Better understanding of charcoal cooking


 
B

Billy W

TVWBB Member
I have been a gasser all my life, but recently switched to charcoal. I have a OTS 22.5. I have only cooked steaks and a rack of spare ribs, so it's still relatively new. I am wondering if someone can dummy down charcoal grilling.
I am confused to knowing what method to use when cooking. If I wanted chicken wings, can I cook them either way? I would assume direct heat would be faster, and get bit more of a char on them. When using direct heat, is there a particular temp that should be used? I know when I cooked spare ribs, I used indirect heat and it got as hot as 330 and slowly cooled over the 2 hour session.
Is it safe to say heat only dictates how long you cook? I am also assuming I would need high heat for searing, which I wasn't able to do on my steaks. Is there any easy way to do it?

Thanks for the help.
 
I bet you'll burn a lot less food w/ charcoal. Even if you forget about it when it's on direct (assuming the lid is on).

Enjoy!
 
Hello Billy, welcome to the board. Congrats on becoming a convert. First I would encourage you to scour this board, so many tips, techniques, recipes, etc...

A lot of good people sharing thoughts and helping out. The more you cook the more you will figure out what works best for you. Sometimes you will find you will start direct then move the food over, important to have a cool zone. You will find you can achieve higher temps with lump for searing but is easily done with briq's as well. You can also moving the lid a bit to draw more air as you cook. A fire needs 3 things, fuel, air, and heat. Find that happy medium where you are not losing to much heat but drawing more air to crank it up.
 
Hi Billy a warm welcome to you. Don't over think it. Using a weber chimney full of lump will get you a real hot fire.Dump all of your coals to one side of your grill, keep all the vents, top and bottom wide open.This will give you a hot fire.Chicken wings..I personally first sear them then move them to the cooler side of the grill, put the lid on and let them finish cooking.At that point you may want to adjust the bottom vent to slow down the heat of the fire. Steaks,..start out. the same way.Chimney full of lump, all dumped to one side. Close the lid for a few minutes and you will see that temp rise at least to 500 or more.Open the lid and sear nthose babies. I grill/sear with the lid open, move them to the cool side to finish. Some pros here do the "reverse sear". Starting on the cool side, then go for the direct heat. You will find what works best for you.I sometimes do a little overkill, in that I lay down a few stubbs briquettes, then dump my lit lump charcoal on top.Wait until the temp comes up, then sear my steaks, and let's say some asparagus. This gives me enough time for both. Hope this helps.Ask a lot of questions.Everyone here are the most wonderful and gracious folks you will ever meet. Again, the amount of charcoal you use will depend on how much you have to grill.It is all a learning curve.<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> </pre>
 
I cook 99% with the lid on...I cook 99% with coals banked to one side about 1/3 - 2/5 as a warm zone. I mostly fire up a half chimney with lit and dump it over the "last session" coals. Close lid and wait a few min to get the grate hot. Then depending on what i do,i start direct or indirect. Works with all proteins. The cold side of the grill is gold! Sounds strange to a new coal-user...But its TRUE.

Bigger cuts(chicken/loins) dont really need a direct sear at all. Even if im cooking burgers i have the lid on,But direct all the time.

Ask on Billy that is how you lern without "trashing" food
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There are as many ways to cook most things as there are cooks and everyone has their favorite way or method. This isn't rocket science, do some reading on the forum and develop your own way of cooking and have fun doing so.
 
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