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.
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.
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.
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.
ShoulderCypriot Souvla on the Foukou
The Sunday cook of every Cypriot village. Big chunks of pork shoulder turning slowly over charcoal for two and a half hours, seasoned with almost nothing.
Thighs and legsChicken Gyros on a Charcoal Spit
Stacked marinated thighs turning slowly over charcoal, shaved off in layers as the outside crisps. A foukou or a rotisserie ring turns this from a restaurant dish into a garden one.
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.
Short ribAsado de Tira Over Embers
Argentinian cross-cut short ribs cooked slowly over embers rather than flame, seasoned with nothing but coarse salt. Patience is the entire recipe.
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.
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.
ShoulderAl Pastor Pork Skewers
Mexico by way of Lebanon: spit-grilled pork marinated in dried chillies, achiote and pineapple, the Middle Eastern shawarma technique that Lebanese immigrants brought to Mexico City.
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.
These are the cooks that take three hours to fourteen and reward patience over skill. Nothing here is technically difficult. The difficulty is entirely in leaving it alone.
Set the fire up to run unattended using the snake method in a kettle or the Minion method in a bullet smoker or drum, so most of your charcoal stays unlit and a small fire creeps through it for hours. Then adjust with the bottom vent only, in small movements, waiting fifteen minutes to judge each one.
Every lid opening costs roughly fifteen minutes. For the first several hours there is genuinely nothing to see. Put a probe at grate level, watch it from indoors, and go and do something else.
At a glance
| Recipe | Method | Grill temp | Cook time | Pull at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) |
| Smoked Beef Short Ribs | Low and slow smoking | 105 to 135°C (225 to 275°F) | 7 to 9 hr | 95°C (203°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) |
| Rotisserie Porchetta Over Charcoal | Rotisserie | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 3 hr | 65°C (145°F) |
| Cypriot Souvla on the Foukou | Rotisserie | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 2 hr 30 min | 85°C (185°F) |
| Chicken Gyros on a Charcoal Spit | Rotisserie | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 1 hr 30 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) |
| Asado de Tira Over Embers | Direct heat | 175 to 230°C (350 to 450°F) | 50 min | Cooked through |
| Char Siu, Chinese Barbecue Pork | Two-zone cooking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 1 hr | 70°C (160°F) |
| Smoked Turkey Crown | Low and slow smoking | 135 to 175°C (275 to 350°F) | 3 hr | 70°C (160°F) |
| Al Pastor Pork Skewers | Direct heat | 230 to 290°C (450 to 550°F) | 20 min | 70°C (160°F) |
| 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. 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.