Posted: 5/7/2010 10:51:06 AM EDT
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I'm in charge of cooking for a dinner tomorrow and we will be at a campground that has the grills already installed. Steak, shrimp, and corn is what I am planning on cooking. I grill all the time using propane, but haven't done much over charcoal.
I am curious as to how far above the coal to set the grill. Any tips? |
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The one time I did that the grill didn't have very much range of travel.
I set it about 6 inches above the charcoal and just paid attention to how the cooking was progressing. I did put the meat on seperately from the vegtables because I knew the timing would be different. |
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For a campground grill get some aluminum foil to put over the grates. Saves you from have to cook on top of whatever nasty stuff was on there before and you won't have to clean the grill as much when you are done (you do need to cleanup as part of common courtesy).
Anyway, you'll want to bunch them all together tighter when you start the fire, then when the coals get gray you'll want to spread them out better. As far as heat, you'll have to judge it by feel. If you do a lot of grilling you should be able to put your hand over it and tell if its too hot to start cooking yet. Once the heat feels about right cook like you would normally cook. It doesn't really matter how far the coals are from the grate, its all about temperature. |
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Get some lump charcoal and toss the steak straight on the coals. Should be able to wrap the corn up in foil and cook it the same way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjwtJ-hXW0I |
| Set it high;sear steaks when the fire is hottest for about 2 minutes a side then move off direct to cook for remaining time.What type steaks?Is there a cover?Do not get the shrimp near it till the temp is a lot lower than steak.It is easy to overcook shrimp;real easy.Corn is just warmed.No height adjustment use foil for corn and maybe shrimp too. |
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Quoted:
Any tips? Cooking over coals is vastly different than cooking on propane. Propane is steady, controlled output. Propane's primary cooking mechanism is convection. (Extreme hot air) The more you turn the dial, the hotter the heat that radiates/convects. Changes in temperature are easy to affect by opening/closing the lid and adjusting the dial; within 30 seconds, you can lower/raise the temperature very quickly. Charcoal's primary cooking mechanism, on the other hand, is radiation. (Infrared waves) When it is ignited it burns quickly towards max temperature (as the black converts to gray) and then has a steady, predictable rate of decline over time. Depending upon the brand, the briquettes can have a useable cooking time of anywhere from 40 minutes for cheap supermarket stuff, to about 90 minutes for better Kingsford or whatnot brand. The 'peak' temperature point of charcoal occurs somewhere around 5-10 minutes after initial ignition. Adding more starting fluid does accelerate the ramping up of the temperature, but it takes longer to burn off the residual chemical smell of the fluid. (almost making it a pointless endeavor) Therefore, use only enough fluid to get all briquettes partially 'lit'. During the initial 'burn in', keep the briquettes tightly packed together, to maximize a uniform heat envelope in the 'pile'; if you have them spread out, the gaps between the coals can cause uneven burning of the briquettes, which will likely lead to weird temperature spikes during cooking. When about 3/4 of the briquettes are a completely ashy gray color, you can rearrange your coals, (group the ashy colored ones together, as they're ready to cook over) set your grate height accordingly, and begin cooking. (the closer the grate, the higher the temperature obviously) Do not cook over the coals that have not yet completely reached ashy grey color! That is the number one mistake novices make with charcoal, and it invariably burns/dries out the food because as those Charcoal briquettes continue to peak, the temperature spikes and ruins the food. As the remaining briquettes convert to ash grey, you can include them in the cooking pile. You may need to adjust the grate height slightly, as the increase in overall heat output (even though the briquettes are all burning at around the same temperature) can affect the cooking. Keep in mind that those briquettes have a finite lifespan of heat output. As they give up heat while combusting, they will crumble and get smaller. At some point, they will not be able to supply a reasonable output of heat to sufficiently 'cook' over. You will have to lower the grate over time to accomodate this. On fixed grate setups, you are obviously limited, and thus can end up in a situation where you can't get enough heat to continue cooking your food. This is what makes charcoal cooking somewhat of an art form; you as the grillmaster, have a limited supply of heat output to work with, which means a limited window of time to cook. What I would suggest is you go to your propane grill tonight if you can, and start it up like you normally would cook. Place your hand 'just above' the grate (about 1/2") and determine how many seconds you can hold your hand there before it gets 'hot' enough that you want to remove it. Remember that feeling, and work the grate at the campground from the top down until you find that same approximate timeframe/temperature. At least that way, you'll know you're cooking in about the same range as what you're used to, and can time the food with some frame of reference. If you can't adjust the grate, you'll at least know if the heat output it too much (shorten your cooking time and flip repeatedly) or to little (will require a bit more cooking time, you may even have to rig up a cover for the grate to trap some of the heat output) Good luck! E. |
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Since it is at a campground, I'm assuming that it is an open grill. Go buy a large, cheap aluminum roasting pan and use that instead of a lid. That also works good if it is raining. Also, like everyone else said, buy a chimney starter. Just load the charcoal in the top, stuff some newspaper in the bottom, and light the paper. It cleaner and easier than using lighter fluid. Plus, like the aluminum pan, if it is raining, you can start your coals under a cover.
