How to Control Heat on a Charcoal Grill

Have you ever been grilling or cooking to find out after an hour that your food isn’t being cooked fast enough or come back to it being burnt because of temperature issues? Do you understand how to control the temperature of your charcoal grill to ensure your food cooks to perfection?

We have had some of these issues in the past. Therefore, we have come up with some helpful information on how to control the temperature of your charcoal grill.

Four Ways of Controlling Heat in A Charcoal Grill

There are many techniques that people can choose to help maintain the temperature in their charcoal grill, but there are four techniques that are recommended for the best situations.

Adjust Your Grill Vents By Decreasing or Increasing Airflow

Many people get confused about airflow when grilling because different types of grills require different techniques. For instance, with a gas grill, the more airflow the cooler the grill will be.

However, charcoal grills are the exact opposite. You want more airflow in a charcoal grill because it will make the grill hotter.

You do this by opening vents on a charcoal grill to help increase airflow.

There are two main thoughts when it comes to airflow:

Although both of these ideas can be used, the first one is recommended by most grilling professionals because it is easier to get an accurate read on the temperature.

However, regardless of the way you choose, you need to make sure that you never fully close the exhaust damper that is found on top of the grill because gases and smoke do need to be able to escape.

Use a Grill Shield to Help Lower the Grill’s Temperature

Sometimes you realize that your food is grilling faster than you need to, and at this point, you will need to lower the grill’s temperature. Creating a grill shield is a simple way to do this.

To do this, you will need aluminum foil. Then you will fold it over a time or two before slipping it under the food that you are worried about burning.

Adjusting the Distance Between the Coals and Your Food

The closer your food is to the actual coals the hotter the grill will be. Therefore, If you realize that your food is cooking too slow, you can position your food to be closer to the coal, but if your food is cooking too fast, you will want to put some distance between the food and the coals to help reduce the amount of heat that the food is receiving.

Build a Two-Zone Fire

You can have one of the best charcoal grills, on the market, but knowing how to control the heat of your grill is important.

Building a two-zone fire can help to create a cooler zone for food that needs longer to cook thoroughly. How do you build a two-zone fire? Here are a few steps to follow to do this technique correctly:

This will help with indirect and direct grilling because you never know what will happen during your grilling session. Having a two-zone fire will allow you to maneuver between indirect and direct cooking as you see fit.

Factors to Keep in Mind While Charcoal Grilling

Just like with any type of cooking, it is imperative to keep several factors in your mind to help ensure the best results possible. Here are a few factors that you need to keep in mind when charcoal grilling to help ensure that you can properly control the grill’s temperature.

Don’t Get Trigger Happy with Vent Adjusting

Although adjusting your grill’s vents is an important aspect of properly grilling, you do not want to overdo it. Before you start fiddling with the air vents to help control the temperature, you want to aim for the grill to have a stable temperature for at least twenty to thirty minutes.

After all, you cannot adjust the temperature properly if you do not have an accurate read on the temperature you are starting at.

Once you have adjusted the airflow, you want to wait for around twenty minutes to see the change in temperature that you have adjusted.

However, it is important to know your grill and once you do, adjusting the airflow of your vents will be easier for different situations.

Indirect Cooking vs Direct Cooking

Many people do not realize that it is possible to indirectly and direct cook on a charcoal grill, but they need to be approached differently. It is all based on preference, but you should know the differences between these two forms of cooking to know which one will best fit your methods.

Although it is possible to slow cook something over direct heat, it is still recommended to use indirect cooking for slower meals.

Final Thoughts On Controlling Temperature on a Charcoal Grill

It is important to understand that charcoal grills can cook more than just burgers and steaks. However, you must know your grill and its limitations. Regardless of your techniques knowing how to control the temperature of your charcoal grill might be different than your friend’s grill.

We hope that the information provided above can help you to get a better understanding of how to control the temperature of your charcoal grill, but we are not perfect.

If you have any secret techniques that you use, please let us know because we are always looking for new and helpful information and grilling techniques.