Learn
How to Control the Heat When Grilling With Charcoal
Learning how to manage temps and flare-ups is the key to successful charcoal grilling. Follow these simple tips on how to control the heat of live charcoal coals to make BBQing a breeze.
What You’ll Need
To make the process flow smoothly, be sure to gather everything on the list below before you get started. And as always, use Kingsford® Original Charcoal Briquets for a great grilling experience.
Fuel and Tools
- Kingsford® Original Charcoal Briquets
- Match Light® Charcoal Briquets
- Charcoal Grill
- Standard Charcoal Chimney Starter
- Long-Handled Tongs or a Long-Handled Metal Spatula
- Matches or Lighter
- Water
What You Need to Know About Oxygen
- Oxygen is what makes fire possible and makes your coals burn.
- Abundant oxygen makes the coals burn hot and fast.
- Limited oxygen decreases cooking temperatures and lets the coals burn more slowly.
- The vents on the top and bottom of your grill let you change the flow of oxygen to increase, decrease and stabilize coal temperatures.
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Here’s How to Control Your Grill Temperature with Vents An easy way to control the temperature of your grill is by opening and closing its vents. To reduce the temperature: Close the vents on your grill to reduce the flow of oxygen. To increase the temperature: Open up the vents fully to allow more oxygen in to increase the flames.
What You Need to Know About Oxygen
How to Manage Flare-Ups
- It’s tempting to put flare-ups out with water, but this will cause ash to fly up onto your food — which can ruin flavor and cause a fire hazard.
- The best way to manage grilling flare-ups is to create a two-zone fire, covering one half of the grill with the coals, and leaving a void, or coal-free zone, on the other half. Flare-ups happen — don’t worry!
- With a long-handled, metal spatula, simply move your food to the cooler side of the grate until the flames subside.
How to Manage Flare-Ups
How to Increase Heat on a Grill
- It’s easy — simply place some unlit coals on top of the bed or coals that are already lit. There’s no need to add lighter fluid, the lit coals will ignite the new coals. The unlit coals will light fully in about 15 minutes, so you may want to plan ahead a bit.
- Another option is to light a chimney with new coals and then pour in the hot coals when ready.
- Just keep in mind, if you’re using Match Light® Charcoal Briquets, don’t add more Match Light® Charcoal once your fire has been lit, because it contains a small amount of lighter fluid. If additional charcoal is needed, add Kingsford® Original Charcoal Briquets.
How to Increase Heat on a Grill
Recipes
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Take your taste buds outside their comfort zone with these unexpected twists on grilling favorites.
