Summer is the one season most Americans feel confident in the kitchen, or rather, next to it. The grill comes out, the same cuts go on and somewhere between the first flip and the final plate, something goes sideways without anyone knowing why. After years of working as a professional chef, I’ve watched the same mistakes repeat themselves season after season, and almost all of them come down to the wrong heat, the wrong timing or a habit that sounds right but isn’t.
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