BEST
SUMMER
EVER
HUFFINGTON
05.26.13
CRAIG GOLDWYN
LIFESTYLE
FOOD
easily surmounted if you know
how: If you use gloves, shovels, or
tongs, you need not ever handle
raw coals. If you keep the charcoal
dry and use a chimney, getting hot
coals is easy. If you push the coals
to one side of the grill and set up
a two-zone cooking environment,
fatty meats like chicken skin does
not drip on the coals and flare up,
and even if there are flareups, a
squirt gun can contain them. And
cleanup of ash is easier with some
of the one-touch grills or grills
that have removable ashtrays.
The most important part of any
cooking, indoor or out, is regulating heat. To do that you need a
reliable oven thermometer, and
a little know how that takes time
to acquire. Alas I have never seen
a charcoal grill with a really good
thermometer, and the thermometer is never mounted where it is
needed, near the meat. The temp
in the top of the dome can be very
different at meat level.
Since charcoal grills do not have
temperature dials to raise or lower
temp, it is important to learn how
to set up a two-zone fire, which
helps you regulate heat by moving
meat from the hot to the medium
zone, and learn how to control the
energy of the fire by closing off the
oxygen intake vents. They are your
temperature dials.
IN SHORT: Cooking with charcoal can
yield excellent results if you practice. The high heat is perfect for red
meats, and if you learn your instrument, it will reward you handsomely. It is not intuitive and brainless,
but there is little it cannot do when
you achieve mastery, Grasshopper.
Charcoal purists
are vehement and border
on snobbery. They who
would never ever never
own a gas grill.”
GAS: PROS AND CONS
Gas grills outsell charcoal grills,
and it is easy to understand why.
They offer convenience and control. Those two words alone could
cinch the argument.
They are easy to start, heat up
within 10-15 minutes, hold temperatures steadily, are easy to clean,
and can be configured for indirect
and multi-zone cooking. If it’s Tuesday and you need dinner ready in
L