By Published Aug. 10, 2023.
This is Technique #83 from our 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.
Each technique is broken into three sections: why it works, key steps, and recipes that use it. Learn these recipe building blocks and you'll be set up for a lifetime of cooking success.
There’s no rule that says large, impressive cuts of meat must be roasted in the oven. In fact, we advise you to free up your oven space on hectic holidays and take your centerpiece dish out to the grill.
If you follow our tried-and-true techniques, you'll be able to turn out even more impressive main dishes that have lovely char and a smoky grilled flavor.
Our favorite tips and recipes, enjoyed by 2 million+ subscribers!
Grill-roasting involves cooking over indirect heat at a fairly constant temperature, mimicking the environment of an oven. It requires longer cooking times than regular grilling simply because the pieces of food are larger.
Because of that longer time, this technique calls for heat that is more moderate. The grill is typically set up with a half-grill fire for indirect cooking—that is, part of the grill is left free of coals, or some of the gas burners are turned off, to create two temperature zones.
As a result, large pieces of meat can be cooked through without danger of scorching the exteriors or drying out the interiors.
To avoid flare-ups when there is fat to render, as with a leg of lamb, a ham, or a skin-on chicken, you should start the meat over cooler heat to cook it through at a lower temperature and then move it to higher heat to sear it and create a flavorful browned crust—our reverse-searing technique brought to the grill.
Using this method allows the fat to gently render long before the meat sees the direct heat, minimizing flare-ups.
Occasionally, if the roast is very lean, it’s better to flip the script, starting the meat on the hotter side of the grill to sear it and then moving it to the cooler side to finish cooking it through.
When grill-roasting on a charcoal grill, we choose briquettes over natural hardwood charcoal. Though both hardwood charcoal and briquettes burn fast and hot for the first 30 minutes, we’ve found that hardwood then abruptly turns to ash while briquettes keep going for the longer cooking time that’s required.
With these steps, you can learn how to grill-roast any meat on any kind of grill.
Rub meat with seasoning paste, dry rub, or other seasoning and let sit so meat can absorb seasoning.
For charcoal grill, set up half-grill fire, with hot coals on one half of grill. For gas grill, turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burner(s).
Grill-roast meat, fat side up, on cooler side of grill with lid down until it reaches desired temperature.
Move meat to hotter side of grill and sear, fat side down, to create crust.
Transfer to carving board and let rest. Carve and serve.
Want to put your newfound knowledge of grill-roasting to use? Try it with these recipes.
Ready to learn another technique? Choose from our list of 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.
