Guide To Cooking With Charcoal
It is getting to be the time of year to start having fun outdoors
. The weather is getting warmer, the grass is growing, and there is a smell of hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. To so many of us, this means that its barbeque time. Every winter we wait for the weather and dream of working the grill. If you are feeling like this is the year to improve your charcoal letting techniques, read on.
Although many use gas grills with propane tanks, the real enthusiast still uses charcoal. It is a little more complicated then flipping an igniter switch, but it is still fundamentally easy. You go to the store and you buy some charcoal, briquettes, or briquettes soaked in flammable chemicals, throw them in the trunk of your car and you bring them home. We will cover what kind of charcoal to get in a minute.
Charcoal Cooking Preparation
Depending on the method you choose, you maybe get some lighter fluid as well. While you are there you can pick up some long matches or one of those plastic disposable fire starters that are like giant disposable lighters (and some come with cool pivoting heads). You might pick up some food to barbecue and some food to go with the food you are going to barbecue. After all, great tasting food cooked outdoors is the ultimate goal here.
If you bought charcoal, we are assuming you already have some kind of outdoor barbecue device. They are all functionally similar, and no matter what method you are using, you need to prepare the grill. Clean out all the ashes from the last time you barbecued. You can put the ashes in a paper bag and put them in the garbage. There is probably some little vent holes of some kind in your barbecue: open them all the way.
Fire is a chemical reaction that needs a constant supply of fresh oxygen to keep going, and those vents let in the oxygen your combustion reaction is going to needs. Later, when youre cooking and want to slow down the reaction and lower the temperature, reduce the flow by closing down those vents a bit.
Next, clean your grill from the residue left from the last barbecue (and remember why you always vow to clean it off as soon as you are done cooking). Use one of those stiff wire brushes, some people use oven cleaner, just be sure to rinse thoroughly. One of the secrets to good barbecuing flavor is to keep nasty chemicals and food residue flavors out of the food. If you cannot get all of the gunk off from vigorous scrubbing, try heating it up and once the coals are going and give it some more vigorous brushing.
Getting a Charcoal Grill Started
Now you are ready to start combusting. I am going to give the methods in order from my most favorite to least favorite.
Most Favorite: Chimney style charcoal starter. These things are amazing. Place a couple sheets of newspaper in the bottom and charcoal on the top. Light the newspaper, wait a few minutes and soon you will have hot perfect coals on which you are ready to cook. You can get one for around 20 dollars. They are sturdy, so unless you back over it with the car, your grandkids will be using if for their outdoor cookery. If you have not seen one, here is what they are: a cylinder of sheet metal with a nice handle so you do not burn your hand and a metal grate inside.
Roll up newspaper (one double sheet rolled diagonally, put it in the bottom in a circle so theres air flow in the middle, then repeat with a second sheet) pour charcoal in the top (some models hold up to six pounds). Put it on something heat proof (as in, not your wooden deck or concrete), light the newspaper, and then wait maybe 10 minutes, until the charcoal on top just start showing ash. You then dump out the coals evenly in the bottom of your barbecue. That is it.
If you want, spray the newspaper with spray on vegetable oil and it will burn longer. If you want more charcoal later, just repeat the process. It is easy, foolproof, has no nasty chemicals, and works every time. I swear by the Weber 7416 Rapidfire Chimney Starter, though you might prefer the Bayou Classic 500-511 Aluminized Steel Charcoal Starter Chimney. If you buy online, beware of extortionate shipping charges; better yet, save the shipping and buy from any hardware store.
Second Favorite: Pyramid of coals and lighter fluid. This is the method favored in many barbecue traditions, and it is not too bad. Make a pyramid of coals, spray on a liberal but not insane amount of lighter fluid, getting some on each briquette (you can even douse the pyramid when it is half done) then either light it immediately or wait five minutes. This is where you get to use your long matches or lighter thingy, lighting all around the base of your pyramid.
This method takes 20 to 30 minutes to yield usable coals and does not always work. Sensitive palettes will notice the flavor of Volatile Organic Compounds and Petroleum Distillates in the food. Despite the fact that this method does involve a flammable liquid in a squirting container, avoid the temptation to squirt fluid into an already lit grill. Although it may be a lot of fun to do so, there is a risk of having the container ignite while in your hand. You are literally playing with fire here, and nothing ruins a party faster than a trip to the emergency room.
Third Favorite: Electric charcoal lighter. In the opinion of most reasonable people, the chimney device is an excellent example of appropriate technology while the electric charcoal lighter is an affront to the very spirit of barbecuing. It would be like driving your Hummer to the house next door. They do work and if you dont mind having to figure out how mingle 120 Volts with your back-to-nature celebration, then you could go ahead and give it a try. I wouldnt though; its just depressing.
My Least Favorite (And Probably Yours Too): MatchLight or some other treated charcoal that is soaked in some toxic flammable substance because they had to find some commercial use for some tiny sliver of oil refinery output that cannot be used as heating oil or gasoline or cleaning products. This stuff is more expensive than regular charcoal and will definitely give your nice barbecued food a NASCAR taste and smell and for all we know is carcinogenic or mutagenic or both.
So, that is my completely objective and scientific survey of charcoal lighting techniques. No matter which method you end up using, and you might want to experiment and see which of them fits best with your personality and politics, enjoy your outdoor cooking and the special feeling you get from cooking and eating outside with family and friends.
by: Nicolas DAlleva
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