How to Set Up a Two-Zone Fire on a Charcoal Grill

Step by step

1. Light a full chimney

   Fill a chimney starter and let it burn until the top coals are grey and ashed over, around 12 to 15 minutes. You want all of your fuel lit before you arrange anything. Our guide to lighting charcoal without fluid covers the chimney in detail.

2. Bank everything to one side

   Pour the entire chimney into one half of the grill. Do not spread the coals thin: you want a deep bed on one side and bare charcoal grate on the other. Charcoal baskets or a Slow 'N Sear will hold the bank in shape for far longer.

3. Set the vents to direct the heat

   Fit the cooking grate and put the lid on with the top vent positioned over the empty side. Heat and smoke are drawn from the coals, across the food and out of the vent, so vent placement is how you steer the airflow.

4. Let it stabilise, then check both zones

   Give it five to ten minutes. Use the hand test: hold your palm five inches above the grate. Two seconds over the coals means searing heat, six or seven seconds on the empty side means a gentle roasting zone. A lid thermometer only reads the air near the lid, so if you have a probe thermometer, clip it to the grate on the cool side.

5. Cook cool first, hot last

   Start thick food on the indirect side with the lid on so it cooks through gently, then move it over the coals at the end for colour and crust. This is the reverse sear, and it is the correct order for almost everything thicker than an inch.

What is a two-zone fire?

It is a way of laying out the coals so the grill has two different heats at once. One side has a deep bed of lit charcoal and gives you direct heat, where food sits right over the fire. The other side has no coals at all, and with the lid on it works like an oven, cooking the food with hot air instead of flame. That is indirect heat.

Most of what goes wrong on a charcoal grill comes from having only one of those two heats. A two-zone fire is the simplest way to have both, and it works on any charcoal grill with a lid, from a 57cm kettle down to a small portable. The same idea carries over to kamados and gas grills, which are covered further down.

Why a two-zone fire beats an even bed

An evenly spread bed of coals gives you exactly one temperature, and it is a high one. That works for burgers and thin steaks and almost nothing else. Anything thick enough to need real cooking time will burn on the outside long before the centre is done, and you have nowhere to move it to.

A two-zone fire gives you somewhere to move it. If fat catches and flares, if the skin is browning faster than the meat is cooking, or if a chicken thigh needs another ten minutes, you slide the food across to the empty side and carry on. Charcoal cooking stops being a race against the fire and becomes something you can control.

Which side does the lid vent go?

Over the food, on the indirect side. The bottom vent lets air in at the coals, the top vent lets it out, and everything in between travels across whatever is in the way. Putting the top vent over the coals means heat and smoke go straight up and out without passing the food.

Use the bottom vent to set the temperature and keep the top vent at least half open. Closing the top vent hard holds stale smoke in the grill, which gives food a bitter taste. The full detail is in our guide to controlling charcoal grill temperature.

What temperature is each zone?

These are ranges for a full chimney of briquettes in a kettle. Lump charcoal runs hotter at the start and fades sooner. Wind, cold weather and an old grill with gaps round the lid all pull the numbers down. Our charcoal grill temperature guide has the full scale from low and slow to searing.

How do I make the indirect side cooler?

• Close the bottom vent further. Airflow controls fuel burn rate, which controls temperature. Move it a quarter at a time and wait fifteen minutes before judging.
• Use fewer coals. Half a chimney instead of a full one.
• Add a water pan on the indirect side. Water cannot exceed 100°C (212°F), so it absorbs energy and damps down swings.
• Raise the food further from the fire with a second grate level or an elevated rack.

If the whole grill is running hotter than you want even with the vents nearly shut, the usual causes are too much fuel, a leaky lid or wind feeding the bottom vent. We go through each one in why your charcoal grill runs too hot.

Other ways to lay out the coals

Banking the coals against one side is the standard two-zone fire, and it is the one to learn first. Two variations are worth knowing once you are comfortable with it.

A three-zone fire adds a medium area between the hot bank and the empty side, made by scattering a thin layer of coals across the middle of the grate. It is handy when you are cooking several things at once, such as steaks that want fierce heat next to sausages that want something gentler.

A split fire puts half the coals against each side of the kettle and leaves the middle empty, usually with a drip tray underneath. The food in the middle is heated evenly from both sides, so it suits a whole chicken or a joint of pork that you do not want to keep turning. It is also how you set up a rotisserie.

