Getting the Most from a Charcoal Barbecue

To get the best results from a charcoal barbecue, you need to get it up to a really good temperature well before you start cooking – if your barbecue get-together starts at 6, for example, light the barbecue at 5.30. It’s worth lightly oiling the grill, too, to avoid food sticking (use vegetable oil for this, not olive oil). To get the barbecue going, put the charcoal into it and pile it into a pyramid shape, inserting charcoal firelighters at the base. Light, then wait for about 30 minutes; after this time, the centre of your pyramid should be glowing, and the charcoal taking on a greyish tinge around the edges, but it’s not quite ready to cook on yet. Using a barbecue tool, gently rake the charcoal down from its pyramid, spreading it out (but not too thinly – if you leave a small area of the grate uncovered, you will have a cooler part of the grill to move food to, should you need to). Be patient, and wait a little longer until the charcoal is grey, or covered in ash; as soon as it reaches this stage, you can start sizzling!