COOKING TIPS
Building Your Fire
1.) Stack charcoal briquettes or wood into a
2.) If using lighter fluid, saturate the charcoal briquettes with lighter fluid and let it soak in for approximately 5 minutes. If using a chimney starter, electric starter, or other type of fire starter, light your fire according to the manufacturer's instructions.
3.) After allowing the lighter fluid to properly soak in, light the pile of briquettes in several
locations to ensure an even burn. Always light the fire with the grill lid open.
Leave lid open until briquettes are fully lit. Failure to do this could trap fumes from charcoal lighter fluid in grill and may result in a flash fire when lid is opened.
4.) Never add charcoal lighter fluid to hot or warm coals as flashbacks may occur causing injury.
5.) You are ready to begin cooking when the pile of briquettes ashes over and produces a red glow (approximately 12 – 15 minutes).
6.) Depending on your cooking method, either leave the briquettes in a pile or spread evenly across the charcoal grate using a
*Always use caution when handling hot coals to prevent injury.
Know When Your Fire is Ready
Successful charcoal grilling depends on a good fire. The general rule for knowing when your coals are ready for grilling is to make sure that 80 percent or more of the coals are ashy gray. If you have less than that, the coals are not ready, and if all of them are glowing red hot, the fire is probably too hot. Here are a few steps you can take to adjust the temperature of your fire:
-If it is too hot, spread the coals out a bit more, which makes the fire less intense.
-Raise or lower the adjustable charcoal grate.
-Partially close the vents in the grill, which reduces the amount of oxygen that feeds the fire.
-Use the indirect grilling method, with coals to either side of a drip pan and the food over the pan rather than directly over the coals.
-In the event of a severe
-Add briquettes 2 or 3 at a time to increase the burn time. Allow 10 minutes for coals to ash over before adding more.
THE HEAT OF THE COALS
seconds you can |
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hold the palm of |
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your hand 4 inches |
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above the coals | temperature range (Fº) | visual cues | ||
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HOT COALS | 2 | 400 to 450 |
| barely covered with |
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| gray ash; deep red glow |
MODERATELY HOT | 3 | 375 to 450 | thin coating of gray | |
TO HOT COALS |
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| ash; deep red glow |
MODERATELY HOT COALS | 4 | 325 to 375 |
| significant coating of |
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| gray ash; red glow |
MODERATELY COOL COALS 5 | 300 to 325 |
| thick coating of gray | |
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| ash; dull red glow |
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