Techniques Archives - Outdoor Cooking King

How to Grill Corn on the Cob: Husk On or Off

Grilled corn on the cob has one big fork in the road: leave the husk on or take it off. Published guidance differs on heat, soaking and timing, so this article lays out the plain baseline method and shows where the sources disagree. It draws on Weber’s grilled corn recipe and Weber’s corn tips, plus university extension pages from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Utah State University. For a dressed-up version, see our Mexican street corn (elotes) recipe.

Method 1: Husked Corn, Direct Heat

Weber’s simplest approach is to husk the ears and grill the bare kernels. Its recipe calls for direct cooking over medium heat, 350°F to 450°F (175°C to 230°C), with the lid closed, until the corn is browned in spots and tender, 10 to 15 minutes, turning occasionally. The cooking grates should be brushed clean first.

Weber’s tips add two preparation points: wash the corn, dry it well, then brush it with oil to prevent burning or sticking, and add salt only after grilling, because salting first makes the corn dry out quickly.

Method 2: Husk On

Keeping the husk on gives a different result. Weber describes cooking husk-on ears on top of glowing charcoal: the husks act as a buffer against the fierce heat while the kernels steam gently, and soaking the raw ears first stops the papery husks from igniting and creates that steam.

A Weber grilling tip (written by a Weber blogger) gives this sequence:

Pull the husk back about three-quarters of the way and remove the silk. A rubber band around the ear helps pull off stray silk.
Soak the corn for 2 to 3 hours in ice-cold water with a couple of tablespoons of sugar.
Grill with the husk on over indirect medium heat for 35 to 40 minutes.

How the Extension Services Compare

The university guidance is quicker and hotter.

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Preheat the grill to high heat, 400°F to 450°F (200°C to 230°C). Shuck the corn, or leave one or two inner layers of husk on if you prefer. Brush with olive oil, salt and pepper, and pull the husk back up around the ear if desired. Grill for 8 to 12 minutes, turning every 2 to 3 minutes so each side chars. Nebraska also notes that cooking with the husks on helps retain moisture and flavor.

Utah State University

Pull the husks back, remove the silk, replace the husks and tie them with kitchen string. Soak in cold water for 5 minutes. If the corn is already husked, wrap each ear in foil. Cook on the grill, turning occasionally, until the husks are charred on all sides, 15 to 20 minutes.

Side by Side

Husked, bare on the grate (Weber): direct medium heat, 350°F to 450°F, 10 to 15 minutes.
Husk on, long soak (Weber tip): indirect medium heat, 35 to 40 minutes after a 2 to 3 hour soak.
Partial husk, high heat (Nebraska): 400°F to 450°F, 8 to 12 minutes.
Husk on, short soak (Utah State): 5-minute soak, 15 to 20 minutes.

The sources do not agree on soak length. Weber’s tip says 2 to 3 hours, Utah State says 5 minutes, and Nebraska does not mention soaking. Their timings also differ because they use different heat levels and husk arrangements.

Choosing a Method

Going by what the sources describe, husked corn on direct heat is fastest and gives browned spots, while husk-on cooking retains more moisture and takes longer. Since the times above are ranges from different publishers, judge doneness by the description they share: kernels that are tender and, for bare ears, browned in spots. Turn the ears as they cook so every side gets color.

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September 24, 2026

Flat Iron vs Hanger vs Skirt vs Flank: Which to Grill

Flat iron, hanger, skirt and flank are often lumped together as “alternative steaks”, but they come from different parts of the animal and reward different handling. This guide compares them using the Beef Checkoff’s flat iron and hanger steak cut profiles, Food Network’s hanger explainer, and Weber’s and America’s Test Kitchen’s flat iron recipes. This site covers skirt and flank in their own articles, so they get only a brief mention here.

Where Each Cut Comes From

Flat iron: cut from the top blade in the chuck, the shoulder area, per the Beef Checkoff.
Hanger: from the plate (belly), hanging under the diaphragm, per Food Network. The Beef Checkoff puts it in the short plate primal, the same primal it associates with skirt steak.
Skirt and flank: the Beef Checkoff lists both as cuts to marinate and grill; skirt is associated with the short plate, as noted above.

Tenderness

The sources disagree in emphasis rather than fact.

The Beef Checkoff calls flat iron “extremely tender” and says removing the internal connective tissue lets it deliver as the second most tender cut. Weber’s page adds a catch: some steaks still have a tough streak down the middle, which should be cut away.

Food Network says hanger comes from a belly muscle that gets little use, making it naturally tender when properly cooked. It also says hanger is more tender than flank or skirt. The Beef Checkoff, though, describes the same cut as having a “coarse texture”, and both say the central membrane should come out. So both cuts are trimmed before cooking, but flat iron’s selling point is tenderness while hanger’s is beefy flavor with some chew.

Flavor and Fat

The Beef Checkoff calls flat iron well marbled and flavorful. Food Network describes hanger as deep and beefy, like skirt and flank with slightly more marbling, and bold enough for strong marinades and sauces. For flank, the Beef Checkoff says “lean and boneless with lots of intense beef flavor.”

Price and Availability

The fetched sources say little about flat iron pricing, so no comparison is made for it here. On hanger, Food Network says it is no longer the secret bargain it once was but is still typically much less expensive than strip, rib or tenderloin, and comparable in price to skirt and flank. It adds that there is only one hanger per animal, so supermarkets rarely stock it and butcher shops or online sellers are the likelier source.

Best Cooking Method

Cut	Suggested method (source)
Flat iron	Direct high heat, 450° to 550°F (about 230° to 290°C), 6 to 8 minutes for medium rare (Weber); 4 to 6 minutes a side to 130° to 135°F (54° to 57°C) (ATK)
Hanger	Marinate if you can, cook over high heat, and stop at medium rare, 130° to 135°F (Food Network); the Beef Checkoff says marinate and grill
Flank	Best marinated and grilled, or sliced thin and stir-fried (Beef Checkoff)
Skirt	Marinate and grill hot for fajitas, or stir-fry (Beef Checkoff)

Neither Weber nor ATK marinates flat iron: Weber oils and seasons it, and ATK salts it for an hour and adds a dry herb rub. Food Network, by contrast, says hanger benefits from marinating, though it is not necessary. ATK says to slice flat iron thin against the grain.

A Note on Doneness and Safety

USDA FSIS advises cooking beef steaks to a minimum of 145°F (63°C) and resting them for at least three minutes. The 130° to 135°F targets above are below that; the sources are describing preferred texture, and the USDA figure is a separate safety guideline. Conversions to °C are ours.

Which to Pick

Going by the sources alone: choose flat iron when tenderness and a simple, quick direct-heat cook matter most, and trim its center streak. Choose hanger when you want the fuller beef flavor and can find one, and remove the membrane. Skirt and flank are the marinate-and-grill choices, covered elsewhere on this site.

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September 24, 2026

How to Grill Hanger Steak: Trim, Marinate, Sear

Hanger steak has a reputation as a butcher’s cut: full of flavor, quick to cook, and slightly awkward to prepare. This guide combines Food Network’s hanger steak explainer, Anne Burrell’s grilled hanger steak recipe, Alexandra Stafford’s charcoal-grilled version and the Beef Checkoff’s cut profile. Where they disagree, the differences are shown. Celsius figures are our conversions.

The Cut and Its Trade-Off

Food Network describes hanger as a flat, V-shaped cut from the plate (belly) that hangs just below the diaphragm. It says the muscle gets very little use, so it is naturally tender when properly cooked, and that good marbling adds to that. It also has a catch: a tough white membrane runs down the middle of a whole steak.

The Beef Checkoff frames the same cut a little differently. Its profile calls hanger “full of flavor with a coarse texture” and includes a butcher’s note: remove the connective tissue membrane to improve tenderness. So the trade-off is real. The meat itself is tender and beefy, but the texture is coarser than a strip or ribeye, and leaving the central membrane in undoes the tenderness.

Food Network adds that hanger tastes deep and beefy, similar to skirt and flank with slightly more marbling than those cuts, and is bold enough to stand up to strong spices, marinades and robust sauces such as chimichurri.

Trim the Membrane

Food Network says that if your butcher has not removed the membrane, cut down along either side of it before cooking. A whole hanger weighs roughly 1½ to 2 pounds (about 0.7 to 0.9 kg); once the membrane is taken out, you are left with two long, thin pieces of about ¾ to 1 pound each. Stafford’s recipe agrees, asking for the membrane to be removed and the two loins butterflied for fast, even cooking. Food Network also notes that there is only one hanger per animal, so it is more likely to turn up at a butcher shop or online than in a supermarket.

Marinate or Not

Food Network says marinating is not necessary but improves tenderness and juiciness, suggesting oil, salt and an acid, for several hours and up to 24 if possible. The two recipes are gentler:

Burrell: a paste of chopped thyme, garlic, crushed red pepper and olive oil, with generous salt. Rest it overnight in the fridge, or up to 2 hours outside the fridge.
Stafford: a garlic-thyme paste plus olive oil and Worcestershire sauce, refrigerated for at least an hour, then wiped off before seasoning with salt and pepper.

Heat and Timing

Food Network says hanger does best with short, intense heat and should be cooked to no more than medium rare, 130° to 135°F (54° to 57°C), because it is relatively thin. The recipes fill in the timing, and they do not match:

Burrell: preheat the grill (no temperature is given), then grill 4 to 5 minutes per side and rest 5 to 10 minutes. Slice on the bias.
Stafford: high heat over hot coals, uncovered, 2 to 3 minutes a side until a thermometer reads 125°F (52°C) for medium rare or 135°F (57°C) for medium. Rest 10 minutes and slice against the grain. She leaves the lid off on charcoal but covers a gas grill.

The gap is probably explained by the prep (our reading, not either author’s claim). Burrell cooks a larger piece of steak (2 pounds), while Stafford butterflies the loins, so her pieces are thinner and finish faster. Use the thermometer, not the clock.

Slicing

Stafford stresses cutting against the grain and admits the direction is not always easy to spot; her page links a video for it. Burrell says to slice on the bias.

Food Safety Note

USDA FSIS advises cooking beef steaks to a minimum internal temperature of 145°F (63°C) and resting for at least three minutes. Every hanger target above sits lower, at 125° to 135°F, or has no temperature at all. The cook who wants to follow USDA’s line should take the steak to 145°F and rest it for three minutes or more, keeping in mind that Food Network warns against going past medium rare for texture.

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September 24, 2026

Grilling Flat Iron Steak: Weber and ATK’s Methods

Flat iron is one of the easier steaks to get right on a grill, mostly because it is thin, evenly shaped and forgiving of high heat. This guide draws on two published methods: Jamie Purviance’s flat iron recipe on weber.com (with Weber’s flat iron preparation skill page) and America’s Test Kitchen’s grill-smoked flat-iron recipe. The Beef Checkoff’s cut profile supplies the background. Where they differ, both versions are given. Temperature conversions to °C are ours.

What You Are Buying

The Beef Checkoff’s “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner” cut page describes flat iron as coming from the top blade in the chuck, the shoulder area. It says the cutting method removes the internal connective tissue from the whole top blade, which lets the steak deliver as the “second most tender cut.” It is also described as well marbled and great for grilling. ATK notes that blade steaks can be substituted if you cannot find flat iron.

Step One: Trim the Tough Streak

Weber’s skill page shows that some flat iron steaks have a tough streak running down the middle, and that it is harder to see once the steak is cooked. Its advice is to cut that streak away so every slice is tender. Weber’s recipe likewise calls for excess fat and any gristle to be removed. ATK’s ingredient list also specifies steaks “trimmed”. In every case the trimming happens before the fire, not after.

Step Two: Season

The two publishers season on very different clocks.

Weber: brush both sides lightly with oil, season with salt and pepper, and let the steaks stand at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes.
ATK: rub both sides with kosher salt (1 tablespoon for four steaks) and hold them at room temperature for 1 hour, on a wire rack over a baking sheet. ATK says the long salting lets the seasoning penetrate below the surface. It then presses on an herb-spice rub and sprays lightly with oil.

Both use steaks of roughly 6 to 8 ounces (170 to 225 g). Weber specifies about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick; ATK says three-quarters of an inch to 1 inch (about 2 to 2.5 cm).

Step Three: Set Up the Heat

Both methods use direct heat with a cooler escape zone.

Weber: direct high heat, 450° to 550°F (roughly 230° to 290°C). On charcoal, keep a small part of the grate clear of briquettes as a safety zone of indirect heat. Brush the grates clean first.
ATK (charcoal): pour lit coals over half the grate. ATK (gas): primary burner on high, the others on medium. Either way the steaks go on the hotter side, and if they char before they reach temperature they move to the cooler side with the lid on.

Step Four: Grill and Rest

Weber grills over direct high heat with the lid closed, 6 to 8 minutes for medium rare, turning once or twice. If flare-ups occur, it says to move the steaks temporarily over indirect heat. ATK’s steaks cook 4 to 6 minutes per side, lid on, until well browned and reading 130° to 135°F (54° to 57°C), which ATK calls medium. ATK then tents them with foil for a 10-minute rest and slices thin against the grain. Weber’s recipe does not state a rest time before serving.

Weber’s timing is a range for a doneness, not a temperature, so a thermometer remains the safer check.

What Temperature Is Safe?

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service advises cooking beef steaks to a minimum internal temperature of 145°F (63°C) as measured with a food thermometer, then resting for at least three minutes. ATK’s 130° to 135°F medium target sits below that figure, and Weber’s medium-rare timing gives no temperature at all. Cooks who want to follow the USDA line should pull the steaks at 145°F instead and rest them for three minutes or more; the sources above are simply describing preferred doneness.

Serving

Slice against the grain. Weber’s recipe tops each steak with a slice of chilled herb butter (tarragon, chives, garlic and lemon zest, chilled at least an hour), while ATK’s version comes with grilled lemon wedges and a light smoke from a small foil packet of wood chips: 1 cup for charcoal, 1½ cups for gas. Neither is essential to the core method of trimming, seasoning, high direct heat and a thin slice.

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September 24, 2026

How to Set Up a Grill Rotisserie: Weber’s Method

Rotisserie grilling has its own setup checklist, and skipping a step usually shows up as a wobbling spit or a scorched drip pan. This piece follows Weber’s own three-part rotisserie guide — “How To Set Up Your Rotisserie”, “How to Truss And Spit A Roast For The Rotisserie”, and “How To Use A Rotisserie Counterweight” — alongside Char-Griller’s own kit instructions, “How to Set Up The Char-Griller Rotisserie.”

