Bobby Flay's Grilling Rule You Should Never Break

If you want to learn how to make the perfect beef Wellington, you ask Gordon Ramsay. If you want to learn how to whip up the perfect plate of spaghetti Bolognese, you ask Giada De Laurentiis. And if you want to learn how to grill up the perfect burger (or steak or chicken), you ask Bobby Flay.

The Food Network star has been manning the grill since he was gifted an Easy-Bake Oven from his parents one Christmas as a little boy, Good Housekeeping reports. Since then, he's gone on to host multiple cooking shows including Iron Chef America and Beat Bobby Flay, published numerous cookbooks, and even opened a couple of restaurants (via Food Network). The pro-pit master has more than a handful of tricks to expert grilling, but there's one rule in particular he always follows. Here's Flay's secret to getting perfectly grilled food every time that's delicious.

One of the big questions many people have when grilling is whether you should keep the lid on or leave it off. According to Flay, that all depends on what exactly you're cooking up. "My rule of thumb is to leave the lid off for ingredients that cook quickly like shrimp and vegetables and put the lid on for longer-grilling items like poultry and steak," he told Food Network. The celebrity chef explained that the lid essentially turns your grill into an oven and prevents your meat —which needs to be on the flame for longer — from overcooking or drying out.

Flay also strongly recommends leaving the lid closed for any foods that take longer than 10 minutes to cook, he told Women's Health. Meaning, you should resist the urge to peek under the lid every couple of minutes to make sure everything is cooking okay. That can impact the doneness, juiciness, and texture of your final product.