Chris Mattera has two words for the backyard grillmaster:

"Slow down."

"One of our biggest battles is to slow down people, especially men, who come in and say, 'I've got a grill, and it goes to 70 million degrees,'" said Mattera, somewhat exaggeratedly, but only somewhat. "At these super-high temperatures, it's easy to turn a really nice piece of meat into a pair of shoes.

"You could have saved yourself a lot of money and just bought a cheap pair of shoes and eaten them instead."

Remedy? Sear the meat on each side for a minute or two, and then move the meat to a cooler part of the grill, Mattera said. Or do what he does and grill over medium heat the entire time, turning the meat several times, which keeps it from drying out.

May is National Barbecue Month. For grilling advice, we visited Mattera at Belmont Butchery, a full-service butcher shop in Richmond offering a wide range of cut-to-order meats. Mattera is the butchery's chef charcutier, which means, among other things, he makes the sausages.

Rule of thumb
Ten minutes of cooking time, per inch of thickness, over medium-high heat for a medium-rare result, Mattera said. So, for a 1-inch thick cut, you might want to sear on each side for two minutes, and then move the meat to a less hot section of the grill and cook for another three minutes on each side.

What's hot?
If it's too hot to hold your hand 2 inches from the grill, that's a good spot for searing. If you can hold your hand over a spot for a couple of seconds, that's medium. Temperature is easy to control with a gas grill, but you can do it with charcoal, too. Just build a fire to one side of the grill -- the sear zone -- and have a smaller accumulation of charcoal on the other side.

What's best to grill?
"Best" is a subjective term. Depends on what you want. The most expensive cuts are fine, Mattera said, but don't overlook cuts of beef such as sirloin or ribeye, or flank or flat iron steaks. They're often moderately priced and work very well on the grill. Pork chops and lamb chops are great, and don't feel compelled to stick with the often-photographed center cuts. Some of the less-expensive cuts -- such as shoulder chops -- might not be as pretty, but on the grill they can be just as delicious, Mattera said.

Sausages aren't just for buns
Or for serving over pasta. They can be the steak of a meal, Mattera said, particularly freshly made ones like he produces. Tip: "You don't want to grill them too hot because they'll burst and you'll lose all of that juicy wonderfulness," he said. Start sausages on the cooler side of the grill and work them toward the "hot zone" at the end. That way, they're fully cooked by the time you sear them and they won't explode or crumble.

Don't be afraid to share
Instead of buying a small New York strip for each person coming to dinner, buy a few large pieces to cut and share. You might save a few dollars, and a larger cut of meat is often more forgiving when it comes to grilling; that is, you don't have to be quite so precise. "I don't know where the resistance to this comes from," said Mattera. "For me, it's all sort of communal, and it's convivial to sit down and share."

Dress your kebabs separately
Kebabs are great for grilling, and the ones with the chunks of vegetables interspersed with pieces of meat are lovely to behold. But cooking them often is far trickier than necessary. "You end up with undercooked beef and overcooked zucchini," Mattera said. His suggestion? Have kebabs, just have meat and vegetables on separate skewers.

"They're still kebabs, they're still festive," he said, "but you can cook them appropriately."

Gas or charcoal?
Mattera prefers charcoal -- and hardwood lump charcoal. He believes it tastes better. He understands gas grills are appealing because they heat up quickly, and that's important when you get home from work late and don't have a lot of time to fire up the grill. But he's gotten around that by using a charcoal chimney starter. "I have red, hot coals in 15 or 20 minutes," he said.