Barbecue Charcoal - Cook Low, Slow and Yum Food

The most favorite fuel for backyard grilling is charcoal. Charcoal is made by heating wood in the absence of oxygen. The primary formula of development charcoal was to set fire to a pile of wood and then cover it with dirt and allowing it to simmer.

Today's grilling fuel is processed charcoal briquettes. These miniature molded pieces of fuel are made with wood and a clay binder. Many purists dislike synthetic binder charcoal. Pure wood charcoal is also available. It comes in chunks rather being molded into briquettes.

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The great thing in cooking in barbecue charcoal is cooking low and slow. The meat cooked in barbecue charcoal is so tender that it falls apart and the taste drives citizen crazy. The incommunicable is that one should keep a close eye on the fire and have some patience.

Barbecue aficionados prefer charcoal over gas (propane) for the authentic flavor that coal provides. Barbecuing with charcoal is the best way for cooking burgers, steak, chicken or anyone over open fire. It adds flavor to the dish.

Careful attention should be paid while lighting the coals. There are a number of ways to start the fire. A charcoal chimney starter is a primary formula for getting a consistent heat from the coals.

Another tasteless formula is to soak the charcoal with aliphatic petroleum solvent or pretreated briquettes and light them in a pyramid formation.

The most favorite formula is to stack the charcoal in a neat pile and saturate it with charcoal lighting fluid, allowing it to decide for a incorporate of minutes and then applying the match. Charcoal lighting fluid is naphtha, a fairly clean burning fuel. It has a petroleum taste when burnt.

Another formula is to use an galvanic iron to heat the coals. There are electrical charcoal lighting devices, with packaging that stack charcoal on top of a sheet of crumpled newspaper and use the newspaper to start the coals glowing. A small propane torch can also be used to fire the coals. anyone the methods may be, still one can enjoy the smoky taste afforded by the hot coals.

After the coals are ashed, they can be spread colse to the perimeter of the grill with the meat located in the center for indirect cooking, or piled together for direct cooking. Water-soaked wood chips of mesquite, cherry, hickory or fruit trees can be added to the coals for flavor. In wood barbecuing, the temperature of the grill is controlled by the number and distribution of coal within the grill and through rigorous venting.

Charcoal is uncostly to buy and is more convenient to use in portable barbecues that can be carried along in any holiday excursions.

Barbecue charcoal grills can be problematic in two ways. First, the charcoal can yield hydrocarbons and tiny soot particles that pollute the air which can aggravate heart and lung problems. Second, when the fat from the meat drips onto the charcoal, polycyclic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines form which are carcinogenic compounds that yield cancer.

It is safer to buy charcoals certified by the Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood agenda which are 100 percent oak hardwood that are sustainably harvested and contains no coal, oil, limestone, starch, sawdust or petroleum products. Get the best charcoal and make your charcoal grilling fun.

Barbecue Charcoal - Cook Low, Slow and Yum Food