While charcoal grills are incredibly popular, many people often end up leaving their grill neglected or unused due to how hard it can be to control the grill’s heat. With how essential it is to have a good level of control over the heat to avoid burning or undercooking food, it’s no wonder why many charcoal grill owners outright stop using them.
With the right techniques though, temperature control with a charcoal grill becomes a breeze and you can start showing off your new skills to your friends and family. Check out this line of charcoal grills and accessories here if you’re interested in getting a new one. Then, read on to find out just how you can easily control the heat of your grill in a few easy ways.
Create two or three-zone fires
One simple way to control how hot your grill gets is by creating separate sections of heat and fire. This works especially well with larger charcoal grills since they often have quite a lot of room to move the charcoal around. However, you can still create zones with a smaller bowl or egg-shaped grill.
To create a two- or three-zone fire, you’ll need a way to stack your coals and keep them from falling into the other “zones”. Three-zone fires often use a double layer of coal in one zone, a single layer in the middle and no coal in the last. Two-zone fires, on the other hand, use a single layer on half to two-thirds of the grill. You can also use a divider if stacking is hard.
When building the fires, how much space the coals take determines the number of zones. Simply put, half the bowl or firebox gives you a two-zone fire while one-third gives you three zones. When you light the coals, as usual, you’ll get different areas with different levels of heat, with the farthest zone from your coals being the coldest. From there, controlling the heat while grilling is as easy as moving the meat between zones as needed.
Open and close your vents as needed
The vents on the tops and sides of your grill are also a great way to help you better control how hot or cool your grill gets. To burn properly, the lit coals need a specific amount of oxygen flowing in and out. The vents on your grill help control the flow of oxygen and thus, how hot your grill is.
Most of the time, barbecuers recommend keeping all the vents open – including any that might be underneath the coal. However, this only really works if you need to increase the heat. When it comes to decreasing it, all you need to do is close the vents a little. Do note, however, closing the vents entirely will cause the flames to completely stop due to the lack of oxygen.
Another way you can lessen the amount of heat in your charcoal grill is to use a food guard. Essentially, a food guard is a piece of metal or something similar that you place between the coals and the food. Acting as a guard or a shield, the food guard blocks most of the direct heat from cooking the food and lowering the temperature around the food. It may not be as effective as the above two methods, but you can easily make a food guard with foil if you don’t want to buy one.
Adjust the distance from the coals
If your grill allows it, moving the food and the grate itself closer to the coals is possibly one of the most foolproof methods of increasing the heat in your grill. However, your grill will need to be able to accommodate different levels for your grate. Kamado Joe is one of the few brands that allow this, both in the depth of their grills and with some of the accessories that allow food to be placed at different depths.
Possibly the simplest way to increase the temperature of your grill is to increase the number of lit coals you have in the grill. How you can do that though, depends on the type of grill you have. Many grills have a hinged grate that can make adding coal easy, but if you need to increase the heat in the middle of a grilling session, you’ll have to remove the food or move it. These are the more affordable variety but are still quite sturdy.
On the other hand, charcoal grills with many more features are likely to have a side charcoal door instead. Though it may cost more to get these kinds of grills, the side door makes it significantly easier to add more lit coals without the need of moving your cooking food.
Pick a hotter burning coal type
The coal you use can also affect how hot your grill can get. Though charcoal briquettes are the most readily available type of coal available in stores and online, they often don’t burn as hot. Briquettes are essentially sawdust mixed with additives and pressed to form the pillow-shaped chunks you buy. Those additives, however, are what cause them to burn with lower heat.
If you want to get much higher heat levels, try switching to lump charcoal. Though they might be a little more expensive or harder to get, lump charcoal is just pieces of wood turned into carbon. The lack of any additives only makes them burn hotter, but many barbecuers prefer them for the cleaner smoke and flavours.
Being able to control the heat while barbecuing is the most important factor you need to consider. While other grills allow you to do this far easier, a charcoal grill’s heat can be surprisingly easy to manage. The grill’s vents are a big help to increase and decrease the heat as needed. And along with a bit of practice, creating zones in which you can cook can make creating delicious meals incredibly easy.
