A barbecue pro shares his expert tips for grilling success. (Hint: tame that flame)

Matt Basile knows his way around a grill. He helmed the food truck Fidel Gastro’s, known for its luscious sandwiches, before expanding to the popular restaurant Lisa Marie, beloved for its brunch and elevated pub menu, where he made hot veal sandwiches, Philly cheesesteak and grilled steak tacos. After closing that in 2019, he turned his focus to small events with a ticketed flame-to-table dinner series (bookable at chefmattbasile.com) and designing Alchemy Grills, a barbecue powered by wood and coal that allows users to cook by flame, smoker and grill at the same time.

Whether it’s propane or charcoal, Basile says the thing people consistently get wrong about barbecuing is putting food directly on the heat source: “They think, ‘If I put the food directly over the hottest point of the barbecue, it will cook faster and will be better because I’m eating sooner.’” But, he says a good steak or whole chicken always cooks more evenly when it’s not cooking directly over the fire. Placing your food on something that distributes the heat will ensure a better cooked — and tastier — meal.

As for seasoning, Basile says to make sure you know what you’re buying and how to use it. “You really need to understand when you're buying a rub what the point of it is. Some rubs are designed for barbecue cooking low and slow, like ribs. Other rubs are designed for marinating something overnight,” Basile says. Many rubs are salt heavy, which he cautions against to ensure optimal flavour.

“With 90 per cent of rubs out there, the first three ingredients are salt, pepper, garlic. So if you're looking for something a little bit more unique, move away from those three flavours.”

Whether it’s a pot, pan or flat griddle, having a cast-iron surface to cook on is important, Basile says, for whatever your cooking: seafood, fish, vegetables or meat. “It cooks things more evenly without having a direct flame under the food.”

“When I see someone cut into their food to see if it's done, I'm just thinking, ‘What are you doing?’” he says. Therefore, a digital pro thermometer is a must, whether it’s a simple hand-held version that you stick in meat as needed, or a smart thermometers, such as this one, that allows you to keep track of the temperature throughout the cooking process. “They’re all doing the same thing, which is telling you when your food is ready without you having to guess.”

“I find a lot of barbecue-brand spatulas aren't very good. You put any sort of weight on them and they start to bend,” says Basile. He recommends a restaurant-quality spatula for grilling because they can handle having more weight put on them without warping, they’re durable and more functional.

“Everyone thinks, ‘Oh a knife is a knife is a knife, and they all do the same thing.’ But they're all designed and engineered to do certain things better than other things,” Basile explains. He recommends getting a knife set with ones for carving, chopping and slicing; he has one for de-boning, too. Having a dedicated outdoor set will save kitchen knives from getting ruined by trying to slice through chicken bone, for example.

Having a space outdoors to do prep on, line up products on and serve from relieves the stress of cooking outdoors: “It’s so much better than running inside and outside,” Basile says. He recommends getting something on wheels that you can move around as needed. “I find that the side tables that typically come with barbecues aren’t very useful.”

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