Cooking on charcoal, properly
Recipes, technique guides and equipment recommendations for live fire. Written for a two hundred dollar kettle, not a show pit.
Cook by cut
The cut decides the fire, the time and almost everything else. Start there.
CutSteak
Ribeye, sirloin, tri-tip and picanha over live fire.
Ribs
Baby back and spare ribs, low and slow on charcoal.
CutWhole bird
Spatchcocked and jointed chicken on charcoal.
CutThighs and legs
Dark meat, the cut charcoal suits best.
CutChops
Pork and lamb chops over coals.
CutSausages
Boerewors, sheftalia and everything in a skin.
CutFillets
Salmon and firm fish fillets on the grate.
CutVegetables
Charcoal treats vegetables as an ingredient, not a side.
Cook by occasion
A Tuesday and a twelve hour Saturday are different problems.
OccasionWeeknight
Light the coals, eat within the hour.
OccasionWeekend project
Long cooks. Start early, hold your nerve.
OccasionFeeding a crowd
Six people and up, without losing the day.
OccasionCamping and tailgating
Cooking on charcoal away from home.
OccasionSmall plates
Grazing food off a live fire.
Equipment worth the money
A two hundred dollar kettle will sear a steak and smoke a brisket, which no gas grill at any price does properly.
Weber Original Kettle Premium 22"
The default answer for almost everybody, and it has been for seventy years. A 22 inch kettle will sear a steak at 600 degrees F and hold 250...
Weber Master-Touch 22"
The same kettle with the three accessories you were going to buy anyway already included. If the price gap to the Premium is under fifty dol...
SnS Grills Slow 'N Sear Kettle
A kettle engineered around the two zone fire instead of merely tolerating it. The Slow 'N Sear insert walls the coals into one quarter of th...
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Learn the fire
Charcoal cooking is a small number of skills. These are the ones that matter.
TechniqueHow to Light Charcoal Without Lighter Fluid
There is one right way to light charcoal, it costs about twenty five dollars, and it takes fifteen minutes.
TechniqueHow to Set Up a Two-Zone Fire
One fire, two temperatures, and suddenly a charcoal grill can do everything an oven and a frying pan can do together.
TechniqueThe Snake Method: Low and Slow on a Kettle
A line of unlit briquettes, lit at one end, burning along at about an inch an hour. It is the cheapest smoker you will ever build and it is already inside your kettle.
TechniqueThe Minion Method Explained
Fill the basket with unlit charcoal, drop a few lit coals on top, and let the fire eat downward through the pile for the rest of the day.