Amateur Gardening – 20 July 2019

42 AMATEUR GARDENING 20 JULY 2019

B

UILD a fire, cook food. It’s no
surprise that men are keen on
barbecues – there’s something
very caveman about them. The
real pleasure is to be had from cooking
on glowing charcoal or wood embers,
but firing up takes a little effort.
Though some charcoal barbecues
have a few bells and whistles, most are
a simple metal bowl or box on legs with
an ashtray at the base and a food grill
above. Good ones will have a cover to
trap heat and smoke food while it cooks.
I use a Smokey Joe barbecue from
Weber. First, consider the charcoal fuel.

Charcoal choice
Lump charcoal, basically chunks of
carbonised wood, lights quickly and
burns quickly – great for fast-cook meat
such as burgers, sausages and kebabs.
Charcoal briquettes are made from
compressed powdered charcoal. They
burn steadily and slowly at a constant
temperature, so are good for roasting
bigger cuts of meat. If you’re using
briquettes, 20 lumps will be plenty for
grilling sausages, burgers and chicken
skewers. For cooking bigger pieces of
meat or bone-in meat you need to cook
longer and slower, so you’ll need more.

Right way to light it up
To light a charcoal barbecue, remove the
cooking grill, place a barbecue lighter in
the base, pile a few charcoal lumps or
briquettes over it and light it. Once it’s
flaming well, place a little charcoal on top
and around the sides. Wait 10 minutes
then pile on the rest of the charcoal and

Charcoal barbecues

Best techniques to get the job right with Tim Rumball

How to use tools

leave until it’s glowing and white with

ash – around 15 to 20 minutes. Rake

the glowing charcoal into an even layer

over the base of the barbecue, then

replace the grill.

Using a charcoal chimney

A barbecue charcoal chimney makes

lighting easier. Put charcoal in the top,

place a lighter tablet on the barbecue

grill, light it and stand the chimney over

it. Leave it for about 15 minutes until the

charcoal is red-hot and ashing over,

then tip it into the base of the barbecue

and replace the grill. Once the

barbecue is hot, remove muck from the

grill rails with a clean, wet rag wrapped

around the end of a wooden spatula,

before placing food on the grill.

It shouldn’t be necessary, but you

can add more charcoal as it burns

down if you need more cooking time.

However, you’ll have to wait while it

heats through. It’s best to start fresh

charcoal in a chimney away from the

barbecue and add it when it is glowing,

so you can keep cooking.

Using firewood as a heat source

If you are cooking over logs on a fire

bowl or chiminea fitted with a barbecue

grill, only burn well-seasoned firewood

logs. Bits of old building timber and

the like, while cheap or even free, may

have been treated with chemicals that

will be released when burned and

could be dangerous. Again, don’t start

cooking until the flames die down and

you have glowing red ash.

Direct cooking straight over the hot

coals is the usual way to barbecue. This

sears meat and seals in flavour, so is

great for sausages, burgers, chicken

skewers and similar. Indirect cooking

involves piling coals to one side or

either side to create a cooler area for

longer, slower cooking. Using the

cooler area will also help to prevent fat

flare-ups, as will not overcrowding the

grill with fatty meats such as sausages.

Best way to cook meat

Let meat warm to room temperature

before putting it on the grill so it cooks

through evenly. When cooking larger

pieces of meat, keep the heat low and

cook for a lot longer, checking the

Barbecuing is a joy of the summer garden. Tim Rumball explains how to get it right

internal temperature of the meat using a

meat probe thermometer. Rest meat for

several minutes after cooking to make

it more tender. Oak, hickory and apple

wood chips, available from barbecue

suppliers, can be used to smoke meat

on the barbecue, adding lots of flavour.

They work best if your barbecue has a

cover. Soak chips in water before adding

to the fire so they burn slower.

Best way to cook veg

Vegetables benefit from barbecue

cooking, too. Sweetcorn, peppers,

asparagus and courgettes are obvious

choices with good texture and great

flavour. Cut peppers in half and deseed,

cut courgettes in half or quarters

longways. Brush on melted butter,

splash on a little balsamic vinegar and

grill. Sweetcorn takes longest – about

15 minutes – a lot less for peppers,

asparagus and courgettes. Many other

vegetables will barbecue – even lettuce

(cut little gem into quarters top to

bottom, brush with oil and sear quickly)

and sweet potato (peel, slice thickly,

brush with oil and barbecue slowly).

Keep it safe

Keep a first-aid kit and fire blanket handy

just in case of any problems, burns or

cuts. And keep children and pets well

away from the barbecue area.

Follow the rules and you can enjoy the

delights of outdoor barbecue cooking

Pile the coals on either side for

indirect, longer, slow cooking