Barbecuing with charcoal: What you should bear in mind

Grilling with charcoal is part of summer. With these tips, you can barbecue with peace of mind

What to look out for when barbecuing with charcoal

Without a doubt, charcoal grilling is one of the best known and most popular types of grilling. With these tips, you can relax and enjoy your barbecue when using charcoal.

• When grilling, pay attention to the weather. Unlike electric grills, you can’t set up your charcoal grill indoors or in poorly ventilated locations. And it’s more fun when the sun is shining.
• Your charcoal barbecue needs a location that is sheltered from the wind and has no trees, hedges, bushes or dry areas nearby. A charcoal barbecue on balconies should be stable.
• When buying charcoal, it is bad advice to skimp on quality. Quality charcoal not only glows longer, but you are assured that the charcoal is free of petroleum, pitch, coke and plastics. Likewise, pay attention to the occasion. Charcoal burns out more quickly. For long barbecue evenings, barbecue briquettes are therefore better suited, as they glow longer.
• To bring the charcoal up to temperature, we recommend using fireplaces or, alternatively, lighting cubes. Look for oil-free cubes. Not only are these more environmentally friendly, but there is also less odour.
• The charcoal needs about half an hour before you can start grilling. To do this, place three to four kindling plates in the charcoal. When the first fire is burning, add more coals until at least the bottom is covered. Make sure that there is not too much coal on the grill, otherwise the temperature will be too high.
• There are also a few alternatives to grilling with charcoal. You can grill more environmentally consciously with fair olive barbecue briquettes. These are available on the basis of olive kernels, for example. There are also charcoals made from coconut.
• Another environmentally friendly alternative to charcoal would be a gas grill or electric grill.

Tips for grilling with a charcoal grill

You can start putting the food on the barbecue when the charcoal is covered with a thin layer of ash. Take your time here and wait until the charcoal is really ready.

• A distance of 10 cm from the grill to the grate is recommended. If the distance is smaller, there is a risk that the food will only be burnt but not yet cooked on the inside.
• When grilling, you should pay attention to the cooking times. In the beginning, the embers are hot, so only grill food with a short grilling time. This includes, for example, beef, lamb or kebabs. Ribs, chicken thighs or grilled vegetables, for example, have longer cooking times. Fish needs the longest time on the grill. It is also advisable to have two grilling zones on the barbecue. This way, you can keep cooked food warm.
• When grilling, pay attention to the temperature. You can either use barbecue thermometers, but you can also recognise too hot temperatures with the naked eye when flames burst through the grate. In this case, the flames should first burn out before you put food on the grill again. You can control the temperature of the grill with the air supply. To do this, operate the openings for the air flow on the grill, if available.
• You can marinate your food for extra flavour. For example, season your grilled food with aromatic herbs such as rosemary for meat, fennel for fish or lemon grass for chicken or prawns. The marinade should not drip before you place the food on the barbecue.
• Another option for a special taste is to use special smoky wood chips or smoking chips.
• At the end of the grilling process, it is still advisable to clean the warm grill with a metal brush. This way, the residues are not dried on and the fire can burn them off.