Charcoal Grill

If you are a fan of using a charcoal grill to do your barbequing, you are not alone. Many people swear by charcoal, and for good reason. Charcoal has a history that is much longer than that of gas, and it has a loyal following of purists that rivals that of any cooking technique. So why is there all this hoop la about a silly old grill? The simple answer is tradition.
Charcoal has been made by humanity for many centuries. The process that produces charcoal is called pyrolysis. It refers to the chemical decomposition of a compressed substance via heat. In the case of charcoal, the substance is wood. Everyone knows that wood burns, but it also burns to ash, so where does charcoal fit into that equation. Charcoal is what is left behind when wood is heated in the absence of oxygen. It is carbonized, but not reduced to ash. What is left behind has all the moisture removed from it, and will burn at a high temperature with much less start up time than regular wood.

The first uses of charcoal were home heating, it was not until much later that charcoal was used to grill. In fact, until rampant deforestation caused charcoal to fall out of favor as a heat source, it was a major industry in Europe and Asia. Long after it ceased being used to heat homes, charcoal is still used to cook food. This is because charcoal has a consistent flame and a high heat. This means that via careful positioning of the coals you can achieve just about any temperature and intensity that you desire in a charcoal grill.

If you want to cook hamburgers, you make a big pile of coals and spread it out directly underneath the grate. The grates on most charcoal grills are adjustable, so you lower the grate to just over the coals and the intense flames will sear your burgers the way cooking ground beef requires. but say you want to cook a rump roast, what then?

Again, a charcoal grill can rise to the occasion. You spread the coals around the outside of the grill box, and have a rotisserie that holds the meat half a foot or more from the coals. The indirect heat will loosen the tightly knit fibers within the roast, unlocking not only the nutrients, but the flavor that’s locked within them. This method won’t net you dinner in half an hour, but it will be a meal worth the wait.
One of the greatest assets of a charcoal grill is just the versatility shown by the ability to cook meats with widely different cooking requirements with equal ease. Advocates of barbequing, versus grilling, will tell you that charcoal provides just the kind of low, indirect heat that barbeque requires to be truly authentic. While other appliances can mimic the technique, it was a charcoal grill that started it, and for truly authentic barbeque, you just need to go with the original.