled for at least, one n~i~l ute before being used as a table sauce or a grillmg sauce that ~ill be applied during the last fivp minutes of cooking time. Don't reuse a marinade. Marinating tin~es: Delicate seafood such as flounder or scanops, lj minutes; stronger seafood such as tuna, shrimp and salmon, 30 nlinutes; skinless, boneless chicken breasts or tllrkey cutlets, up to three hours; skin-on chicken parts, three to 21 hours; whole chickens or hlrkey breast, four to :!4 hours: beef steaks. pork or lamb chops, threr to 24 hours, beef or park roast, boneless leg of la~nb; three to 24 helm.