/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>13988640
What you need to learn is the secret of direct and indirect cooking. As others have said, get a charcoal chimney, they work perfectly. All you do is fill it up with charcoal, put some paper in the bottom, then light the paper and set it down. In 10 minutes or so you have perfect coals.


Lump charcoal, like this Anon said >>13988693 is better in my experience, just because it gets hotter and as such imparts more flavor. That said, briquettes are completely fine. You also want to add more briquettes as you cook if the grill starts to cool down too much. Also to close all the vents when you're finished so as to save as many remaining coals as you can for next time. Basically the more vents that are open, top and bottom, the more oxygen that can get into the drum to provide fuel for the fire. Thus increasing the heat.

But like I originally said, the secret to basic grilling is direct vs indirect heat, and knowing when to use each. Staring a steak over direct heat for instance and then finishing it off indirectly. Very important with chicken as well, to prevent burning. There's no need to oil the grate as some other anon suggested. Just oil the meat, and lastly you might want to think about investing in a weber basket, like pic related. They're great for sauteing vegetables. I like to mix sliced onions, diced bell pepper, mushrooms & minced garlic with some oil, salt, pepper and Mediterranean dried herbs, and then place them into the basket. They cook grate over the flame and then moved to indirect cooking and are a perfect side dish to any main.

You'll also want some gloves of course, a rake for moving the coals around is good also and if you can invest in a good thermometer like the Thermapen Mk4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNgueHE_UPs