#BeginnersGuideToBBQ - Part 1

As Spring has really come upon us in NY, everyone has started to think about BBQ and what they can bring outside. The interesting part is that many people are questioning what and how they have been doing it up until now, and are now asking what they could do to make their BBQs better. With that, I give you a Beginner's Guide to BBQ, or also known as, How To Make Sure Everything Is Better Grilled #EIBG.

1: The Grill

Before we can discuss what you grill and how you grill it, we need to talk about what you grill on. My personal choice and recommendation is a charcoal grill. The charcoal grill you choose should be able to support proper air flow so that you will be able to smoke and do direct grilling.

My recommendation, and the grill I use is the Weber One Touch Gold 22". I have had this grill for 8 years and the only modification I have made is adding a thermometer to monitor internal temperature. Since then Weber has modified their charcoal product line and now offers a temperature gauge on their 22" charcoal grills.

Propane grills also work, but make sure it has multiple burners for direct and indirect cooking and is versatile enough to support rotisseries and side burners. I personally prefer a charcoal grill over propane as it gives you more cooking options when you close the lid and want to keep the smoke/heat internal. Propane grill as made to be very airy to reduce the risk of propane/gas buildup inside the grill when the lid is closed.

2: The Fuel

There are two types of charcoal that can be used: Lump Charcoal and Briquettes Charcoal. There is no right answer here because you can ask different BBQ purists what they use and they will defend either one. Purists will swear by Lump Charcoal because it is after all the natural by product of how charcoal is made. It leaves very little ash, gets hotter than briquettes, and will add flavor to anything you grill. Unfortunately with Lump Charcoal you get inconsistent sizes in the bags you get and therefore inconsistent times on how long your BBQ will last. Briquettes are made for consistent burns and long lasting BBQs. The problem is that what goes into the Briquettes to make them are concerning. Therefore I am very picky about what briquettes I use and when I use lump charcoal. When it comes to briquettes, I only use Kingsford Competition Briquettes or Trader Joes Charcoal (absolutely NO match light charcoal!!)

My general rule:

Lump Charcoal: quick and fast cooking (Burgers, off the bone chicken, steaks, hotdogs)

Briquettes:  

Charcoal Briquettes: longer cooking times (chicken on bone and smoking).

The other reason why I like charcoal is because it is a reusable fuel. When it comes to propane, what you light is what you use. When it comes to charcoal, when you are done with your BBQ, close the vents, and whatever charcoal is left, can be used for your next BBQ by brushing off the ash and pouring lit charcoal on top of it to relight it. Almost every BBQ I do, I always have some charcoal left over from the previous BBQ which reduces how much charcoal I need to reuse.

3: Lighting The Fuel

The only way that I will light charcoal is using a chimney. The reason that I do not use lighter fluid is that it tends to leave a residue that will turn to vapor and go into the food that you are cooking which leaves a dangerous taste that you do not want to ingest. A charcoal chimney is used by placing newspaper on the bottom which lights the charcoal on top. When the bottom layer lights, it then lights the next layer until ultimately all your charcoal is lit and ready to go.

You will know that it is ready to pour when the charcoal turns white

On Part 2, we will discuss direct vs indirect cooking

Trader Joes Charcoal Review

For me, any time I see the words 'hardwood', I begin thinking about lump charcoal. To say that I am picky about my charcoal and how it is lit is an understatement. Recently I was in Trader Joes and saw a bag of their 100% natural charcoal and picked up a bag to give it a try.

On first glance, comparing the briquette to the Kingsford Competition, you can see that the Trader Joes one (on the left) is larger with a more oval elongated shape compared to the Kingsford (on the right) square shape.

Lighting the charcoal was similar using 3 pieces of newspaper to get a good fire going in the chimney.

Once poured, I was amazed at how hot it got the grill and how quickly it reached that temperature.

As soon as I started putting the food on, you could hear, see, and smell the amazing sear that I was getting on those burgers and the awesome grill marks I could expect to see.

I was amazed to see that 40 minutes later, the temperature was still running high.

In conclusion, these briquettes bring serious heat to any BBQ. I am pretty sure I am going to start stock piling this charcoal and saving it for the BBQs where I want high heat for searing.

All Charcoal Is Not The Same

For propane grillers, there really isn’t much variation to your fuel options. Either you go stand online on a Sunday morning at the local Home Depot/Loews/Gas Station and fill or swap your tank (depending where you live), or you have a direct hookup with a converter to your house's gas line. Growing up, my family had a gas grill with a direct hookup to the house. I have always said that one of the best wedding present I ever got was a BBQ grill from our neighbors in Bridgeport, CT. For us charcoal users, there are many options out there for us to consider that will not only give the best flavor but also have the best performance during our BBQ. For a long time charcoal grillers reached for the Kingford Blue Bag, otherwise known as the Sure Fire charcoal bag. 

They also used lighter fluid to get their fire going which is a topic we will shelve for another time. The problem I have found with the 'blue' bag is that it gives off a smell, smoke that burns your eyes and throat, and creates a lot of ash. Ash is bad because on a charcoal grill, the idea is to keep the vents open on the top and bottom of the grill to maintain the heat from the charcoal inside. If the bottom vents get clogged with ash from the charcoal, your BBQ won’t last that long. A few years ago a friend at work, Gus, mentioned the competition briquets and how they got his grill hotter with less ash and none of that chemical smell or taste that I was getting with the blue bag. I first found these bags at Home Depot, and ran home to try them.

On my very first BBQ using these charcoal, I saw my grill reaching temperatures that I hadn't experienced before. 

Thankfully we have joined Costco which sells this charcoal in bulk in the form of two 18 lbs. bags.

What kind of charcoal do you use?