Trussing and Mounting the Spit

Both manufacturers start in the same place: nothing goes on the spit until it’s tied down. Weber’s guide is blunt about why — “the rotisserie turns gently, but as the meat cooks, that gentle turning will tear the roast loose if it is not securely tied down.” Its trussing post gets more specific: tie a roast every inch and a half to two inches along its length using heavy butcher’s twine, with a double loop to start each knot so it holds tension while the next tie goes on. Bone-in roasts need less — one tie between each bone, even across a two-to-three-inch gap — since the bones already hold the shape together. Boneless, rolled cuts need the tighter spacing to keep from falling apart mid-spin.

Once trussed, run the spit through the center of the meat and lock a fork onto each end, pushing the tines in if the meat is thick enough or caging around it if not. Weber’s guide adds a step easy to skip: test the load spins freely before the grill is lit. Char-Griller’s kit instructions describe the same logic on a charcoal grill — forks go on the spit rod and lock down with a small screwdriver “to ensure the meat doesn’t move around on the spit rod when it’s cooking.”

Balancing the Load with a Counterweight

Not every rotisserie setup needs a counterweight, and Weber is explicit that its current motors are strong enough to turn a spit without one — which is why newer kits don’t include one. But for older motors, or food with an uneven shape, it still matters. Weber’s counterweight guide explains the physics: a roast is shaped fairly evenly, but “poultry can have a deep breast and a relatively flat back,” so the shaft speeds up as the breast swings down and slows as it swings back up. Left unbalanced, that puts extra strain on the motor and cooks the bird unevenly.

To fit one, unscrew the small retaining loop from the wooden handle end of the spit, slide the counterweight hanger on between the handle and the loop, then screw the loop back down tight. The positioning rule: when the breast of the bird points up, the counterweight should point straight down, balancing heavy against light. A quick way to find true balance without the counterweight attached, described separately in Weber’s setup guide, is to remove the spit from the motor, let it rest in the support grooves, and let gravity settle the heaviest side downward on its own — that tells you where the counterweight needs to sit.

Setting Up the Fire and the Drip Pan

This is where the two sources diverge. Weber’s method is a two-zone setup: light the charcoal, then split it into two piles on opposite sides of the grill, with the drip pan centered on the charcoal grate between them and the meat rotating above it. On a gas grill, the equivalent is running the outer burners on medium while the burners under the food stay off, with the pan on the Flavorizer bars in that middle zone. Weber targets indirect medium-low heat, “right around 350°F,” for most rotisserie cooking.

Char-Griller’s own instructions describe a different charcoal layout: coals go to the front or the back of the grill, not split into two side piles, with the drip pan or a sheet of foil underneath the food to catch grease and limit flare-ups. Either layout accomplishes the same goal — keeping direct flame away from the rotating food — so the choice comes down to what a given grill’s rotisserie ring or support brackets are built to accommodate. Char-Griller also flags something Weber’s guides don’t: its motor runs on either a power adapter or two D batteries, worth checking before the food goes on the spit.

Running the Cook

Once the spit is loaded and the fire is set, mount the motor onto its bracket, plug it in, and cycle it on and off once to confirm it’s turning before the hot spit goes near it. Neither source publishes a target rotation speed — the standard for both is that the motor turns continuously and the food spins freely without catching on the grate or the grease pan. Weber recommends cooking with the lid closed, checking in briefly around the half-hour mark, then closing it back up. Char-Griller’s guide echoes the same discipline: open the lid as little as possible so heat doesn’t escape.

When the food is done, use heat-resistant gloves to lift the whole spit onto a cutting board — it comes off scorching hot. Pull the first fork, slide the meat off, and cut the trussing twine free immediately, since Weber notes the crust hardens as it cools and the string gets harder to remove the longer it’s left on. Weber’s guide then calls for a ten-to-fifteen-minute rest before carving; always confirm doneness with a food thermometer rather than the clock, using the internal temperature appropriate to whatever is on the spit.

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September 23, 2026

How to Preheat an Outdoor Pizza Oven: Ooni’s Method

This method draws on Ooni’s own step-by-step pizza guide and Ooni’s Koda getting-started page, plus Meathead’s “The Science of Pizza on the Grill” from AmazingRibs.com, which covers the older, grill-plus-stone route to the same result. The two sources are aimed at different equipment, and comparing them shows just how much a dedicated outdoor pizza oven changes the numbers.

Preheating a Dedicated Pizza Oven

Ooni’s guide puts preheating “up to 20 minutes (depending on the oven you’re using),” checked with an infrared thermometer aimed at the baking stone rather than by trusting a dial or a timer. The target is specific: once the stone reaches 750°F (399°C), the oven is ready to cook. For classic Neapolitan-style pizza, Ooni recommends staying in a 750-850°F (400-450°C) stone-temperature band, which it says will cook a pizza in 60 to 90 seconds. Between pies, the stone needs to climb back to 715-850°F (380-450°C) before the next one goes in — a reminder that a hot oven can still cool down faster than home cooks expect if the door or hatch is left open too long.

