Required Reading

        If you're ready to graduate beyond the usual chicken, ribs and brats, here's a book of Asian recipes for grilling. Asian Grilling (Morrow; $24.95) by Sue-Mei Yu is full of ideas for satay, skewers, kebabs and other traditionally grilled dishes from Chinese, Thai, Malaysian and other Asian cuisines. Then there are other dishes of a more fusion character, such as quesadillas with Thai vegetables. There are lots of recipes for salads with grilled ingredients, which seem best suited for someone with a stove-top grill, or who uses an outdoor gas grill often. Color photos accompany almost every dish.

Rare tip

        The easiest way to check a grilled steak for doneness is to make a small cut in the thickest part of the steak and take a peek at the inside. For bone-in steaks, cut into the meat near the bone. Some experts claim that cutting into the meat will cause it to leak precious juices. It won't. Pull the steak from the heat when it appears just short of the desired doneness. For example, if you like your steak medium-rare, stop cooking when it still looks somewhat rare inside. A thick steak will continue to cook for a few minutes after you remove it from the heat, and the juices will be redistributed, giving it the perfect degree of doneness.

        — Source: The Joy of Cooking: All About Grilling (Simon & Schuster; $19.95)

Best burgers

        Sure-fire advice for grilling burgers:

        • Use ground chuck.

        • Keep seasonings to a minimum — a little kosher salt is all you need.

        • Don't make mega-burgers, a 5-ounce patty works great.

        • Make sure your grill is hot before adding the meat in order to get that great crust.

        • Don't apply pressure to burgers when they're cooking. It only serves to push the juice out of the meat.

        • Flip burgers only once.

— From I'm Just Here for the Food (Stewart, Tabori & Chang; $32.50) by Alton Brown,

Hot hotline

        Need more grilling tips? Weber, maker of the familiar charcoal kettle and other grills, has a hotline you can call seven days a week — April through Labor Day. It's open 6 a.m.-10 p.m, Central Time. You'll get answers about grill preparation and clean-up to recipe suggestions, cooking hints and food safety tips. It's (800) 474-5568. Why not ask for a free booklet, “Weber's Girls Guide to Grilling”?

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