1- Marinating quickly tenderizes meat and also adds additional flavor. Use roughly 1 to 2 cups of marinade for every 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of food. The marinade should completely surround the food. Cooked meat should never be returned to a cold marinade.  As a general rule, the longer you let foods marinate, the better your grilled foods will turn out.  

2- A secret to tender, moist, tasty meat and fish is the cut you choose. The best cut for grilling steaks is a full one inch thick.  Also, choose meat that has some fat or moralization.  No fat usually means dry food.  If you like your hamburgers juicy, go with ground beef that is about 15 to 20 percent fat.  

3- Trim excess fat.   Just like having no fat is bad, more than 1/8 inch fat left on the outside of a steak will cause flame flair-ups and burn your meat.   

4- For direct cooking on a charcoal grill, make sure there is enough charcoal to extend in a single layer 1 to 2 inches beyond the area of the food on the grill. Pour briquettes into the grill to determine the quantity, then stack into a pyramid for lighting. For indirect cooking, food is placed over a drip pan and the briquettes are banked either to one or both sides of the pan.  

5- When using charcoal, douse the coals with the least amount of starter fluid as possible to light the fire. If starter fluid is unavailable, try using regular salad oil. Wad a sheet of newspaper and pile the coals over it, then douse the coals with the salad oil. Light the paper as you would using normal starter fluid.   The oil will produce less of a chemical taste than lighter fluid.

6- When roasting or grilling with a BBQ pit closed, open a can of beer and place the beer over the hottest part of the fire. The beer will boil and super saturate the air inside the pit with water vapor, beer flavors and alcohol. This will help in keeping the roasting meats moist, while adding flavor to the meat.  You must open the beer can or it will explode! 

7- Whenever barbecuing, use tongs to turn the meat.  A fork should never be used as it will punch holes in the meat and allow the natural juices to escape, causing the meat to lose flavor and become chewy.  

 8- When grilling meats, it is usually best to turn the meat only once. When grilling meat to a medium or greater doneness, use the lid to assist in cooking. This will decrease the cooking time by applying heat to all sides of the meat at once.

9- Tomato and/or sugar based BBQ sauces should be added only at the end of the grilling process, since these products will burn easily and are seldom considered an internal meat flavoring. 

10- Clean your grill grates thoroughly before and after every use.  The best solution is to preheat the grill grates, then use a moist, rolled up towel, held by your tongs to wipe it down.  Once cleaned, rub the grate with a little vegetable oil to prevent sticking and conduct heat more efficiently.   Not only will this prevent your food from sticking, but it will enhance the grill markings and make your food cook more quickly.