Why the Stone, Not the Air, Is the Number That Matters

Both the Koda getting-started page and the general how-to guide measure the stone surface rather than the air inside the oven, because it’s the stone that transfers heat into the base of the dough. Ooni sells its own infrared thermometer for this exact reason, and both pages assume the cook is checking the floor, not glancing at an ambient gauge.

How a Grill-and-Stone Setup Compares

AmazingRibs’ Meathead Goldwyn approaches the same problem from a converted grill rather than a purpose-built oven, and the numbers land in a noticeably different place. He advises “a good 30 minutes for the pizza stone as well as the oven/grill sides and dome to soak up energy” — roughly half again as long as Ooni’s window — because a grill’s mass and its imperfect seal make heat harder to hold onto. On a gas grill, his method is to preheat with direct heat on all burners “and let it heat up to about 600°F (316°C, converted here) on the top surface,” then shut off the burners directly under the stone once it’s there, using the side burners only to keep air moving. A ceramic kamado grill can do noticeably better on heat retention: Meathead reports getting the stone to “650°F (343°C) or so” before launching, and notes that a well-vented kamado can even approach 750-800°F (399-427°C, converted here), in the same range as a dedicated pizza oven.

Where the Two Sources Genuinely Disagree

The gap isn’t just about equipment quality — it’s about what each source treats as normal. Ooni’s own oven line is built to reach and hold 750°F+ on the stone within 15 to 20 minutes because the chamber is small, insulated, and shaped to reflect heat back down onto the dough. AmazingRibs’ baseline gas-grill number, 600°F, is a genuinely lower target that Meathead treats as perfectly adequate for a good crust — he isn’t describing a compromise, he’s describing what a standard grill setup reliably achieves. Cook times follow the same split: Ooni’s 60-90 seconds at 750-850°F versus a slower, more hands-on grill cook that depends heavily on the specific setup.

Getting the Dough Ready to Launch

Ooni’s guide is specific about avoiding a stuck pizza on the peel: “A generous sprinkling of semolina flour on your peel should keep your dough from sticking,” and toppings should stay light, since “overloading the dough makes it much harder to launch and retrieve your pizza.” A few drops of sauce or other liquid on the peel itself can also cause sticking, so the advice is to build the pizza quickly once it’s on the peel rather than letting it sit.

Launching the Pizza

For the actual launch, Ooni’s guide describes what it calls the “hovercraft technique”: creating a pocket of air between the dough and the peel, angling the peel toward the back of the oven, then “quickly and confidently start shimmying the peel away from the pizza.” The Koda page adds that the aim is to land the pizza “into the middle of the baking stone.” If the dough does stick partway through, Ooni’s advice is to lift the edge and blow gently underneath to work air back in rather than trying to yank the peel free.

Turning and Finishing the Bake

Once the pizza is in, both Ooni pages describe an active cook rather than a set-and-forget one: use the peel to turn the pizza roughly every 20 to 30 seconds so it bakes evenly, since the heat is coming almost entirely from one direction (the stone and, in wood or gas ovens, a side flame) rather than surrounding the pizza evenly the way a home oven does. Ooni notes a Neapolitan-style pizza at 750-850°F should be fully cooked in under two minutes if the stone temperature has actually been reached and held — which is the reason both sources put so much weight on measuring the stone rather than guessing from preheat time alone.

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September 22, 2026

How to Grill Skirt Steak: Inside vs Outside, Heat, Timing

Skirt steak splits into two different cuts that cook differently, and the two sources behind this guide land on two different heat strategies for handling them: Weber’s Preparing Skirt Steak grill-skills page and matching Skirt Steaks with Red Chile Sauce recipe, plus Meathead Goldwyn’s Best Steak Fajitas Recipe at AmazingRibs.com. USDA figures come from the Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Inside Skirt vs. Outside Skirt

AmazingRibs is the source that draws this distinction directly. The outside skirt, Meathead writes, “comes from the diaphragm between the sixth and twelfth ribs” and “is thicker, more tender, and more uniform than the inside skirt.” His recipe specifically calls for outside skirt steak, noting that home cooks may need to special-order it from a butcher since most of the outside skirt supply goes to restaurants — it can also arrive with a membrane attached that needs to be removed before cooking. Weber’s pages don’t separate the two cuts by name, but its trimming and high-heat instructions apply to whichever skirt steak is on the cutting board.

Trimming and Prepping

Weber’s preparation guide lays out skirt steak’s prep in four steps: trim away most of the fat clinging to both sides of the steak (fat left on causes flare-ups over direct heat), cut the steak into roughly foot-long lengths so it’s easier to maneuver on the grate, and season it generously, pressing the seasoning in with your fingertips so it doesn’t fall off during grilling. Weber’s Red Chile Sauce recipe adds a coating of oil and a room-temperature rest of 20 to 30 minutes for the seasoned steak before it goes on the grill.

