Successful Barbecuing with Charcoal Briquettes

Returning to or learning about the use of charcoal briquettes to grill picnic or backyard barbecue fare offers a tried and true method that makes a lot of sense for those fond of weekend or camping cookouts devoid of excess paraphernalia. Forget the special propane bottles, the multi-faceted control panels, the electronic strikers that often fail inopportunely. Grab a bag of briquettes, a packet of matches and a grill pan and you're set.

Here are a few practical tips on the use of charcoal briquettes in your future barbecue grilling diversions.

First of all, you can choose between two types of briquettes, regular and quick start. Quick start briquettes have been impregnated with lighter fluid or a similar flammable substance. Consequently, they ignite immediately when the flame of a match or igniter touches them. Regular briquettes take longer to ignite, but cost less and don't "burn up" so fast. Regular briquettes do, of course, take longer to come to cooking temperatures, usually a half hour or so. If you wish, you can pre-soak several of the regulars with lighter fluid to reduce heat up times. Caution: Do not add these altered briquettes or commercial quick starts to an already hot bed of coals; they might flare up or even explode in the fire pit.

After igniting the pile of briquettes, you need to wait until they have begun to burn efficiently before cooking over them. One indication of this will be a coating of ash on the briquettes: they will turn from black to gray. The time required for this to occur will vary, depending on whether you use regular or pre-soaked briquettes and other factors. One factor, air flow, you can exercise some control over. If the briquettes seem slow to heat up, try fanning them with a square of cardboard or use fireplace bellows. If you have no bellows, use an empty plastic squeeze bottle to "blow" on the briquettes. Gently stirring the briquettes to knock off some of the accumulated ash also helps increase the heat level.

It's important to let the briquettes, whether regular or quick start, burn until they have reached the required temperature for efficient grilling. More expensive barbecue grills may have temperature gages. Lacking a gage, you will need another method for determining temperatures of the bed of coals. Old hands at charcoal grilling recommend holding your hand palm down about four inches above the coals, counting the seconds you can do so comfortably. If you can hold your hand above the heat for five seconds, the temperature has reached from 200 to 350 degrees of heat; four seconds, 300 to 350 degrees; three seconds, 350 to 375 degrees; two seconds, 375 degrees or hotter; one second, that's really hot. Since comfort levels will vary from one person to another, you will gain expertise in judging cooking heats over time.

You will want to have near at hand a second squeeze bottle or window cleaner spray bottle filled with water. If the coals flare up, endangering the food being grilled, squirt a bit of water into the flames to damper them. Don't worry; cooking heat will come back almost instantly.

Because you're dealing with high heat having the potential for flame flareups, you always need to exercise caution around a charcoal grill. Be sure to wear heat-resisting barbecue mitts; you're almost certain to touch a hot surface while barbecuing, and you need their protection. Though you may squirt lighter fluid on the briquettes prior to lighting them, don't squirt the highly flammable stuff on hot briquettes in an attempt to increase the heat level. The resulting, instantaneous flareup can catch you unawares and you may suffer serious burns.

When you've finished barbecuing, scatter the briquettes a bit and douse each one with a liberal squirt of water. Scoop them into a metal bucket and let them dry out; they'll work just fine for your next grilling session.

Have fun, save a few dollars and enjoy those outdoor grilling sessions.