Grilling Month

Your Summer grilling soiree was a hit, and all that's left to do is pack away leftovers and dump out your grill full of charcoal ash and spent hickory chips. But before you upend that Weber, take care to dispose of the mess safely (ash can still be hot!) and properly.

To dispose of charcoal and wood ash: Let the ash cool for 48 hours. You can speed up this process by pouring water over the hot charcoal and stirring it very carefully. When the ash has cooled completely, wrap it in aluminum foil and place it in an noncombustible outdoor trash bin.

If you used additive-free lump charcoal: Fertilize your plants! Charcoal ash contains potash, an important nutrient for some plants. It's also a great way to increase the pH of the soil.

Read on for a few ideas on how to recycle unused charcoal.

In honor of the warm weather and sunny skies, we've declared June Grilling Month, and every day this month we're bringing you brand-new grilling recipes, educational tidbits, and pointers for making your cookout the best party ever.

To really blow out barbecue season, we're hoping you'll be game to share your favorite flame-broiled moments on the back porch with us. Upload your photos to Instagram and include the hashtag #savorysight in your caption; we'll combine our favorite shots and share them with you in a few weeks. And make sure to follow YumSugar on Instagram (username heyyumsugar) for delicious inspiration. If you don't use Instagram, then don't worry! You can always upload your Spring food photos to our Savory Sights community group.

Of the less-than-conventional foods to throw on the grill, my favorite is probably pizza. I love a luscious, melted pie in any form, but there's something about the crunch and char of the crust from the grill that makes barbecued pizza irresistible. Thinking of throwing a pizza on your grates for the first time? Here are a few tips for grilled pizza pizzazz.

1. Make sure your grill is hot! When it comes to pizza crust, the higher the temperature of your grill, the more blistery and chewably crispy your pizza will be. If you don't have a thermometer on your grill, then check the heat using the "Mississippi" test: hold your hand three inches over the grill grates, and start counting, "One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi," and so on. If you can only count to two or three before the force of the heat makes you pull back your hands, then you know you've got your grill at 600ºF or higher.

For more pointers, keep reading.

Grilling and barbecue may roost at the pinnacle of American food traditions, but that doesn't mean they aren't popular elsewhere in the world; in fact, most nations claim grilling over open flames as a major cooking style. One of the most popular international grilling trends to hit the US is Korean barbecue, with its succulent marinades and charcoal-charred meats; the most clamored-for meat is undoubtedly kalbi, a beef rib cut with ample marbling for a melt-in-your-mouth experience.

In restaurants, traditional kalbi gui (literally, "grilled rib") is served as a long, thin strip of meat attached to a single two- to five-inch rib bone. But the cut prevalent at most Asian markets is known as "LA kalbi," which is cut in thin strips across the rib bones. LA kalbi is also fun to eat: those little bone nubs are awfully useful as handles! When buying this cut, go for the most marbled pieces you can find, and make sure there are no jagged edges on the bones.

You'll want the meat to be nice and caramelized on the outside and cooked all the way through on the inside. This will make it easier for you to tear the meat from the bone and make little lettuce wraps. To assemble, tear off a green or red lettuce leaf, line with a perilla leaf (if you can find them at your local Asian grocer), add a piece of deboned kalbi, and top with a dollop of Korean spicy bean paste (ssamjang) and a slice of raw garlic. Roll it up and pop it in your mouth for a vibrant burst of flavor. For the kalbi and spicy bean paste recipes, just keep reading.

There's something so quintessentially Summer about biting into a soft, ripe nectarine, slurping up the sweet, syrupy juice before it seeps down your arm. You know how sugar is good, but caramel is better? Well, the same goes for grilling nectarines. Due to their high sugar content, nectarines caramelize beautifully on a grill. This heavenly dessert only needs two ingredients: nectarines and fluffy honey frozen yogurt.

Learn how to grill nectarines.

From hot dogs to halloumi and wild leeks to watermelon, just about every provision can be made more delicious on the grill. My recent obsession is fish; a short grill takes its delicate flavor profile for a wild ride, imparting a char and an intoxicatingly smoky aroma that can't be replicated. Another reason to love fish on the 'cue: the versatile protein also works well in an extensive range of preparations. Here are five of my favorite methods with fish on the barbecue; to take advantage of them before Summer comes to a close, keep reading.

I love that a classic Caesar can be whipped up in a pinch, and now that we've hit grilling season, I experimented a little by charring lettuce leaves directly on the grill.

By quickly grilling the romaine lettuce, I imparted a charred flavor that's irresistible with a creamy Caesar salad dressing.

Of course, every Caesar salad needs croutons, so I lightly coated slices of bread in olive oil before grilling them alongside romaine lettuce. I wasn't able to source fresh anchovies but picked up salted whole anchovies, which I rinsed and lightly grilled for a boost of fish flavor.

The result? A salad that makes for a great first course for any barbecue party — or, with grilled chicken, a complete Summer meal. Heat up the barbeque and get to grilling this Summer Caesar salad.

Don Pisto's, a Mexican restaurant in San Francisco, gave me the idea of grilling pickled jalapeños. The small, smoky restaurant makes loads of these charred jalapeños each day to garnish each and every dish. As the jalapeños sizzle on the grill, they give off a whiff of spicy oils, which have a tendency to float in the air and give restaurant guests a little throat tickle.

I had a similar throat-clearing incident when trying this at home. While these jalapeños can be grilled on an indoor grill pan, it is advised to take the heat outside. Otherwise you might find yourself in an uncomfortable position of coughing incessantly while simultaneously fanning a beeping smoke alarm! However, the result is worth the effort. Learn how to make grilled pickled jalapeños.