If your new to charcoal grilling then you might be struggling to keep the temperature up in your grill. Sure it’s nice and hot when you start but as your cooking it starts to cool off. Sometimes you need to do more then one round of grilling and there’s not enough heat left to cook anything.
So what’s the best way to keep your charcoal from running out before your done grilling. Well here’s my tips to help you keep your grill hot so your not stressing out about whether it’s hot enough to finish cooking your food.
5 Tip’s To Keep your Charcoal Grill Hot
Use More Then you Think You Need
When it comes to cooking with charcoal its easy to not use enough charcoal from the start. It can be hard to judge how much charcoal to put on the grill before you get started. I like to use twice as much as i think I’m going to need.
This way I know I’ll have more then enough fuel to cook everything and if for some reason I need to cook extra then it’s not a problem. Or if the food isn’t cooking as fast as I thought it wood then it’s also not a problem. Charcoal is cheap and I wouldn’t want to under cook my chicken trying to save a dollar.
For most of the grilling your going to be doing two chimney starters worth of charcoal is more then enough to get the job done. You don’t Need to light both of them. Fill the chimney starter and then dump it into the grill unlit. Then Fill it again and this time light the charcoal in the starter.
Let the charcoal light all the way. I like to see flames coming out of the top with no smoke before I add it to my unlit charcoal. After you add it to the grill use a charcoal rake or a metal spatula to mix the charcoal around a bit. Then make a pile of it and Close the lid.
I like to pile the charcoal a long the back of the grill to make a hot zone but I’ll talk more about zones later. If you don’t have a chimney starter there are other ways to light charcoal you can learn about them by Clicking Here.
Add If You Need
If your in the middle of cooking on the grill and you can see that it’s going to burn out before your done don’t be afraid to add some more fuel to the grill. I know your supposed to wait until there’s a layer of ash on the charcoal before you put your food on the grill. But there’s ways around that.
First off if your not going to be able to finish cooking the food that’s on the grill then you don’t have much to lose. If this is the case the best thing you can do is to fill your chimney starter back up and light it. Wait until there’s no smoke coming out of it and carefully add it to the grill.
Your going to want to remove the food or at least cover it when you add the charcoal to the grill. As your poring the new charcoal in its going to make a lot of ash come flying out of the grill. If your food is still on the grill and uncovered it’s going to get covered in ash.
If your done cooking but more people showed up and now you need to cook more food but the grill is dying out. Then Just add the new charcoal to what’s left in the grill. Mix it up again like you did when you added the lit to the unlit and close the lid.
Wait until you don’t see any smoke coming out the top vent and then add the new food to the grill. If your in a hurry then you can use the chimney starter to get the new charcoal started before adding it to the grill.
Learn Your Vents
Learning how to use the vents on your grill can not only help you keep it burning longer on less fuel. But also it will help you keep it at a even temperature wile your grilling.
All charcoal grills have vents. There’s going to be a intake vent near the bottom of the grill and a exhaust vent near the top of the grill. Both vents can be adjusted to help you control the temperature inside the grill.
Your going to use the bottom vent to make the charcoal burn faster or slower. The more you open the vent the more air is going to get to the charcoal. If you understand how fire works then you know more air means it’s going to burn faster and hotter.
In return if you close the vent then little to no air will get in and the fire will start to cool off or will go all the way out. The top vent is more for letting CO2 out of the grill. But you don’t want to leave it all the way open because heat is also escaping out of it.
It’s best to pick a temperature you want your grill at, like 350 F and adjust the vents as your cooking to keep it as close to that temperature as you can. The more you use your grill the better you’ll understand where to set the position of the vents. Open or close the vent a little bit at a time and then give the grill a few minutes to adjust before making another adjustment.
Clean The Ash’s Out
If your having a problem getting the charcoal to burn hot in your grill. Then it might be time for a good cleaning. If there’s a lot of ash buildup in the bottom of your grill it’s going to affect how the air flows inside the grill.
If the air cant get to the charcoals then there not going to burn. Even if air is getting in if it cant flow under all of the charcoals then some of it will burn and others won’t. This can make hot and cold spots in your grill.
