SteakReverse Seared Ribeye on a Charcoal Grill
The technique that makes a thick steak behave. Gentle indirect heat first, a savage sear last, and the grey band disappears.
BurgersCharcoal Smash Burgers
A smash burger is a crust delivery system. That needs a flat, screaming hot surface, which means a griddle or cast iron pan set directly over the coals rather than the bare grate.
BrisketBrisket on a Charcoal Grill Using the Snake Method
You do not need a dedicated smoker. A 22 inch kettle and a snake of unlit briquettes will hold 120°C (250°F) for ten hours, which is all a brisket has ever asked for.
SteakSanta Maria Tri-Tip Over Coals
California's contribution to live-fire cooking: a whole tri-tip, salt pepper and garlic, cooked over red oak and sliced across two different grains.
Short ribSmoked Beef Short Ribs
Brisket flavour on a bone, and considerably harder to ruin. Plate short ribs are the single most impressive thing you can put on a charcoal cooker.
SteakPicanha Skewers Over Charcoal
The Brazilian churrasco cut, bent into a C on a skewer so the fat cap faces out and bastes the meat as it renders.
RibsBaby Back Ribs on a Charcoal Kettle
The cook that teaches you fire management, because five hours at 135°C (275°F) on a kettle is entirely achievable and entirely on you.
ShoulderCharcoal Smoked Pulled Pork Shoulder
The most forgiving long cook in barbecue. A pork shoulder has so much fat and connective tissue that it tolerates almost every mistake you can make, which is why it should be your first project cook.
Pork bellyPork Belly Burnt Ends
Cubes of pork belly smoked until the fat renders, then braised in butter and sugar until they glaze. Barbecue's answer to a confection.
ChopsThick Brined Pork Chops Over Charcoal
Modern pork is lean enough that the margin between juicy and sawdust is about eight degrees. A brine widens that margin, and a thermometer closes the argument.
Pork bellyRotisserie Porchetta Over Charcoal
Rolled pork belly around loin, turning slowly over coals for three hours. The rotation is what makes the skin crackle evenly the whole way round, which an oven cannot manage.
Whole birdSpatchcock Chicken on a Charcoal Grill
Removing the backbone and flattening the bird solves the fundamental problem with roast chicken: breast and thigh want different temperatures, and a flat bird lets you give them both.
Thighs and legsPeri Peri Chicken Thighs Over Charcoal
Chicken thigh is the cut charcoal was made for: enough fat to survive a live fire, and skin that goes properly crisp over coals in a way an oven never manages.
Whole birdJerk Chicken Over Charcoal and Pimento Wood
Real jerk is a smoking technique, not a sauce. The marinade matters, but what makes it jerk is slow smoke over pimento wood.
Whole fishWhole Fish Grilled Over Charcoal
A whole fish over coals is the simplest good thing you can cook, and the skin sticking to the grate is the only real obstacle.
ShellfishCharcoal Grilled Octopus
Octopus needs two entirely different cooking processes: a long gentle simmer to tenderise, then a violent short char. Skip either and you get rubber.
ShellfishGarlic Charcoal Prawn Skewers
Prawns take about four minutes and are ruined by five. Shell on, skewered flat, over a hot bed, and off before you think.
FilletsCharcoal Grilled Salmon Fillets
Salmon is fatty enough to survive a charcoal fire and delicate enough to be destroyed by it. The answer is skin-side down over moderate heat, and pulling it earlier than feels right.
LegButterflied Leg of Lamb Over Charcoal
Boned and opened flat, a leg of lamb goes from a three hour roast to a forty five minute grill, with far more surface for char and a built-in range of doneness for people who disagree about it.
ChopsLamb Chops Straight Over the Coals
Fat, bone and a fierce fire. Lamb chops are one of the few things that genuinely benefit from the flare-ups everyone else spends their time avoiding.
VegetablesCharred Cabbage Wedges Over Charcoal
Cabbage has enough density and sugar to take real fire, and it is probably the best value ingredient you can put on a charcoal grill.
VegetablesEmber Roasted Peppers with Romesco
No grate, no pan. Peppers go straight onto the burning coals, which sounds like vandalism and is actually the oldest cooking technique there is.
VegetablesCharcoal Grilled Corn, Elote Style
Corn over charcoal, then rolled in mayonnaise, cheese, chilli and lime. The char is not decoration, it is a flavour the vegetable cannot produce any other way.
VegetablesEmber Baked Aubergine Baba Ganoush
The smoke is the dish. Baba ganoush made in an oven is a different, lesser thing, because aubergine flesh absorbs smoke better than almost any other ingredient.
CheeseGrilled Halloumi, Properly
Halloumi is squeaky and dull when it is done badly and genuinely excellent when it is done properly. The difference is thickness and heat.
SkewersGreek Pork Souvlaki
Small cubes of pork, a short marinade of oil, lemon and oregano, and a fierce fire. Souvlaki is about the char on the edges, so keep the pieces small and the heat high.