Two Very Different Heat Strategies

This is where the two sources genuinely disagree. Weber’s standard method uses direct high heat at 450° to 550°F, grilling the steak with the lid closed for 4 to 6 minutes to medium-rare, turning once or twice, then tenting it with foil to rest.

AmazingRibs pushes considerably further. Its “afterburner” method uses a wire grate set directly on top of a lit charcoal chimney starter — heat far more intense than a standard grill grate produces — and cooks the steak in a couple of minutes total, turning every 30 seconds or so until it’s deeply seared. Meathead’s own description of the technique: the flames coming off the chimney looked “like the afterburner of a fighter jet.”

A Temperature Gap Worth Flagging

The afterburner method targets an internal temperature of about 125° to 130°F in the center — a number that sits below USDA’s minimum. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service’s Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart sets whole beef cuts, including steaks, at a minimum of 145°F (62.8°C), followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes. Weber’s recipes are built around reaching a safe medium-rare through longer cooking rather than an explicit pulled temperature, and its instructions don’t specify an internal number either — so whichever method is used, checking with an instant-read thermometer and understanding that 125–130°F falls short of the USDA figure is worth knowing before deciding how far below 145°F to go.

Resting and Cutting

Weber’s recipe has the cook remove the steak from the grill and tent it with foil to keep warm — a short rest before serving. Because skirt steak is coarser-grained than flank steak, cutting it across the grain afterward matters even more for tenderness; AmazingRibs’ fajita instructions call for cutting the cooked meat “across grain (opposite the direction the fibers run)” into strips before serving.

Marinating Notes

Weber’s Red Chile Sauce recipe treats the room-temperature rest and the pureed chile coating as functioning together rather than as a true soak — the steak sits coated for 20 to 30 minutes rather than being refrigerated for hours. AmazingRibs’ fajita version leans toward a citrus-forward marinade built around fresh orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cilantro and a touch of cumin, matched to the fast afterburner cook. Either approach works with the trimming steps above; the marinade choice doesn’t change how the fat needs to come off before the steak hits the heat.

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September 22, 2026

How to Grill Flank Steak: Marinade, Heat and Slicing

This guide draws on three grilled flank steak methods that don’t quite agree with each other: Weber’s Balsamic-Marinated Flank Steak Sandwiches recipe, Meathead Goldwyn’s Crusty Grilled Flank Steak recipe at AmazingRibs.com, and America’s Test Kitchen’s Grilled Flank Steak with Garlic-Shallot-Rosemary Marinade. Safe handling numbers come from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Marinade, Paste, or Just Salt?

The three sources don’t even agree on whether flank steak needs a liquid marinade at all. Weber’s version is the classic approach: a marinade of balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and minced garlic, with the steak refrigerated in a sealed bag for at least 4 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

ATK takes a different route. Instead of a liquid marinade, its test cooks blend olive oil, garlic, shallot and rosemary into a paste, then use a technique they call “marinating”: prick the steak about 20 times per side with a dinner fork, rub it first with salt and then with the paste, and refrigerate anywhere from 1 to 24 hours. The paste is wiped off before the steak hits the grill.

AmazingRibs skips a marinade entirely. Meathead’s method is a dry brine: an hour or two before cooking, the steak’s surface is moistened, salted, and left uncovered in the fridge so the salt can work its way into the meat. He then coats the steak lightly with oil right before grilling, purely to help it brown and keep it from sticking.

Setting Up for High Heat

Because flank steak is thin, all three sources push for aggressive heat. AmazingRibs recommends a two-zone charcoal fire with the coals raised to about 2 inches below the cooking grate — on a Weber Kettle, that means bricks under the charcoal grate — specifically to get hotter than a standard setup allows, aiming for a dark brown, almost-charred crust. ATK builds a two-level charcoal fire and grills the steak directly over the coals. Weber’s approach is more moderate: direct medium heat at 350° to 400°F.

Both AmazingRibs and ATK also flag flank steak’s uneven thickness — one end is typically noticeably thicker than the other. AmazingRibs’ fix is to cut the steak in half if one end is more than a ¼ inch thicker, and start the thick half on the grill about 2 minutes ahead of the thin half.

Grilling Times: Where the Numbers Diverge

Weber’s timing is the longest of the three: 8 to 12 minutes total for medium-rare over direct medium heat, turning once. AmazingRibs’ hotter fire cuts that down substantially — about 4 minutes on the first side until it’s visibly dark brown, then about 3 minutes on the second side, with exact timing dependent on the grill. ATK lands in between: 4 to 6 minutes on the first side and 3 to 4 minutes on the second, checking doneness with a paring knife cut into the thickest part before pulling the steak.

Safe Internal Temperature

None of the three recipes builds a specific target temperature into their instructions the way a thermometer-driven method would, but USDA guidance is the baseline food-safety number to check against: whole beef cuts, including steaks, should reach a minimum internal temperature of 145°F (62.8°C), followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes, according to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service’s Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart. Ground beef needs a higher 160°F. Checking with an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the steak is a more reliable way to confirm doneness than any of the time estimates above, since grill hardware and steak thickness both change the math.

