25 grilling tips for a summer of happy barbecues

Over the long winter, the grates of your grill have probably gotten rusty -- as have your grilling skills. With summer almost here, it's time to clean and oil those grates, and to brush up on grilling techniques, too. Here are our top 25 grilling tips:

Sugar burns, so if your barbecue sauce contains sugar (or molasses or honey or agave syrup), brush it on only at the very end.

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The best way to tell if your meat is done is to take its temperature with an instant-read thermometer. Lift the steak (or burger or chicken breast) with a pair of tongs so you can slide the thermometer in horizontally.

125 degrees for rare,

130 for medium-rare, 140 for medium,

150 for medium-well, 160 for shoe leather.

145 degrees for medium,

160 for well-done

150 degrees

160 degrees

175 degrees (also chicken sausage or chicken or turkey burgers)

130 to 140 degrees

All meat should rest off the heat before serving. During this time, the juices will stabilize (so they stay in the meat) and, more important, the heat from the exterior areas will penetrate the interior, making a more evenly cooked piece of meat. This migration of heat also will raise the internal temperature of the meat by anywhere from 5 degrees (for a thin steak) to 10 to 15 degrees (for a large roast). So, if you want your steak medium-rare, take it off the heat at 120 to 125 degrees. Wrapping cooked meat with aluminum foil will raise its temperature even more.