Thighs and legsTandoori Chicken Without a Tandoor
Two marinades, not one. The first is salt, lemon and chilli cutting into scored meat; the second is yoghurt and spice clinging to the surface. That order is the whole technique.
ShoulderCuban Lechon Asado
Pork shoulder marinated in mojo, which is sour orange, a great deal of garlic and oregano. Citrus and pork over charcoal, and very little else.
SteakGrilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri
Skirt is the most flavourful cheap steak there is, and it wants one thing: a screaming fire and about two minutes a side.
Thighs and legsCrispy Charcoal Chicken Wings
The secret to crisp charcoal wings is not a hotter fire, it is baking powder and a patient two zone cook. Skin like glass, no deep fryer.
Whole birdWhole Roast Chicken on Charcoal (Better Than Beer Can)
Beer can chicken does not work, for reasons of basic physics. Here is the whole roast chicken it is trying to be, cooked upright on a proper roasting stand.
FilletsSeared Tuna Steak on Charcoal
Tuna is a steak that happens to come from the sea. Treat it like one: a fierce fire, ninety seconds a side, and a raw ruby centre.
VegetablesCharred Cauliflower Steaks
Cut a cauliflower into thick slabs and it grills like a steak, going nutty and sweet where the florets catch. The most convincing vegetable main there is.
ChopsGrilled Pork Tenderloin
The leanest cut on the pig, which means it is easy to ruin and quick to cook well. A two zone fire and a thermometer are all it asks for.
SteakCarne Asada, Mexican Grilled Steak
Mexico's great grilled beef: thin steak marinated in lime, orange, garlic and chilli, seared hard and chopped for tacos. Bright, smoky and fast.
ShoulderChar Siu, Chinese Barbecue Pork
The glossy red barbecue pork that hangs in Cantonese windows. Pork shoulder strips lacquered in a sweet, savoury glaze and cooked until the edges char.
VegetablesGrilled Pineapple with Rum and Lime
Fire does something remarkable to pineapple: the sugars caramelise and the fruit turns almost savoury. A pudding that cooks on the dying coals.
Whole birdSmoked Turkey Crown
The best thing that can happen to a turkey is a charcoal fire and a brine. Smoked over apple wood, the meat stays juicy and the skin turns mahogany, and your oven stays free.
ShellfishGrilled Garlic Prawns, Gambas Style
The Spanish tapas classic taken outside: prawns cooked in garlic, chilli and olive oil on a plancha over the coals, the oil catching the smoke.
VegetablesCharcoal Grilled Flatbread
A live fire is the best oven a flatbread will ever meet. Two minutes over the coals and it puffs, blisters and takes on a smoke you cannot fake indoors.
ShellfishGrilled Lobster Tails with Garlic Butter
Lobster sounds intimidating and is genuinely easy over coals. Split the tails, baste with garlic butter, and cook flesh side down then up. Ten minutes, no boiling pot.
VegetablesGrilled Portobello Mushrooms
A big flat mushroom is the closest a vegetable comes to a steak: meaty, juicy and deeply savoury when it takes on smoke. Marinate, grill gill side up, and let it fill with its own juices.
SausagesGrilled Chorizo with Peppers
Cooking chorizo releases its smoky paprika oil, and over charcoal that oil crisps the skin and coats whatever it touches. Grill it with peppers and mop it up with bread.
VegetablesGrilled Asparagus
Asparagus over coals is one of the quickest, best things you can do with the fire while it is hot. A little oil, a fierce heat, and lemon and parmesan at the end.
CheeseProvoleta, Argentinian Grilled Cheese
A thick disc of provolone grilled in a pan until the outside crusts and the inside goes molten, scattered with oregano and chilli. The way an asado begins in Argentina.
VegetablesCharred Corn Ribs
Quartered corn cobs curl into rib shapes as they grill, char at the edges and eat off the cob like a rib. The most fun you can have with sweetcorn.
Short ribSmoked Beef Cheeks
The hardest-working muscle on the animal becomes the most tender thing on the plate. Beef cheeks are pure collagen, and low slow smoke turns them to silk.
