Since grilling is a seasonal style of cooking, you probably have more practice with — and comfort in — other techniques like roasting, sautéing, steaming, and baking. But, “when you choose to grill, you are choosing to add more flavor to your meal,” says Nathaniel Leonard, executive chef of Ashore Resort & Beach Club in Ocean City, Maryland. “Who doesn’t want more flavor?”

Grilled food delivers that crave-worthy combination of sear and smokiness, adds Gastón Javier, executive chef of The Social Club at Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. But that’s only true if you grill food properly. Since grilling involves high heat, food can quickly end up charred and burnt if you’re not careful.

For this reason, “grilling is a hands-on, real-time craft,” Javier says. “It’s not about ‘setting and forgetting.’ It’s crucial to stay alert and be ready to adjust.” But the good news is, “you can see, hear, and smell all the changes happening in real time. If you use your senses and have a decent concept of what ‘done’ looks like, you can grill just about anything,” explains Sarah McClure, chef and co-owner of Southside Smokehouse in Landrum South, Carolina.

Ahead, we’re equipping you with tips to do just that. And along the way, we’ll help you steer clear of the most common grilling mistakes.

Regardless of whether you’re using a gas or charcoal grill, it’s important to preheat it before beginning to cook, says Ron Fougeray, corporate executive chef at Surf & Sand Laguna Beach and Rancho Bernardo Inn in Laguna Beach, California.

If you start with a cold or lukewarm grill, it’s impossible to score that satisfying sear. Not only could this impact your meal’s flavor, it also means food is more likely to stick to the grates. Not great.

Aim to turn on a gas grill 10 minutes in advance. When cooking with charcoal, our Food Network Kitchen recipe developers suggest getting the coals going in a chimney starter for 15 to 20 minutes. Once the charcoal appears ashy, dump it into the kettle, close the lid (with the vent open), and allow the grill to preheat for about 15 minutes more before you plan to start searing.

If Javier was forced to choose the most common mistake of all in the grilling world, he’d select confusion over proper time and temperature — factors that vary based on the item you’re cooking.

“A lot of people crank the grill up to ‘high’ and toss everything on at once. That’s a recipe for uneven cooking, dried-out meat or fish, and underwhelming results,” he says. “Consistent heat and patience are key.”

For chicken and thicker cuts of meat and fish, for instance, medium or medium-low heat works well for most cuts because the center needs time to cook through before the exterior burns. For hot dogs, sausages, and brats, medium or indirect heat is also ideal to allow the links to cook evenly before finishing them over high heat to crisp up the casing.

We just mentioned “indirect heat,” which can sound intimidating, if you’re new to the grilling world. But the option to use indirect heat is actually an asset — and another factor that makes grilled fare so fantastic.

“A lot of home cooks think that the whole grill needs to be set to the same temperature. In reality, you want to have sections of the grill with different temps,” McClure explains.

To harness the power of grilling zones, think of the surface like a cooktop with multiple burners: high, medium, and low, Javier says. With a gas grill, this might look like turning the left burner to high or medium-high, leaving the center burner off (aka indirect cooking), and turning the right burner to medium-low. This allows you to sear (cook the exterior over high before moving it to lower heat to cook through) or reverse sear (cook over lower heat before searing the exterior) to ensure each ounce cooks to perfection. For charcoal, shift the coals to the sides of the kettle, leaving the center empty for an indirect zone.

“Early on, I tried to grill a whole bone-in chicken on high heat, thinking faster meant better. The skin burned while the inside stayed raw. This taught me to respect the process, use heat zones wisely, and always check internal temperatures. Realizing the power of grill zones completely changed my approach. I know that grilling is part cooking, part choreography,” Javier says.

You need just one additional tool to ace your internal temperatures every time, and to drastically reduce the risk of undercooking or overcooking your protein: “A thermometer isn’t just helpful—it’s essential,” Javier believes.

Grilled chicken gets overcooked more than any other animal protein, Leonard advises, which leaves you with a dry bird that has lackluster flavor.

To infuse it with flavor and extra moisture before you ignite the grill, Leonard and McClure agree that a simple marinade can come in clutch. (Molly Yeh’s Yogurt-Marinated Chicken Skewers is a terrific template to follow.) Marinate the chicken for 8 hours, then cook it over direct heat to form a crust. Shift the chicken to the indirect side, and grill until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reaches 160° F, so the internal temperature rises to a perfect 165° F while resting.

But more on that last point: remember that “carryover cooking is real,” Javier says. To hit the USDA’s safe minimum internal temperature, aim to remove meat, fish,and seafood from the grill about 5° to 10° F below your target temp, then let the protein rest for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. The temperature will continue to rise during this period so it will end up at the “Goldilocks” level of doneness.

Besides allowing for the temperature to even out, “resting protein allows the juices to redistribute, resulting in more flavorful and tender results,” says Massimo De Francesca, executive chef of Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa and Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands. “It's just as important as the grilling itself.”

We just talked about the ideal time to pull your animal protein from the grill. If you’re doing so with the same spatula or tongs you started with, you’re creating a very real food safety sin.

Cross contamination is serious — and easy to perpetrate if you’re not careful. Wash your hands before and after you handle raw meat and poultry, and use separate utensils for raw and cooked foods.

Every grilling session, De Francesca rounds up his “raw tongs” and “cooked tongs” each with a different color handle. After adding the raw food to the grill, set that pair aside to wash with soap and water, and switch to the cooked tongs to finish the job. The same holds true for cutting boards and plates. Never transfer cooked protein to a surface that once had raw protein on it (unless you’ve thoroughly washed it with soap and water in between).

“The beauty of grilling is its simplicity, so don’t overcomplicate your dishes,” Fougeray says.

If you start with high-quality ingredients and allow them to step into the spotlight, you have a recipe for success. But there is one small yet crucial step that’s required just before you grill to make restaurant-quality recipes: seasoning.

“A generous amount of salt, freshly-cracked pepper, and a bit of your favorite finishing extra virgin olive oil is all you need,” Fougeray says, although you can certainly improvise and add in other spices as desired.

De Francesca coaches his cooks to season ingredients about 30 minutes prior to grilling, since for meat, poultry, fish, and seafood, “early seasoning helps draw out moisture, begins the tenderizing process, and allows the flavors to start penetrating the flesh.”

If you’re crunched for time, simply season your raw protein on a platter, cutting board or plate prior to placing it on the grill (with your raw utensils).

“Never season directly over the grill. It’s unsafe and ineffective. Spices or oils can fall onto the flames, causing flare-ups or damaging the grill. Plus, seasoning over the grill often results in uneven coverage,” De Francesca adds.

The omnipresence of smash burgers and the satisfying sizzle make it tempting to press burgers with a spatula. However, unless you’re cooking the burgers on a flat top like a Blackstone griddle, “you’re squeezing out all the flavorful juices,” Javier says.

Sear each side over direct heat to develop a crust, flip just once if possible, then finish cooking the middle of the burger over indirect heat, Leonard and Javier suggest.

Burgers, chicken, steak, brats, and hot dogs tend to get top billing on many American grilling menus. But don’t overlook the sleeper hits. The chefs we spoke to have grilled everything from eggplant to okra; paella to peaches.

“I urge home cooks to try something new and be adventurous. Everything I learned about cooking with fire has usually come from failure, so I encourage you to experiment until you reach a point where your food stops you and your guests in an ‘a-ha’ moment,” Leonard says.

For some delicious inspiration, don’t miss these 20 weekend grilling ideas that go way beyond burgers.