How much charcoal do you need for a two-zone fire?

Less than most people use. In a 57cm (22 inch) kettle, half to three quarters of a chimney banked to one side gives a good medium two-zone fire. On a 47cm (18 inch) kettle, half a chimney is enough, and on a small portable about a third. Use a full chimney when you want a properly hot searing side, and less when the cook is mostly indirect. How much charcoal to use has the quantities for every kind of cook.

What to cook on a two-zone fire

Anything thin enough to cook through in a few minutes, such as a thin steak, prawns or a smash burger, can go straight over the coals and never needs the cool side. Everything thicker benefits from starting on the cool side. A few examples, with the order we use:

There are more ideas on our page of two-zone recipes, and most of our charcoal beef recipes use this fire as well.

The two-zone fire, grill by grill

Kettle grills

A kettle is the easiest grill to run two zones on, because the round bowl gives a deep bank on one side and plenty of room on the other. Everything on this page is written with a kettle in mind.

Kamado grills

On a kamado you can bank the lump charcoal to one side in the same way, or put a half-moon heat deflector under one half of the grate, which gives the same effect without moving the coals. With a full deflector in place the whole kamado becomes indirect. See how to cook on a kamado for vents and temperatures.

Small portable grills

On a 36 to 46cm (14 to 18 inch) grill the cool side is small and only a few inches from the coals, so it never gets truly gentle. It is still worth doing for sausages and chicken pieces. If a two-zone fire matters to you, look for a portable with a lid and the widest grate you are happy to carry. Our best portable charcoal grills list gives the cooking area of each one.

Drum cookers

A drum such as the Pit Barrel Cooker works differently. The coals sit in a basket at the bottom and the meat hangs above them, so there is no cool side to move to. It runs at one steady temperature, and that is the point of it.

Gas grills

A two-zone fire on a gas grill is easier than on charcoal. Light the burners on one side and leave the others off. On a three burner grill, run one end burner on high and cook over the two unlit burners with the lid down. On a two burner grill, one on and one off gives you a small cool zone. Keep the lid down, because the cool side relies on it just as it does on charcoal.

We cover the wider choice in charcoal vs gas.

Common mistakes with a two-zone fire

• Spreading the coals too far across the grill. Once the bank creeps past the middle there is no cool side left. Keep it tight against one wall.
• Cooking with the lid off. Without the lid the cool side is barely cooking at all and the food just sits there.
• Putting the top vent over the coals, so the heat goes up the chimney instead of across the food.
• Moving the food to the hot side too early. Sear at the end, once the inside is almost at temperature, not at the start.
• Crowding the hot side. Leave room over the coals to move things on and off. If fat starts to flare, follow our steps for controlling flare-ups.

Keeping a two-zone fire going for longer

A banked chimney gives you about an hour of useful heat. For a longer roast, light half a chimney about 15 minutes before you need it and add the lit coals to the bank. Adding unlit coals works too, but the temperature dips for a while and they give off more smoke while they catch.

For cooks of several hours, a two-zone fire is the wrong tool. The snake method on a kettle or the Minion method in a smoker will hold a low temperature for 8 hours or more from one load of fuel.

Common questions

Can I do a two-zone fire on a small portable grill?

Within limits. On a 14 to 18 inch grill you can bank coals to one side, but the cool zone is small and not very cool, because it is only inches from the fire. It works for chicken pieces and sausages, less well for a whole bird.

Should the lid be on or off?

On, for two-zone cooking. The lid is what makes the indirect side work: it traps convected heat and circulates it around the food. With the lid off, the indirect side is barely cooking at all.

How long does a two-zone fire last?

A full chimney of briquettes gives roughly an hour of useful cooking heat, less with lump. For longer cooks, either add lit coals as you go or use the snake or Minion method instead.

Can you do a two-zone fire on a gas grill?

Yes. Turn the burners on under one side and leave the other side off, then cook over the unlit burners with the lid closed. It is the gas version of banking the coals.

Is two-zone cooking the same as indirect grilling?

Not quite. Indirect grilling means cooking away from the heat. A two-zone fire gives you an indirect side and a direct side in the same grill, so you can cook through gently and then sear.

Which side do I put the food on first?

For anything thicker than about an inch, start on the cool side and finish over the coals. Thin food can go straight over the coals.