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 Choose the best
fuel to fire up your grill!
Charcoal Briquettes are the most popular fuel for grilling.
Their uniform shape distributes heat evenly.
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Hardwood Charcoal burns hotter than briquettes. These include
mesquite and hickory.
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Mix-it-up with a combination for briquettes and hardwood to
tone down the distinctive taste of the hardwood charcoal.
Experimentation will help you find the right combination of hardwood
charcoal and briquettes to suit your taste.
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Flavor Options
There is a lot of experimentation
going on these days with combining traditional hardwood charcoal,
briquettes, and wood chips or chunks. Wood chips or chunks can add loads
of flavor to whatever you cook on the grill. Mesquite and hickory chips
and chunks, as well as alder, oak, and fruit woods such as apple, cherry,
and peach are some of the varieties you'll find available. Read the
directions on the package labels thoroughly before using them. Chances are
the chips or chunks will have to be soaked in water and drained before
used for cooking so that they will smoke and not flame. For the really
adventurous, try soaking the wood chips or chunks in cooking wine or one
of your favorite beverages. Be sure to drain well and use caution when
lighting because alcohol is flammable.
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It's All In The Wood |
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One memorable camping trip I took
years ago brings to mind one of the best tasting meals I think I've
ever eaten. A few weeks prior to the camping trip I had gone on a
fishing trip and caught a load of Atlantic Mackerel. I brought some of
the mackerel along on the camping trip to cook on the camp fire. At
that point in my life I had never eaten food cooked on a campfire. So
this was a first for me. I built a fire with pine wood, which is
pretty much all I had to use for fuel in Wharton State Forest in New
Jersey. I put some oil in a pan and proceeded to pan fry the mackerel.
Mackerel is a very oily fish that isn't really one of my favorites It
was truly some of the best fish I had ever eaten The smoke from the
pine wood flavored that fish so that the end result was very
delectable. |
Adding Herbs To The Fire
Water soaked herbs such as rosemary,
thyme, oregano, and basil can be added directly to the hot coals. There
are also prepackaged dried herb packets that look like tea bags that can
be added directly to the fire. Herb packets are custom-blended to enhance
the flavor of meat, poultry and fish.
How Many Briquettes?
To get your fire
medium-hot, spread coals in a single layer just barely
touching each other. Let the coals extend approximately 2 inches beyond
your cooking zone. For a hotter fire,
mound the coals closer together. For lower heat, spread your coals farther
apart. Once you've decided the right amount of coals to use. Push them
into a mound for lighting.
Lighting The Fire
Several methods can be used to light a
charcoal fire.
- Liquid lighter fluid is the most
popular fire starter. Pour fluid over the briquettes soaking them. Light
with a match. Follow manufacturers directions.
- Jelly and solid-cube starters
are premeasured and take a lot of the guess work out of how much starter
to use. Once they're lit, they burn slowly igniting the briquettes
around them.
- Chimney starters are tall
cylinders with a metal grate in the bottom for air to circulate. To use
them, place crumbled newspaper or a solid-cube starter in the bottom of
the chimney and stack briquettes on top, then light them. When the coals
are ready, carefully spread them out in the grill bed.
- Once lit, standard briquettes
take about 20 to 30 minutes to burn. The coals should be ash grey in
daylight and glowing red at night.
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Safety First |
- To reduce or eliminate flare-ups,
try raising the grill rack, covering grill, arranging the coals with
more space in between, or remove some of the coals.
- Keep a water bottle handy to
sprinkle flames during cooking.
- Never use gasoline or
alcohol as a substitute for lighter fluid.
- Never pour liquid lighter
fluid onto burning coals.
- Keep young children away
from open flames or a hot grill.
- Place the grill on a level
surface away from any flammable or combustible materials. If
barbecuing on a deck, use a flame retardant mat or
pad under
the grill.
- Never barbecue indoors with
a charcoal grill or a gas grill. Always cook outdoors and make sure
you grill in a well ventilated area.
- Before using a new grill
always read the manufacturers instructions.
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