Direct cooking
Direct cooking is what most BBQ cooks will be familiar with. Simply cooking on the grill over embers. But don’t let the simplicity fool you. Direct cooking can be a tricky thing to master. We’ve all burned a sausage and undercooked a steak before. The key is not over-loading the BBQ with charcoal and rushing the cooking process. It is a work of art and you need patience to wait for the initial heat to die back and allow the charcoal to ash over just slightly before cooking.
How to set up for direct cooking
- Remove the lid and grill.
- Open the bottom vent.
- Place one or two natural firelighters onto the lower grill, then light with a lighter or blow torch.
- Then place a loaded chimney starter with HoC lump and place over the burning fire lighters, leave for 10 minutes for the flames and air to take within the starter chimney.
- Once the charcoal in the chimney is burning nicely, with protective gloves, tip the contents of the chimney onto the lower griddle. Next with a charcoal rake, spread the charcoal out to create an even layer (or offset if you want indirect cooking).
- Depending on the size of your barbecue you may need to add more charcoal. It shouldn’t be a heaped amount, otherwise you will be waiting longer to cook. You are better off topping up as you cook rather than overloading. A little goes a long way!
- The charcoal will take a few minutes to settle, you are looking for the flames to die back a little with a light glow to the embers and let them do their thing.
