A Well Informed Guide to Grilling on Charcoal

Growing up, my father did all of the grilling on a classic Weber kettle grill.  Based on this, and the movies and tv that show men always gathered around the grill at picnics and backyard cookouts, I assumed that competently cooking meat over an open flame was passed on by the Y chromosome.   

Then I met Mr. Herr and he proceeded to turn all grilled items into blackened inedible hockey pucks.   

When faced with this challenge, I did what I always do:  read up and learn how to start a charcoal grill and cook recognizable, not raw, food on it.    

We’ve “advanced” to a gas grill at our home in Princeton, but that is cheating to my  mind, so I still use the  old fashioned kettle grill in the Adirondacks 

Charcoal takes a little more time, but doesn’t require you to drive around periodically with a propane bomb in the back of your car. That always made me nervous and is why our grill in Princeton is hooked to our natural gas. 

When grilling the old-fashioned way,  I use Kingsford Match Light Charcoal here.   It’s easier than having to deal with lighter fluid.   

To start you make a pyramid of charcoal using about 30-40 briquettes.

Once your have the pyramid, light it.

Leave the lid off and let the flames die back until all or most of the briquettes are ashy looking.  This takes about 20 minutes. 

 I usually use this time to get my meat ready.  Today, I made BBQ chicken breasts, but a lot of this is good for anything you’re preparing.

The key to avoiding burned chicken is to bring your chicken (or other meat) to room temperature.   This not only prevents carbonizing the outside of the bird, but avoids having  raw chicken on the inside.   

 I prefer bone-in, skin-on for grilling — it’s more flavorful.   

With chicken breasts, I cut them in half so that they cook all the way through without that charming hockey puck finish. 

After I cut the chicken breast, I pat dry the pieces with paper towels, which helps make a crispier skin when you’re done grilling. Once dry, I salt and pepper both sides liberally.  Don’t be afraid of the spices. Most people like a little party on their tongues.

Time for the multitasking to begin if you’re making fresh corn or pasta with pesto as a side. Now it’s time to put on a pot to boil the water you will need for them. Depending on how big your pot is, expect it to take 15 minutes for the water to boil. 

By the time the chicken is prepped and the water is on,  your coals should be ready.   Spread the coals flat with your tongs and then put the grill platform in on top.

I pop the lid on for a minute to let the grill platform get hot before I put on the meat.  That should give you that nice sear on the outside of your meat — just like on TV.

 Then I put the kettle lid back on while the chicken/meat is cooking.  Some people don’t, but with four dogs capable of clearing a counter, I worry they might try to clear the grill and don’t want burned noses — or lost chicken.

This also speeds the time it takes to get the chicken you want.

I cook each side for about 5 minutes per side before putting on sauce. 

This sequence is important, if you put the sauce on too soon it burns off and you get charred meat.

Americans have mystical opinions about their sauces. I don’t —I used store-bought sauce. Sweet Baby Ray's Original is my family’s favorite.  

 Just so you know that I’m not a slacker, I have also made my own, which is fun, but if you have a big family like I do or a generally busy life, you may not have the time. Using store sauce is not a deal breaker — remember, you’re not being graded on this.   

There is a technique to applying the sauce. Just squeeze the sauce out and smooth it over the chicken with a spatula, but a grill brush is bettter. I didn’t have one with me, so lesson learned: don’t get caught in the wilderness without your grill brush!

Once I’ve applied the first coat of sauce to one side, I flip the chicken  and apply to the other side.  I cook each sauced side for about two minutes.

While the bird was cooking,  I put my corn in and made a little fresh tomato salad and then sat down to my favorite summer meal.

Now, here’s a really important thing to know. Boil the corn for no more or less than five minutes. if you cook it too long, you get corn mush on the cob. Too little, you get crunchy corn pebbles.

Fun fact: the plates in this post are a mix of the sets that Mr. Herr and I bought before we met in 1987, so practically vintage for a classic summer meal.   Can you guess which set was mine?

Enjoy!