Basic stuff: When you have it going, hold your hand over the grill. Count the number of seconds you can keep it there without pulling away. 2 seconds = High 3 seconds = Medium-High 4 seconds = Medium 5 seconds = Low You can also judge the temp by the state of the coals. Glowing red = High Light Ash = Medium Thick Ash = Low If you are grilling a lot of meat, make sure you keep lighting more coals to keep the temp up. |
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Quoted: Get some lump charcoal and toss the steak straight on the coals. Should be able to wrap the corn up in foil and cook it the same way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjwtJ-hXW0I I'm impressed! I want to give that a try.  |
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I'm not trying to be ugly, but I really hate when this happens. You go to a cookout, some jackass doesn't know what he's doing, the food tastes like lighter fluid and it's overcooked. And inevitably, he can't get the coals lit.
And while I'm bitching about grilling, I'll throw in the fact that when I'm grilling, I don't need some man looking over my shoulder and moving around my goddamn meat. I know how to grill better than you. Get over it. Now go drink beer over there and leave me alone. 
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Quoted: I'm not trying to be ugly, but I really hate when this happens. You go to a cookout, some jackass doesn't know what he's doing, the food tastes like lighter fluid and it's overcooked. And inevitably, he can't get the coals lit. And while I'm bitching about grilling, I'll throw in the fact that when I'm grilling, I don't need some man looking over my shoulder and moving around my goddamn meat. I know how to grill better than you. Get over it. Now go drink beer over there and leave me alone. I'm not leg-humping, but I just want to say that you rock. |
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Quoted: Get some lump charcoal and toss the steak straight on the coals. Should be able to wrap the corn up in foil and cook it the same way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjwtJ-hXW0I Badass, I'm doing that tonight. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Get some lump charcoal and toss the steak straight on the coals. Should be able to wrap the corn up in foil and cook it the same way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjwtJ-hXW0I I'm impressed! I want to give that a try.
Its pretty easy. Mine turned out great the first time I tried it. I only do it with T-bones and porterhouse steaks. Ribeyes did not turn out so well. |
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Get some lump charcoal and toss the steak straight on the coals. Should be able to wrap the corn up in foil and cook it the same way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjwtJ-hXW0I thats not gonna end well.........the hellfire hot sauce that is...... |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Get some lump charcoal and toss the steak straight on the coals. Should be able to wrap the corn up in foil and cook it the same way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjwtJ-hXW0I thats not gonna end well.........the hellfire hot sauce that is...... Yeah. Sauce is optional. I am sure I would love it tonight but hate it in the morning. |
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Start with one of these so your food doesn't taste like lighter fluid. http://images.surlatable.com/surlatable/images/en_US//local/products/detail/490078.jpg ETA- Beat by the guy above. Also, set the grill close to the coals at first and get it real hot and then clean with a brush. I try to avoid using foil because I think it's a pain in the ass. A must for using charcoal. |
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Quoted:
Start with one of these so your food doesn't taste like lighter fluid. http://images.surlatable.com/surlatable/images/en_US//local/products/detail/490078.jpg ETA- Beat by the guy above. Also, set the grill close to the coals at first and get it real hot and then clean with a brush. I try to avoid using foil because I think it's a pain in the ass. Yes!!! |
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Quoted: The gf has been asking about getting a grill for awhile, but money is tight. I've seen a couple charcoal webers between $50 and $80. Any reason that Id want something more than that? No plans for any big cook outs, just for 2 of us. Nothing wrong at all with those. If fact, that's all Bobby Flay uses. Google him if you don't know who he is. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Get some lump charcoal and toss the steak straight on the coals. Should be able to wrap the corn up in foil and cook it the same way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjwtJ-hXW0I Badass, I'm doing that tonight. Just got done eating, it was fucking awesome. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
The gf has been asking about getting a grill for awhile, but money is tight. I've seen a couple charcoal webers between $50 and $80. Any reason that Id want something more than that? No plans for any big cook outs, just for 2 of us. Nothing wrong at all with those. If fact, that's all Bobby Flay uses. Google him if you don't know who he is. Thanks for the info, I may be a newb when it comes to grilling, but I'm no stranger to the iron chef 
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