It’s best to keep the ash pan clean so that air can flow evenly under all of the charcoals. This way you don’t wind up with a cold grill. Keeping the grill clean will also extend the life of your grill and help you avoid other headaches like grease fires.
If there’s a lot of ash buildup in the grill it’s going to soak up the grease dripping off of your food. This can lead to a grease fire if left unchecked long enough. The ash will also hold in moisture and will make the bottom of the grill rust faster then the rest of the grill.
So if your not looking to fight a grease fire or buy a new grill it’s best to just take the time and clean the ash’s out of it every so often. If you need help with how to clean your grill you can check out my article on cleaning grills by Clicking Here.
Use Cooking Zones
My last tip is to use cooking zones. By using cooking zones you’ll save fuel and have the ability to sear over the direct heat and then let your food finish over the indirect heat so that it doesn’t get burned.
I mentioned earlier about keeping all your charcoal to the back of the grill if you do that then that’s going to be your direct heat zone. The area towards the front of the grill with no charcoal is your indirect heat zone. If you want to learn more about cooking zones then you can read my article How to Cook with Indirect Heat on a Charcoal Grill.
Using zones lets you use less fuel sins your heating a smaller area in the grill. It also gives you better temperature control because there’s less charcoal that needs to be regulated.
Having two cooking zones will allow you to get a good sear on a steak and then move it to indirect heat to finish cooking. Or if your a fan of chicken like me you can cook the perfect chicken drumstick over indirect heat.
My Top 3 Charcoal Grills
Kettle Grills
The most iconic of the charcoal grills is the kettle grill. These are most often round but you may find the occasional square one. On average a kettle grill has between 300 and 400 square inches of main cooking area. These are excellent grills if you’re constantly on-the-go. You can take it with you for tailgating or camping, but it is still good for grilling around the house. For most small families these grills are going to be perfect.
They have enough cooking space to make dinner for a group of four with ease. They can easily be put away if you’re not looking to give up a lot of space on your deck or patio.
The main thing to watch for when buying a kettle grill is how the ash bin is empty. Some of the more expensive ones have a removable ash collector at the bottom, whereas the lower end ones you have to actually turn the grill upside down to clean it out.
You can check out my top pick for kettle grilles on Amazon by Clicking Here!
Barrel Grills
Barrel grills get their name because they look like somebody took a 55-gallon drum, laid it on its side, and added legs to it. These grills are much larger and heavier so it’s not really something you’re going to be taking with you like the kettle grill.
On average a barrel grill offers between 450 to 600 square inches of cooking space on your primary cooking area. Most of these will come with a upper wire rack for keeping things warm, as well as a thermometer built into the lid so you can see the internal temperature of the grill.
They do come with wheels on one side of them so you can lift the side without wheels and push or pull the grill to move it around. Some of these grills will offer a side fire box so you can use it as a offset smoker. So if your thinking of learning how to smoke meat then this kind of grill will be a great two in one for you.
You can check out my top pick for barrel grilles on Amazon by Clicking Here!
Kamado
A Kamado grill is a japanese-inspired grill. This type of grill has an egg shape to it. The odd shape helps not only make these grills look unique, but it also gives you wider options of cooking styles. They’re not only a charcoal grill but can be used for smoking meats as well. They also have the ability of getting to extremely high temperatures of around 700F.
They often have around 250 to 300 square inches of cooking space so they are small in size as far as cooking space goes. Most of these will also come with a thermometer on the lid so you can watch your internal temperature just like on the barrel grills.
These grills are often made from solid ceramic on the inside with thick gaskets on the lid to help retain the heat. The combination of the ceramic and the almost airtight seal on the lid is what gives these grills there ability to hit extremely high temperatures.
There are low cost models made from two layers of steel with insulation between them. No matter what model you go with this style grill is unmatched in heat control. The gaskets on these grills makes air leaks a thing of the past. So you have full control of the air with the vents.
That lets you keep the temperature where ever you need it. Whether it’s 225 for low and slow cooking or 700 for a good sear on a steak your in full control.
You can check out my top pick you Kamado grilles on Amazon by Clicking Here!
As always happy grilling!
