What’s Your Ritual?

Once you’re initiated into grilling culture, it isn’t long before you start to develop your own ritual. You may prefer to grill your steaks with beer in hand; with a white apron on, or without one. Your ritual may involve charcoal or propane; it may involve salt and pepper, garlic and butter, or a marinade or rub of your own choosing. You may play music while you grill; you may grill only while watching a game. You may grill just long enough to get your steaks medium rare, or you may opt for something a tiny bit more done.

What your ritual encompasses is beside the point, frankly. What matters is that you develop something that you take pride in, and find joy in. That’s what makes it your ritual, and that’s a big part of what makes grilling culture so inviting.

Crucially, your ritual may not be the same as that of a five-star steakhouse chef. You may not think of yourself as a pro-level culinary expert, and that’s fine. What matters is that you develop a ritual that you enjoy; whether it’s “right” or “wrong” shouldn’t factor into it.

Let that thought give you some comfort as you consider ordering a pack of Diablos. This is a premium piece of meat we’re talking about, and yes, it’s going to be more expensive than the beef you select at CostCo. That might initially make you feel reluctant: What if you spend money on a high-end steak and then ruin it in the grilling process?

The great thing about a Diablo, though, is that it really can’t be ruined, not if you have a ritual in place that you know and enjoy. A Diablo will fold right into your preferred grilling methodologies; just go through your ritual like always, and see how the high quality of a Diablo enhances the experience. (Actually, because a Diablo is so good, it’s going to be even tougher to ruin it than it would be with a subpar steak.)

You don’t have to be a professional chef to enjoy a Diablo. You just need to have a ritual—and to make your Diablo a part of it.