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Q. “What are the most ‘grill-friendly’ cuts of meat?” —Tess, Kimberly

A.The most “grill-friendly” cuts of meat are the muscles that come from the mid-section of an animal carcass. These “middle meats” move significantly less than the muscles that are used by the animal for locomotion and are therefore more tender. The parts of the animal that move a lot, typically the legs and chest areas, are in constant motion and are the strongest muscles on the carcass which also make them the toughest muscles. Let’s identify some specific grill-friendly cuts. On a chicken, it would be the boneless chicken breast, either skin on or skin off. On a pig, the pork loin which can be cut into chops and the pork tenderloin are the most tender. On a steer, steaks including the ribeye, tenderloin, strip loin, sirloin, T-Bone and porterhouse are the most tender. On a lamb the chops cut from both the rack and the loin are the most tender. Most seafood can be grill-friendly, keeping in mind that salmon with its natural healthy fat is among the most forgiving. Although all of the cuts mentioned here are tender and grill-friendly, care must be taken to not overcook them and dry them out. Happy grilling!