Resting and Slicing Against the Grain

All three sources agree completely on what happens after the steak comes off the grill, even though they disagree on how it got there. Weber has the cook rest the steak 3 to 5 minutes before cutting it across the grain into thin slices. AmazingRibs is the most specific about the cut: hold the blade at an angle and slice 1/8-inch pieces across the grain, noting that the very first cut will look slightly overcooked but the center slices will be right. ATK’s instructions make the same point from the food-safety side — the steak needs to rest before slicing “if the steak is to retain its juices,” since cutting into it too soon lets the juices run out rather than redistribute.

Flank steak’s grain runs in one clear direction along the length of the muscle, and cutting parallel to it — rather than across it — is what makes the difference between tender bites and a genuinely chewy result, regardless of which marinade or heat method got the steak to the cutting board.

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September 22, 2026

Grill Heat Levels: What Low, Medium and High Mean

“Preheat to medium-high” appears in countless recipes, but a charcoal grill has no dial. Weber publishes numbers for low, medium and high, plus a hand test to estimate them. AmazingRibs.com uses different reference points and says the hand test cannot be trusted at all. This guide sets out what Weber’s hand test page, Weber’s damper guide, and AmazingRibs.com’s articles on thermometers and cooking temperatures each say. Temperatures are in °F, with °C conversions of our own.

Weber’s Definitions

Weber’s hand test page gives three levels:

High: 450 to 550°F (232 to 288°C).
Medium: 350 to 450°F (177 to 232°C).
Low: 250 to 350°F (121 to 177°C).

Its damper guide repeats those ranges and adds a fourth, “low and slow”, at 225 to 275°F (107 to 135°C). Notice that low and slow overlaps the bottom of Weber’s own low range. Weber’s owner’s guide also gives one more benchmark: with all the charcoal glowing red and the lid closed, the temperature under the lid should reach about 500°F (260°C) after 10 to 15 minutes of preheating. Weber’s damper guide says the lid thermometer, where a grill has one, shows the overall ambient temperature of the grill.

AmazingRibs Uses Different Reference Points

AmazingRibs does not define low, medium and high. Its cooking temperature article pegs almost all recipes to two temperatures, 225°F (107°C) and 325°F (163°C), held in the indirect zone with the lid down, plus a direct-zone setting it calls Warp 10, meaning the grill cranked as high as it goes. It says 225°F suits tough cuts such as brisket and 325°F helps crisp poultry skin. It advises hot and fast direct cooking for foods under an inch thick and a two-stage cook for thicker ones. In one comparison on that page, the air over hot coals was about 600°F (316°C).

These are not competing definitions so much as different vocabularies. Weber’s bands appear to describe the grill’s overall temperature (its page ties the lid thermometer to the ambient temperature), while AmazingRibs is describing specific zones. Neither source says how to convert one set into the other, so we do not attempt it.

The Hand Test, and Its Limits

Weber’s method: imagine a soda can standing on the cooking grate right over the coals. Your palm on top of the can would sit about 5 inches (13 cm) above the grate, and that is where to hold your hand. Pull away before it hurts, and make sure nothing flammable, such as a sleeve, hangs from your arm. Weber’s timings are:

2 to 4 seconds before you must pull away: high.
5 to 7 seconds: medium.
8 to 10 seconds: low.

AmazingRibs rejects the method. Its thermometer article says each person reacts to heat differently, and that the heat one inch above the grate can be very different from the heat six inches above. It sums up the alternative in four words: “You need a thermometer!” It says counting seconds over the grate tells you nothing dependable about the grill’s temperature. Weber’s page itself offers the lid thermometer as the other way to gauge heat, and notes that lifting the lid to check the coals causes peaks and valleys in temperature.

Our reading of the two positions: Weber offers the hand test as a rough sort into three bands, with a safety instruction to withdraw early, while AmazingRibs says it is not a measurement. If you use it, follow Weber’s safety instructions (pull away before it hurts, nothing dangling) and confirm with an instrument.

Using a Thermometer Instead

Here the two sources differ again. Weber points to the lid thermometer, or an ambient probe from its app-connected thermometer for grills without one. AmazingRibs says most thermometers built into lids are bi-metal dials that should be treated as heat indicators, not thermometers, because they can be off by as much as 50°F (28°C), with some dials reported off by more than 100°F (56°C). It also notes that the probe sits high in the dome, where the temperature can differ from what the food sees.

AmazingRibs recommends a digital thermometer with the probe about two inches to the side of the food and about an inch above the grate. In its vent article, AmazingRibs also recommends dry runs without food, recording the temperatures a digital thermometer shows at different settings. Weber’s damper guide is compatible with that, since it says wind, outside temperature and how clean the grill is all move the numbers.

