Have you ever had that moment when you cooked a sirloin on your charcoal grill and you thought it looked great on the outside but was quite raw on the inside? Mastering heat control on a BBQ grill is key for the perfect barbecue every time! To get started, there are plenty of tips and tricks you can learn to keep your fire burning hot enough to sear the outside of your meat while keeping it moist inside.
Get to Know Your Grill.
The first step in controlling heat is learning how to use your grill. You should be able to light it and adjust the temperature easily, as well as clean it and maintain it. A clean grill is a happy grill. To keep your charcoal grill in great shape, clean it after every use. You may want to do this even if you’re not using the heat grate or trays.
Use a brush to get rid of any residue that’s stuck on from use, then scrape off any larger pieces with a scraper (the kind you might use for scraping ice off your windshield). If there are any bits that are still sticking despite these efforts, try spraying them with some vegetable oil and letting them sit for about 10 minutes before scrubbing again.
Don’t use harsh chemicals like oven cleaner on your grates – they can damage the metal and make it harder for food to cook evenly over time.
Know Which Way the Wind Blows before Loading the Coals.
Before you light your fire grill, check the wind direction. If it’s blowing toward your food, use a lid to shield it from the wind. If it’s blowing away from your food, leave the lid off.
As long as you’re careful about controlling heat with charcoal grills so that they don’t get too hot or burn up too quickly, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy using them year-round in any climate!
The more charcoal you use, the more heat you will have. The more heat you have, the faster your food will cook. To adjust the temperature of a BBQ grill grate, load it up with more or less charcoal as needed. You can also move the coals closer or further from your food to get exactly what you want in terms of cooking time and temperature.
Light Your Charcoal Safely and Efficiently.
One of the most important things to know about charcoal is that it burns up faster than gas, so you’ll want to light it as close to grilling time as possible. You can do this with a chimney starter, but never use lighter fluid! Chimney starters are easy to use and clean up well (perfect for those who love grilling just as much as they love camping), and they are cheap compared with lighters or other fuel sources such as propane or briquettes. They’re also made of metal, which means that they won’t break down like lighter fluid would over time.
If you’re unable to get your coals lit in a reasonable amount of time, consider using an electric charcoal igniter or electric charcoal starter. Both tools are easy to use, easy to clean and safe for the environment. Use one of these tools if lighting a chimney full of hot coals takes more than half an hour or so. Your health is important; don’t risk death by a charcoal-lighting mishap!
Move the coals to one side of the charcoal grill.
If you have a small grill, this is easy: place the coals on one side of the grill and place the food on the other side. The heat source should be on the opposite side of where you are cooking (the food). For example, if you are BBQ grilling steak and vegetables, put your veggies on top of your steak. This way, when you flip your meat over to cook it from another angle, it will be indirect heat from above that gets your vegetables grilled as well.
You can also use this method if everything is going to be cooked at once, like chicken wings or burgers, and then flip them over onto their other sides for more even cooking using indirect heat from above.
Bring food to room temperature before grilling it so it cooks evenly and quickly.
In order to cook food evenly and quickly, it’s important that you bring food to room temperature before grilling. When you take your meat or vegetables straight from the refrigerator and throw it on the grill, the cold temperature of your food will cause the outside parts of it to burn while leaving some areas undercooked. Bringing meat to room temperature allows heat to travel evenly throughout its structure, so that when you put it on the grill, all sides are cooked at once.
It’s also important that you preheat your charcoal grill before cooking anything on it (especially if using charcoal). This ensures that there is an even distribution of heat all over the surface area of where you’re cooking.
There you have it – everything you need to know about controlling the heat on your charcoal grill. Having mastered this skill will allow you to cook any kind of food perfectly every time, whether you’re cooking for one or feeding a crowd.
If you don’t already have a charcoal grill or want to replace your old model with a smarter, portable, affordable, and efficient grill, we have you covered! Find world-class Argentine-style grills in Australia only at Kankay Grills!
Happy grilling!