At a glance
| Recipe | Method | Grill temp | Cook time | Pull at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reverse Seared Ribeye on a Charcoal Grill | Reverse sear | 290°C (550°F) and above | 45 min | 55°C (130°F) |
| Charcoal Smash Burgers | Direct heat | 290°C (550°F) and above | 10 min | 70°C (160°F) |
| Brisket on a Charcoal Grill Using the Snake Method | Low and slow smoking | 105 to 135°C (225 to 275°F) | 10 to 14 hr | 95°C (203°F) |
| Santa Maria Tri-Tip Over Coals | Two-zone cooking | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 35 min | 55°C (130°F) |
| Smoked Beef Short Ribs | Low and slow smoking | 105 to 135°C (225 to 275°F) | 7 to 9 hr | 95°C (203°F) |
| Picanha Skewers Over Charcoal | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 20 min | 55°C (130°F) |
| Baby Back Ribs on a Charcoal Kettle | Low and slow smoking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 5 hr | 90°C (198°F) |
| Charcoal Smoked Pulled Pork Shoulder | Low and slow smoking | 105 to 135°C (225 to 275°F) | 10 to 12 hr | 95°C (203°F) |
| Pork Belly Burnt Ends | Low and slow smoking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 4 hr | 95°C (203°F) |
| Thick Brined Pork Chops Over Charcoal | Reverse sear | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 30 min | 65°C (145°F) |
| Rotisserie Porchetta Over Charcoal | Rotisserie | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 3 hr | 65°C (145°F) |
| Spatchcock Chicken on a Charcoal Grill | Two-zone cooking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 50 min | 75°C (165°F) |
| Peri Peri Chicken Thighs Over Charcoal | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 25 min | 80°C (175°F) |
| Jerk Chicken Over Charcoal and Pimento Wood | Two-zone cooking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 1 hr 15 min | 80°C (175°F) |
| Whole Fish Grilled Over Charcoal | Direct heat | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 16 min | 55°C (130°F) |
| Charcoal Grilled Octopus | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 1 hr 15 min | Tender |
| Garlic Charcoal Prawn Skewers | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 6 min | 50°C (120°F) |
| Charcoal Grilled Salmon Fillets | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 12 min | 50°C (125°F) |
| Butterflied Leg of Lamb Over Charcoal | Two-zone cooking | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 45 min | 55°C (130°F) |
| Lamb Chops Straight Over the Coals | Direct heat | 290°C (550°F) and above | 8 min | 55°C (130°F) |
| Charred Cabbage Wedges Over Charcoal | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 40 min | Tender |
| Ember Roasted Peppers with Romesco | Cooking in the embers | 290°C (550°F) and above | 20 min | Collapsed |
| Charcoal Grilled Corn, Elote Style | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 12 min | Charred |
| Ember Baked Aubergine Baba Ganoush | Cooking in the embers | 290°C (550°F) and above | 25 min | 95°C (205°F) |
| Grilled Halloumi, Properly | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 6 min | Charred |
| Greek Pork Souvlaki | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 12 min | 65°C (145°F) |
| Tandoori Chicken Without a Tandoor | Two-zone cooking | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 35 min | 80°C (175°F) |
| Cuban Lechon Asado | Low and slow smoking | 105 to 135°C (225 to 275°F) | 8 hr | 95°C (203°F) |
| Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri | Direct heat | 290°C (550°F) and above | 8 min | 55°C (130°F) |
| Crispy Charcoal Chicken Wings | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 40 min | 85°C (185°F) |
| Whole Roast Chicken on Charcoal (Better Than Beer Can) | Two-zone cooking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 1 hr 10 min | 75°C (165°F) |
| Seared Tuna Steak on Charcoal | Direct heat | 290°C (550°F) and above | 3 min | 45°C (110°F) |
| Charred Cauliflower Steaks | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 30 min | Tender |
| Grilled Pork Tenderloin | Reverse sear | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 25 min | 65°C (145°F) |
| Carne Asada, Mexican Grilled Steak | Direct heat | 290°C (550°F) and above | 8 min | 55°C (130°F) |
| Char Siu, Chinese Barbecue Pork | Two-zone cooking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 1 hr | 70°C (160°F) |
| Grilled Pineapple with Rum and Lime | Direct heat | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 10 min | Caramelised |
| Smoked Turkey Crown | Low and slow smoking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 3 hr | 70°C (160°F) |
| Grilled Garlic Prawns, Gambas Style | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 6 min | 50°C (120°F) |
| Charcoal Grilled Flatbread | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 12 min | Puffed and charred |
| Grilled Lobster Tails with Garlic Butter | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 10 min | 60°C (140°F) |
| Grilled Portobello Mushrooms | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 15 min | Tender |
| Grilled Chorizo with Peppers | Direct heat | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 15 min | 70°C (160°F) |
| Grilled Asparagus | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 6 min | Tender-crisp |
| Provoleta, Argentinian Grilled Cheese | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 8 min | Molten |
| Charred Corn Ribs | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 10 min | Curled |
| Smoked Beef Cheeks | Low and slow smoking | 105 to 135°C (225 to 275°F) | 6 hr | 95°C (205°F) |
Techniques used
Direct heat. Food straight over the coals. Fast, fierce, and finished before the inside overcooks. Cooking in the embers. Food laid directly on the coals. No grate, no barrier, maximum char. Reverse sear. Bring it up slowly on the cool side, then sear hard at the end. Edge to edge pink with a hard crust. Rotisserie. Constant rotation, constant self-basting, no hot side to fight. Low and slow smoking. Hours at 105°C (225°F) to 150°C (300°F) with wood on the coals. Collagen melts, bark forms. Two-zone cooking. Coals banked to one side: a searing zone and a gentle zone in one grill. The single most useful technique in charcoal cooking.
Cookers these suit
Asado grills. Bullet smokers. Drum smokers. Foukou rotisseries. Kamado grills. Kettle grills. Offset smokers. Portable grills. Tandoor ovens.