FYR Grill Santa Maria How-To

Setting Up the Santa Maria Attachment

Before you start cooking, you need to set up the FYR Grill. Check out my article How to Use the FYR Grill for a quick set up guide. The Santa Maria grill attachment is part of this quick setup. Drop the Santa Maria grate base into the opening of your FYR Grill and place the metal cooking grates inside the frame. Slide the two vertical posts into the base and press them down until they lock in place.

Next, set the top mount onto the posts with the crank positioned on the right side of the grill. Once the frame feels secure, clip the cables to the triangular grate mount, turn the crank to test the lift system, and make sure the grate moves freely. The whole process takes just a moment, and once it’s in place, the FYR Grill becomes an adjustable open-fire machine.

FYR Grill Santa Maria How-To Basics

The heart of a Santa Maria grill attachment is its vertical heat control. A crank-powered lift system raises and lowers the cooking grate over the fire, giving you instant command over intensity. Lowering the grate brings the food close to the coals for fast sears and bold crusts. Lifting it creates gentle heat perfect for roasting, smoking, or slow cooking.

This style has been used for generations because it gives you the accuracy of modern equipment with the raw flavor of live fire. The FYR Santa Maria attachment brings that tradition straight to your backyard.

How Heat Control Works

Once your coals settle into a bed of hot, glowing embers, the Santa Maria system becomes a kind of manual temperature dial. As you lower the grate, the heat intensifies immediately, and when you raise it, the temperature softens just as fast. As a result, there’s no scrambling to move coals or reposition food—you simply adjust the entire surface with a single motion.

When the grate is low, you get searing heat perfect for steaks, burgers, and fire-blistered vegetables. Meanwhile, at a mid-range height, the grill delivers steady, even heat, allowing thicker foods to cook through without burning. However, with the grate raised high, the fire settles into a slow, rolling heat. It’s ideal for roasting whole vegetables, cooking on cast iron, or starting a reverse sear.

Controlling heat like this feels incredibly natural. Instead of trying to force the fire to behave, you work with it. That means lifting and lowering the grate to match the moment. Over time, you’ll start to anticipate the fire’s behavior. You’ll adjust your height based on color, sound, and aroma rather than relying on timers or guesswork.

Building the Right Fire for Santa Maria Grilling

Santa Maria grilling truly shines when it’s fueled by hardwood lump charcoal or split logs burned down to clean embers. Oak, hickory, and maple burn hot and long, which gives you steady heat and that classic California-style flavor. To begin, build a two-zone fire with a hotter bed of coals on one side and a cooler area on the other. This setup provides more flexibility throughout the cook, especially when you’re working with fattier cuts that may flare up or delicate foods that need gentler heat. In addition, this approach allows you to move seamlessly between searing and roasting without interrupting the flow of the fire.

Always cook over embers rather than roaring flames; otherwise, the heat becomes too unpredictable. Therefore, lower the grate only after the fire has settled into a steady, glowing bed of coals. This ensures you get the clean, controlled heat Santa Maria grilling is known for.

Learning to Read the Fire

One of the most rewarding parts of Santa Maria cooking is learning to trust your senses. As you cook, pay close attention to the fire. Flames reaching the grate? Lift it immediately. Coals glowing bright orange with steady heat? That means perfect searing conditions. A softer, deeper glow with minimal flame? That’s ideal for slower, more delicate cooking.

You’ll hear the difference too. An aggressive sizzle signals high heat, while a gentle, steady crackle tells you the fire has calmed down. As you notice these cues more often, adjusting the grate height becomes instinctive. Over time, your senses guide the whole process, helping you stay connected to the fire instead of fighting it.

Cooking with the Santa Maria Grill Attachment

Santa Maria-style grilling is famous for tri-tip, but it’s incredibly versatile. Drop the grate low for ribeyes, chicken thighs, and vegetables that benefit from direct fire flavor. Raise it to medium height for sausages, pork chops, and skewers where you want even cooking without scorching. Lift it high for cast-iron sides, whole peppers, whole squash, or the first stage of a reverse-seared steak. The FYR system lets you shift between these styles without ever moving the food off the grill.

If you’re ready to jump into the best grilling, a great starter recipe is the Santa Maria Tri Tip.

Santa Maria Grilling ideas

Grilled Carne Asada

Grilled Steak with Peanut Butter Sauce

Peppercorn Crusted Steaks with Duck Fat Fries

Grilled Tri-Tip with Charred Corn Salsa

BBQ Steak Sandwich

Chimichurri Marinated Tri-Tip with Grilled Fries

Final Thoughts: Bringing Santa Maria Tradition to the FYR Grill

The Santa Maria attachment turns your FYR Grill into an adjustable, fire-forward cooking tool that gives you more control than you’d ever expect from an open flame. With the lift wheel, you manage the heat instantly—no vents, no fuss, just pure fire command. It’s a style built on feel and tradition, yet it offers precision that modern grills chase but rarely match. Once you get comfortable reading the fire and moving the grate, you’ll understand why Santa Maria grilling is a game-changer for backyard BBQ pitmasters and home cooks alike. For additional ways to use the grill, check out my article on How to Use the FYR Grill.

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