Create a bootable Lion install drive for newer Macs

1. In Disk Utility, select InstallESD.dmg in the sidebar

2. Click the Burn button in the toolbar.

3. When prompted, insert a blank DVD (a single-layer disc should work, although you can use a dual-layer disc instead), choose your burn options, and click Burn.

You can now boot any Lion-compatible Mac from this drive or DVD and install Lion. You can also use any of the Lion installer's special recovery and restore features--in fact, when you boot from this drive or DVD, you'll see the same Mac OS X Utilities screen you get when you boot into Lion Recovery.

(Thanks to reader Jameel Morrison for confirming this procedure and for prodding me to finally write this article.)