Give Charcoal Cooking a Chance

    The sun is shining, birds are singing, your stomach is growling, and the fragrance of perfectly grilled meat fills the air as the dinner hour approaches.  Nothing says summer quite like the smell of barbeque chicken cooked over charcoal.  But regardless of the meat, cooking over charcoal can be intimidating.  Actually, any outdoor grilling can be intimidating because you are using a large, open flame –- with little to harness its power --  to cook your dinner. Failure means ordering out or a frozen pizza.  Here are a few tips to help make grilling over charcoal a much easier task with far more successful results.

Before You Begin

    Before you even strike a match, think preparation.  Carefully examine your grill if you are not familiar with it.  Often as grills age, the bottom can get rusty and fall out.  The last thing you want to happen is a massive collapse and burning coals dumped near your feet.  Also, check to make certain that it is not located close to anything that might ignite or melt.  Vinyl siding can be warped by the heat of a hot grill.  Also consider where the smoke from your grill will go.  As the smoke rises, if it goes into the eaves of your home or though screened windows and doors, it can fill your home with smoke.

    It is necessary to check that anything on the grill that might hold or catch grease is not creating a fire hazard.  Some grills have an attached reservoir for this purpose, but it will need to be emptied so it doesn’t fuel an unintentional fire or attract pets and pests when not in use.  The ashes at the bottom of the grill should be removed from the grill while they are cool if they have built up because, otherwise, they will impede air flow.  Familiarize yourself with the location of the air vents and which ones can be adjusted.  When they are open, they will allow the flames to burn hotter, if they are partially closed or obscured they will reduce the heat of the fire and can even cause your coals to go out.

Choosing Your Tools

    You will need to select a charcoal to use with your grill.  Many options are available, even some coals that are treated with lighter fluid.  But the smell of lighter fluid is very unpleasant and using it to light a flame can be dangerous if not done correctly.  It can also affect the flavor of the food you cook. 

    Instead consider using a “chimney.”  This re-usable grill-starting tool resembles a large tin can with a handle attached.  To start a fire, you will need to bunch up untreated newspaper (not glossy or colorful as these can have plastic coatings and inks that are toxic when burned).  Other useful tools include elbow-length grilling gloves to protect your arms, long-handled grill tools like tongs and a spatula, a grilling thermometer (if you are cooking larger cuts of meat), a long-handled wire grill brush, and a spray water bottle.

To Light Your Grill

    When ready to cook, remove the cooking grate and place the chimney on the lower grate of your grill.  Place the paper in the bottom compartment of the chimney, and fill the top of the chimney with the necessary amount of charcoal.  Carefully light the paper with a match and allow it to flame and light the charcoal until most of the coals are glowing, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Put on your grilling gloves, and carefully pour the hot coals into the bottom of the grill and put the chimney in a safe place to cool down.  You can use your long grilling tools to arrange the coals; for best results, push the coals to one side of the grill so that you can have both direct (over the coals) and indirect (on the empty side of the grill) cooking areas.    

    Place the grate over the charcoal again and use the wire brush to clean the grate as needed.  If you are cooking something that may stick to the grate you can use your tongs to dip a paper towel in cooking oil then rub the grate with that.  You can also use a non-stick grilling spray, but do not use regular cooking spray on a grill; it is flammable and can create more problems.

    Adjust the vent openings on your grill as needed to control the cooking temperature.  You can also use the spray water bottle to cool off some of the hotter areas if you need to. 

Adding the Food

    Initially place whatever you are grilling on the hottest side of the grill to allow it to sear and create the grill marks.  Do not move the food until the food is seared and marked as desired.  Then carefully flip the food to the other side to allow it to do the same.  Do not press the food as it cooks; this tendency will remove necessary moisture and does not speed up the grill time.  When both sides of the meat are seared and if additional cook time is necessary, move the food to the cool side of the grill and allow it to finish cooking with the lid on. 

    Do not add sugary sauces early in the grilling process since they can stick and burn easily, including most barbeque and teriyaki sauces.  Instead, wait until the grilling is almost done to brush the sauce on as desired. 

    Use your meat thermometer to check for safe internal temperatures before removing from the grill.  The outer appearance can be misleading.  Also cover the food with foil as soon as you remove it from the heat to keep it warm and enable the meat to reabsorb its juices and not dry out before serving.   For best flavor, allow steaks and larger cuts of meat to “rest” for a few minutes before serving so their juices can redistribute.  The heat of the grill can drive them to the top of the meat while they cook.

    And finally, be sure to remember good safety habits and avoid cross contamination.  Do not place cooked meat on the same platter on which you had the raw meat, and do not allow anything that had contact with the raw meat to touch the finished meat, including sauces and marinades. 

Try out your new grilling skills with the Jamaican Jerk Wings on our Recipes page.