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.
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.
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.
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.
SausagesBoerewors on the Braai
A single continuous coil of coarse beef sausage spiced with coriander and clove. The rules are simple: never prick it, never rush it, and never cut the coil.
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.
Thighs and legsFilipino Chicken Inasal
Chicken marinated in calamansi, vinegar, lemongrass and ginger, then basted constantly with annatto oil that turns it a deep orange. Sharp, savoury and completely distinct from western barbecue.
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.
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.
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 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.
The two-zone fire is the single most useful technique in charcoal cooking. Bank all your lit coals against one half of the grill and leave the other half empty, and you have a searing zone at 230°C (450°F) to 345°C (650°F) and a gentle roasting zone at 135°C (275°F) to 190°C (375°F) in the same cooker.
What it really buys you is somewhere to retreat to. Flare-up, move the food. Skin colouring too fast, move the food. It converts charcoal cooking from a race into something you can actually control.
At a glance
| Recipe | Method | Grill temp | Cook time | Pull at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Maria Tri-Tip Over Coals | Two-zone cooking | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 35 min | 55°C (130°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) |
| 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) |
| Charred Cabbage Wedges Over Charcoal | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 40 min | Tender |
| Boerewors on the Braai | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 20 min | 70°C (160°F) |
| Tandoori Chicken Without a Tandoor | Two-zone cooking | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 35 min | 80°C (175°F) |
| Filipino Chicken Inasal | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 30 min | 80°C (175°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) |
| Charred Cauliflower Steaks | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 30 min | Tender |
| Char Siu, Chinese Barbecue Pork | Two-zone cooking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 1 hr | 70°C (160°F) |
| Grilled Portobello Mushrooms | Two-zone cooking | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 15 min | Tender |
Techniques used
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. Drum smokers. Kamado grills. Kettle grills. Portable grills. Tandoor ovens.