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Charcoal Grills
On a charcoal grill the equipment does less and you do more, which is the appeal. Almost everything that separates a good charcoal cook from a frustrating one comes down to airflow control and how you arrange the fuel.
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Products
14
From
$119
Avg Price
$439
Brands
5
Buying Guide
How to choose charcoal grills
Vents are the temperature control
A charcoal grill has no thermostat: the intake vent below and the exhaust vent above are the throttle. A grill with well-fitting, easily adjusted vents and a tight-sealing lid holds a steady temperature; a loose, thin-walled one will not, whatever the price. Check the lid seal before anything else.
Lump charcoal or briquettes
Briquettes are uniform, burn predictably and are ideal when you want a long, steady temperature. Lump charcoal lights faster, burns hotter and cleaner, and leaves less ash, but its irregular pieces burn less evenly. Most people end up using briquettes for low-and-slow and lump for searing.
Two-zone cooking needs the space for it
The core charcoal technique is banking fuel to one side so you have a hot zone and a safe zone. A grill too small to make two zones forces everything over direct heat. This is the practical argument for a larger cooking area, more than the number of burgers it fits.
Ash management is a design feature
Ash smothers airflow from below, so it has to go somewhere. A one-touch sweep and a removable ash catcher turn cleanup into a few seconds; a kettle without one means tipping the whole grill. It sounds trivial and it decides whether you grill on a weeknight.
Skip the lighter fluid
A chimney starter lights coals faster than fluid, costs very little, and leaves no petroleum taste. It is the single cheapest upgrade to charcoal cooking and worth budgeting alongside the grill itself.
Charcoal grills have the fewest parts to fail of any type here, which is why well-made ones stay in service for decades: the consumables are grates and the occasional ash pan.
More depth: charcoal against gas and when grills actually go on sale.
Charcoal Grills
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you control temperature on a charcoal grill?+
With the vents and the fuel arrangement. Opening the bottom intake feeds the fire and raises the temperature; closing it down starves and cools it. The top exhaust vent controls draw through the grill and is normally left partly open. Banking the coals to one side creates a hot zone and a cooler zone so you can move food rather than change the fire.
Is lump charcoal better than briquettes?+
Different rather than better. Lump lights quickly, burns hotter and leaves less ash, which suits searing. Briquettes are uniform and burn at a steadier rate for longer, which suits low-and-slow. Neither imparts much flavour on its own: that comes from wood chunks and from the food.
How long does charcoal take to be ready?+
About fifteen to twenty minutes in a chimney starter, until the top coals are ashed over grey. Cooking before that point puts food over coals still off-gassing, which is where an acrid taste comes from. Lighter fluid needs a similar wait for the fluid to burn off entirely.