Does the fire last longer in the center or the side?

[Jyaku Lee]

I am curious what is better for having a long lasting fire.

I used to spread em out all over the grill but the fire would be low heat and would burn out fast.

Then I tried stacking em to one side.. and it was wonderful high heat for a long time.

I'm curious if stacking the charcoals in the middle would have the same effect or the side is better or high heat for a long time.

 

[Pete in PG]

Hi Jyaku;

I put my coals to one side and use a couple fire bricks to hold them there. This really creates an intensely hot zone over the coals as well as a relatively cool side for indirect. Trying to corral them in the middle would be fine and you might consider using charcoal baskets to keep them together. But I prefer a two zone set up and can't remember the last time I lit the grill not utilizing that.

One thing to consider is that colored kettles other than black have a tendency to have the enamel crazed or damaged from the high heat of banking a lot of coals to one side. I think that's because Weber enamels them in a two step process; first black and then the final color. It's something to be away of if you've got a colored kettle. Good luck.