C - Charcoal
Charcoal.
Dateline: Last Monday.
Location: My driveway.
I spent a lot of time camping when I was growing up. Cooking over an open flame with the standards; hotdogs, marshmallows, and I’m sure other grocery goods. I managed to carry that back home in the form of a little Weber grill. My backyard had a small concrete slab where a water well used to be. Perfect grill location. Yes, one time the grill was a wee bit close to the house and I bubbled a little paint but we don’t need to reminisce any more.
My history proves I can grill. I can start charcoal. I can cook with charcoal. I can do it!
Standing in my driveway with a new grill, a bag full of charcoal, and a small torch I went to doing what I’d done before. Twenty-five looooooooooong minutes later, I came to a sad realization. I had always bought easy-start charcoal. Easy-start means soak the suckers in a combustible liquid before bagging and selling to customers who like food that tastes a bit like kerosene. When a man can’t get a fire to burn for more than a minute or two, it really drives him UP THE FREAKING WALL! Granted, it was a very windy day, but I’d done it before. Finally, after a combination of lighter fluid and oiled paper, which I’ll get to later, the fire started and stayed burning.
Monday afternoon, an hour later than expected, I served up lunch. Grilled Hamburgers, grilled yellow squash, and grilled romaine lettuce. The lettuce was for a salad from in AB’s “I’m Just Here For The Food.” My wife commented the salad dressing (apple vinegar, capers, and Dijon mustard) would go great on any salad. So noted.
Dateline: Friday evening.
Location: My driveway.
Starting with a Killian’s beer in hand, I tried making fire for the second time in five days. This time, success came sooner than before. I started with a sheet of newspaper and folded in several times, while occasionally spraying it with vegetable oil, until it was about the size of a 3x5 card which is, well, 3x5. Then I built my charcoal pyramid on top of the 3x5 newspaper. Initially, it was hard to get the paper to light. A little too much oil, I suspect. A small squirt of lighter fluid on top did the trick. The fluid penetrated enough of the paper to get it going while the vegetable oil/paper acted like a wick so a flame was produced for a long period of time. Just long enough to start the charcoal burning. By the time the charcoal was hot enough to grill, all the paper had burned up.
Friday evening, we dined on brats, yellow squash, mushrooms, and pineapple rings – all grilled.
What have I learned about grilling and grilling with good charcoal. Buy two spray bottles and label them water and oil. The water is for putting out the sudden flames that grease produces. The oil is great for lighting spraying veggies and whatever else will be grilled for preventing grill sticking. Truthfully, I don’t have my bottles labeled. I bought two colors; red and green. Red reminds me of a fire extinguisher so that’s my water bottle. These bottles run about a dollar each. Next, use 30 charcoal briquettes per pound of meat. I ran long on the brats as I put the veggies on too late in the game. So grilled pineapple took 10 minutes instead of 3. Finally, I don’t need to buy a charcoal chimney if I stick with the oil and paper.
Charcoal is a cruel mistress. Respect her, treat her well, know her limits, and she will treat you well. Do none of these things and you’ll have your grill on the roadside in no time.
Dateline: Last Monday.
Location: My driveway.
I spent a lot of time camping when I was growing up. Cooking over an open flame with the standards; hotdogs, marshmallows, and I’m sure other grocery goods. I managed to carry that back home in the form of a little Weber grill. My backyard had a small concrete slab where a water well used to be. Perfect grill location. Yes, one time the grill was a wee bit close to the house and I bubbled a little paint but we don’t need to reminisce any more.
My history proves I can grill. I can start charcoal. I can cook with charcoal. I can do it!
Standing in my driveway with a new grill, a bag full of charcoal, and a small torch I went to doing what I’d done before. Twenty-five looooooooooong minutes later, I came to a sad realization. I had always bought easy-start charcoal. Easy-start means soak the suckers in a combustible liquid before bagging and selling to customers who like food that tastes a bit like kerosene. When a man can’t get a fire to burn for more than a minute or two, it really drives him UP THE FREAKING WALL! Granted, it was a very windy day, but I’d done it before. Finally, after a combination of lighter fluid and oiled paper, which I’ll get to later, the fire started and stayed burning.
Monday afternoon, an hour later than expected, I served up lunch. Grilled Hamburgers, grilled yellow squash, and grilled romaine lettuce. The lettuce was for a salad from in AB’s “I’m Just Here For The Food.” My wife commented the salad dressing (apple vinegar, capers, and Dijon mustard) would go great on any salad. So noted.
Dateline: Friday evening.
Location: My driveway.
Starting with a Killian’s beer in hand, I tried making fire for the second time in five days. This time, success came sooner than before. I started with a sheet of newspaper and folded in several times, while occasionally spraying it with vegetable oil, until it was about the size of a 3x5 card which is, well, 3x5. Then I built my charcoal pyramid on top of the 3x5 newspaper. Initially, it was hard to get the paper to light. A little too much oil, I suspect. A small squirt of lighter fluid on top did the trick. The fluid penetrated enough of the paper to get it going while the vegetable oil/paper acted like a wick so a flame was produced for a long period of time. Just long enough to start the charcoal burning. By the time the charcoal was hot enough to grill, all the paper had burned up.
Friday evening, we dined on brats, yellow squash, mushrooms, and pineapple rings – all grilled.
What have I learned about grilling and grilling with good charcoal. Buy two spray bottles and label them water and oil. The water is for putting out the sudden flames that grease produces. The oil is great for lighting spraying veggies and whatever else will be grilled for preventing grill sticking. Truthfully, I don’t have my bottles labeled. I bought two colors; red and green. Red reminds me of a fire extinguisher so that’s my water bottle. These bottles run about a dollar each. Next, use 30 charcoal briquettes per pound of meat. I ran long on the brats as I put the veggies on too late in the game. So grilled pineapple took 10 minutes instead of 3. Finally, I don’t need to buy a charcoal chimney if I stick with the oil and paper.
Charcoal is a cruel mistress. Respect her, treat her well, know her limits, and she will treat you well. Do none of these things and you’ll have your grill on the roadside in no time.
posted by Chris at 6:45 AM
4 Comments:
Obviously, I am going to have to make one thing clear.
I quote"Starting with a Killian’s beer in hand, I tried making fire for the second time in five days. This time, success came sooner than before."
There is a RULE, the MAN RULE, which says ,"Man can't grill without malt beverage in hand." I have O'douls simply because I use to do too much grilling, but BEER is the answer to any grilling problem you may have.
Charcoal won't light? Get a beer. Food on fire? Get a beer. Grill exploded and food on roof? Get two beers and call the fire department.
I hope that helps!
I SEE THE LIGHT!
See thread at good eats fan page for more charcoal discussion.
Should I send you some cookbooks? I was cracking up at your posts. Best of luck learning the tricks of the trade and keep the fire department out of your house. :)
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