Putting It Together

Where the sources agree: preheat, watch conditions, and treat any single number as approximate. Where they differ: Weber gives you low, medium and high bands and a hand test, while AmazingRibs gives two target temperatures and a measuring rule. If you use Weber’s bands, check them with a probe near the food. Our reading: when a recipe names a temperature, aim for that reading rather than a label. The sources here do not cover fire safety beyond the hand-test warning; for lighting and flare-ups, see our separate guides.

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September 21, 2026

Charcoal Grill Vents: Weber and AmazingRibs Compared

Weber and AmazingRibs.com both teach that airflow sets the temperature of a charcoal fire, but they give different instructions for which vent to move. This guide compares Weber’s damper guide, its UK equivalent, Weber’s charcoal grill owner’s guide and AmazingRibs.com founder Meathead’s articles on using vents and setting up a charcoal grill. Celsius figures in parentheses are our own conversions.

Intake and Exhaust: The Basic Picture

AmazingRibs describes two oxygen controls. The intake damper sits near the charcoal and feeds it air. The exhaust damper (also called the flue, vent or chimney) lets combustion gases, heat and smoke out and, through the draft that creates, pulls air in through the intake. Close the intake and the fire starves even if the exhaust is wide open. The exhaust needs to stay at least partly open so that combustion gases do not smother the fire.

Weber describes the same hardware for a kettle: dampers in the bowl at the bottom and a damper in the lid. Its owner’s guide says more air means a hotter fire (up to a point) and more frequent refuelling, and that ash should be cleared regularly so it does not block the bottom vents.

Where Weber and AmazingRibs Disagree

Weber’s US guide suggests leaving the bottom dampers fully open and using the top lid damper to control temperature. Weber’s UK page says beginners should leave both open, then graduate to keeping the bottom vent fully open and steering with the lid vent.

AmazingRibs says the opposite for most cookers: the intake is “the engine”, so on most grills you control temperature mainly with the intake, keeping the exhaust fully open while you learn the cooker. It compares adjusting both at once to pressing the gas pedal and brake together. Its charcoal grill setup guide gives the same direction: control temperature with the bottom vents, not the top, and keep the top vents open at least halfway to avoid sooty buildup or bitter creosote on the food.

The sources do not reconcile these. AmazingRibs allows one exception: on leaky, poorly sealed cookers, if you cannot hit your target after fixing the leaks, try throttling the exhaust instead. Weber’s own pages are also not identical to each other. Its owner’s guide says closing the lid damper halfway is how to slow the fire, while the damper table below goes down to one-eighth open for low and slow.

Weber’s Damper Settings

Weber’s US page lists lid damper positions for each heat level, with the bottom dampers fully open:

High, 450 to 550°F (232 to 288°C): fully open.
Medium, 350 to 450°F (177 to 232°C): half open.
Low, 250 to 350°F (121 to 177°C): a quarter open.
Low and slow, 225 to 275°F (107 to 135°C): one-quarter to one-eighth open.
Off: fully closed.

Weber warns that outside temperature, wind, how clean the grill is and even the food can shift these results. The UK page lists these in Celsius, but its low-and-slow range is 95 to 150°C, wider than the 107 to 135°C that the US range converts to.

How Much Charcoal for Which Heat

Weber’s UK page uses the chimney as a measuring cup: about a third of a chimney for low and slow, half for longer indirect cooks, and a full chimney for direct high-heat grilling. Weber’s owner’s guide instead sorts by grill size and method rather than target temperature. For direct cooking on a 22-inch (57 cm) kettle it lists 40 Weber briquettes, or 50 briquettes of other charcoal. For indirect cooking on the same size it lists 15 Weber briquettes per side for the first hour, and says charcoal typically lasts about an hour.

AmazingRibs ties amounts to temperature for a Weber kettle. A Weber chimney holds about 80 briquets. For 225°F (107°C) it uses roughly half a chimney of unlit coals with half a chimney of lit coals on top. For 325°F (163°C) it says three-quarters to a full chimney should do it. It stresses that air temperature, humidity and charcoal brand all matter, and that you should calibrate with dry runs. Its vent article adds that if the temperature slides, the best fix is to add fully lit coals, because unlit coals smoke heavily and push the temperature up as they ignite.

Troubleshooting From the Sources

Weber’s UK page has a short checklist. If the grill is not hot enough, open the lid vents fully, use fresh dry charcoal and clear away old ash. If it is too hot, check for too much fuel or air and close the lid vent slightly. AmazingRibs says closing the bottom vents a bit lowers a rising temperature, but not to shut them completely or the coals may die.

Safety and Limits

Weber’s owner’s guide says the vent and damper handles get hot and calls for heat-resistant mitts when adjusting them. To put the fire out, it says to close the bowl vent and lid damper with the lid on, not to use water. The sources cited do not cover a fire that has escaped the grill, so this guide does not either. If a grill will not hold a temperature in any vent position, AmazingRibs points to leaks first, and Weber points to clean vents, fresh charcoal and no leftover ash, before you conclude the grill is faulty.

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September 21, 2026