The two-zone method ups your grilling game in a couple of ways. First and foremost, it leads to more evenly cooked food with a nice charred exterior. The bulk of the cooking time for most foods will be spent on the indirect heat side. Move it over to the direct heat to finish it off with nice browning and beautiful grill marks.
Two-zone grilling also gives you more control as you fire up your food. If something is overcooking, you have the freedom to just scooch it over to the indirect heat side. Think of it like having only one burner lit on your stove — if the pasta water starts to foam over you can quickly move the pot to its neighboring burner, immediately removing the direct heat source. The same goes for dangerous flare-ups caused by drippings that can also turn your food into an ashy hockey puck.
An added bonus is that it’s like having an oven outside. You don’t have to bother heating up your kitchen on a hot summer day. Whatever you were planning on roasting or baking can go on the indirect side. Just use a grill thermometer to gauge the temperature.
