Charcoal Grills

Fuel and food share one chamber in a charcoal grill, with glowing coal radiating heat straight up at the grate and no burner in between. That unblocked radiant heat is why food browns harder here than over gas at the same reading.

Air is the only control you have. A vent under the bowl decides how fast fuel burns and a vent in the lid pulls the draft up through the chamber. Both take ten to twenty minutes to change anything, so you plan ahead instead of adjusting. A chimney starter, a metal cylinder you fill with coals over lit newspaper, brings a load to ash gray in 20 to 30 minutes with no lighter fluid and none of its taste. Briquettes burn evenly for about an hour, while lump hardwood burns hotter, past 700 degrees, and far less predictably. Bank the coals against one side and you have the two zone fire that cooks a thick cut through.

Kamado grills burn the same fuel inside thick ceramic, which buys long steady low cooks and 200 pounds of weight. Offset smokers move the fire out into a separate box for a twelve hour session. Gas gives you ten minute weeknights and less flavor. A 22 inch kettle sits below all of them on price and still does both jobs.

Weekend cooks who like the ritual get the most out of one, and a 22 inch round grate at roughly 360 square inches feeds six with room to spare. Renters should read the code first, since charcoal is the fuel most often banned outright on balconies. Anyone who needs to eat at 6:45 on a Tuesday should look elsewhere, because coals will not be ready.

Prefer a bowl with porcelain enamel fired inside and out, dampers that slide without sticking, an ash catcher that seals shut, and a hinged grate you can lift to add coals mid cook. Dump ash after every session, since ash traps moisture against the bowl and rusts it from the bottom up, and hold used coals for 48 hours before they go into a covered metal can.