I asked; you answered.

It sounds like your biggest grilling concern is how to know your meat is done, especially chicken. Shall we deal with that now? Awesome.

A few grilling basics.

• Preheat your grill. A hot grill equals easy grilling.
• Oil the grill before putting anything on it. Oil keeps stuff from sticking.
• Don't move the food until it's time to turn it over. Fiddling with it while it's cooking will definitely cause your chicken or burger to stick. Not good.
• Don't be afraid. Sure, a grill is hot, but unless you're reaching for food with your bare hands over a really old grill that's prone to flame flares, you'll be fine.

Now let's talk chicken. In this method, I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, but you could definitely use breasts. Cooking with the skin and bone is a bit trickier since not all the meat is touching the grill at the same time, but the concept is still pretty similar. I think chicken thighs are a great way to start because thigh meat is so forgiving; it's really hard to overcook it like white meat. And the extra iron in the dark meat doesn't hurt either.

First, preheat the grill. We have a gas grill, and I set it on medium-high. If it's screeching hot, the outside if your chicken might burn a bit before the inside is done, especially if you're using a marinade or sauce that's high in sugar. Burn baby burn.

Second, prepare your meat. Since this is simple grilled chicken, we're just going with olive oil (not extra virgin), salt, and pepper. You can use different marinades and spices (we'll talk about those another day), but it's good to master the simple stuff before you start getting creative. Generously drizzle both sides of the chicken with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Next, grab a paper towel, some oil, a pair of stainless steel tongs, the chicken, and head out to your grill. Pour the oil on the paper towel, and use the tongs to spread the oil on the grill grates. I know your chicken has oil on it, but this extra step is worth it.

Place the chicken on the grill, and DON'T MOVE IT. If you don't want your chicken to stick, leave it alone.

These will take about 6-7 minutes per side, but here's what to look for.

You see how the color has changed on the meat? How the white has come up around the edges of the chicken? Do you also see those little brown bits on the edges? That's how you know it's time to flip, and there's no sticking.

Cook for another 6-7 minutes, and you should be good. A great way to tell is to press down on the chicken a bit. You're looking for the tiniest amount of give. Too soft or fleshy means it's not done yet. Of course the surest way to know the chicken is done is to cut it open, but then your chicken is hacked and not pretty anymore. Trust the time, the look, and the feel. Six-ish minutes, a nice golden color, and just a bit of give to the meat will give you perfectly cooked chicken.

In the coming weeks, I'll give you more tips and grilling recipes that you can enjoy this summer, so be sure and come back to check them out. By the way, this method works great for chicken breasts, too. Just flatten them a bit first beforehand; your cooking will be more even that way. Happy grilling!