How To Control Temperature On Charcoal Grill

When it comes to smoked meats, 225 is the magic number—well, 225°F, that is. That's the sweet spot of your grill, the temperature that, with a petty finessing and some patience, yields tender, juicy, pulls-apart-without-even-trying barbecued meat. The problem is, nigh backyard barbecuers breeze past that special temperature zone, creating meat that'due south scorched and tough rather than tender and smoky.

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And information technology's no wonder. When you lot're using a charcoal grill, the temperature tin can easily fluctuate over the hours that it takes to slow-fume your meat to tenderness. But never fear: In that location are a few simple tricks to maintaining your grill at the ideal temperature—here'south how to go on your charcoal grill at a perfect 225°F.

i. Invest in a good temperature probe

To continue your grill stable at 225°F, you lot're going to have to keep an eye on the temperature. Most born grill thermometers are notoriously inaccurate, so Chris Morocco, senior food editor at Bon Appétit and grilling enthusiast, recommends an air probe, which tracks the ambient temperature within of the grill with admirable accuracy. This is how you'll exist able to gauge the changes that happen when you adjust the airflow and the fuel. Be certain to ready the air probe close to where the food is located (in the middle of the cooking area on the indirect heat side—come across Step 3) and then you can get a articulate sense of how hot it is.

2. Lite charcoal for fuel

Use a chimney starter to light charcoal briquets for your grill evenly and safely. They're ready to add together to the grill when they're covered with grey ash, which will take nigh fifteen minutes.

iii. Open the dampers

Oxygen is one of the ii fuels that your grill uses (wood and/or charcoal is the other—more than on that below), so controlling the intake of oxygen through the grill'due south vents is a uncomplicated way to control your grill'southward temperature. Well-nigh all grills accept both an "intake damper" (located almost the charcoal or wood) and an "frazzle damper" (located at the top of the grill lid, or as indicated in your grill'southward User's Transmission). Set both dampers so they're fully open earlier calculation the fuel—y'all'll adjust the intake damper subsequently, after the grill heats upwardly.

Two-zone grilling sounds fancy, but information technology couldn't exist easier to set up.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Dawn Perry

iv. Fix a 2-Zone Grill

Unlike smokers, charcoal grills need a special set-upwards to create the depression cooking temperatures that create true charcoal-broil. Luckily, setting up a two-zone grill is elementary to do: When transferring lit dress-down into the grill, pile them on i side of the grill only. Afterward setting up the top grill grates, you'll identify your food on the opposite side of the grill, where it'll tiresome-cook through indirect heat, keeping the grill covered to maintain an even, low temperature.

v. Conform the vent as needed

BBQ expert Meathead Goldwyn suggests leaving the exhaust damper open up all the way throughout the grilling process, and decision-making the temperature by adjusting the intake damper. Equally he points out on his website, "Playing with both vents at in one case is like trying to control the speed of your machine by using both the gas pedal and the brake at once."

Starting time, take a reading on your thermometer about five minutes after adding the lit charcoals to one side of the grill. If the temperature has exceeded that 225°F sweet spot (and it probably has), information technology'southward time to partially shut the intake damper, reducing the amount of oxygen and tamping down the heat of the grill. Every 5 minutes, bank check on the temperature and take note of where it stabilizes. Likewise depression? Open up the intake damper a chip. Too high, close the intake damper a fleck more. Presently, you'll discover the ideal range of notches on your intake damper that reliably deliver 225°F under most circumstances.

6. Monitor the fuel

Subsequently a few hours, the temperature volition probably lower than 225°F as your charcoal burns downward, even when yous open up up the intake damper a bit more to recoup. Now'south the fourth dimension to replenish the fuel a flake. You have ii options: