DJ Barbecues' tips for cooking over fire and with coal

A barbecue is all about the smokey flavours the food gets after cooking atop coals – something gas doesn't give. Coals are the essence of cooking outdoors, so here's what you need to know to get it right

People often ask me the same question, ‘Charcoal or gas?’ My response is normally, ‘What’s the point in going outdoors if you’re cooking on gas? There’s a perfectly good gas burner in your kitchen.’ BBQ starts with fuel: that means lump wood charcoal (which I also call coals or charcoal), seasoned wood chunks, and even charcoal briquettes. Learning about fuel is the best place to start…

As a child, I learned how to cook BBQ on my dad’s gas grill. But, as soon as I fled the nest at the tender age of 18, I bought my first proper cooker, a Weber 18-Inch Kettle. My life in BBQ changed forever. Then I bought three Lang offset firebox cookers and things got really exciting. Then I met the premier charcoal maker from the UK, Matt Williams of Oxford Charcoal Company, who has spent over 25 years working with wood – 20 years as a thatcher and seven as a charcoal maker.

Matt tours with the DJ BBQ crew on the summer festival circuit and we cook on his fuel and learn what his fuel does to our BBQ – essentially, amazing things!

The beauty of charcoal

Charcoal gives off a radiant heat that is more controllable than almost anything. It can be used to smelt iron, slow-cook a brisket or grill a steak. The only difference is airflow. The temperature is regulated entirely by the amount of oxygen you give the charcoal. This is the reason why people have been making wood into charcoal for over 30,000 years. Without it, we couldn’t have had the bronze age, or the iron age – and you wouldn’t have an iPhone. It’s the original industrial fuel and it’s one of the most controllable fuels you will cook on.

But you need to get to know your fuel if you’re going to cook your food on it.

Most charcoal bought from the high street will be made from unsustainable wood, be mixed species and contain other things apart from wood (David Loftus)

One of the reasons many people opt for gas over charcoal is that people claim they can cook straight away on gas compared with charcoal. I tell them, ‘I can have hot coals quicker than you can preheat your gas grill.’

Fact. I will have a hotter heat using proper charcoal within six minutes – and that’s five minutes faster than a gas grill.

What is charcoal?

Charcoal is the product of thermal destructive distillation of anything that used to be alive. You can make charcoal out of many different things, from bones to cow manure. We generally use wood – although we have experimented. We’ve made decent charcoal from the blade bones from pork shoulder, but you need a lot of them to really get things cooking.

The thermal destructive distillation process uses heat to break apart all the components of wood. This form of distillation changes solid matter into vapours and gases (wood smoke).

Only the underlying carbon structure will survive this process, so what you’re left with is lump wood charcoal. Wood would usually catch fire when heated, but when you take away the oxygen in order to allow combustion, it will only produce smoke. So to efficiently make charcoal, one needs to heat the wood but also starve it of oxygen.

Single species vs mixed-species charcoal

The beauty of a single species charcoal is the clarity of flavour. Each species will have a subtle influence on the flavour of your BBQ. The sweet nuttiness of chestnut charcoal lends itself to white meats and fish, while the darker, heavier flavour of wild cherry charcoal will stand up against a stronger flavoured meat, like venison. Experiment and you’ll find your own favourites, and begin using charcoal as an ingredient.

Flavour is a great bonus from using a single species but the real advantage is the controllability. All well made charcoal will have the same amount of energy per kilogram; what makes the difference is the structure of the charcoal. Oak charcoal has an open structure and burns fast and hot. Birch charcoal has a very closed and compact structure so it burns slowly and at a lower temperature. Beech charcoal is a lovely consistent charcoal – it burns well and is great for keeping the fire low and slow. That is the beauty of a single species charcoal: once you get to understand how it burns, it’s easier to control your cooking temperature.

When you cook on mixed-species charcoal, you will lose a bit of that predictability and controllability, as the charcoal may burn a little hotter in places and a little cooler in others. The main thing to remember is controlling the airflow into your cooker. With a little thought, you should be able to keep your charcoal burning at the required temperature.

Shop-bought charcoal

Most charcoal bought from the high street will be made from unsustainable wood. It will probably be mixed species and may contain other ingredients apart from wood. It will burn differently from bag to bag, and you may even find that it smells of more like paraffin than wood when it’s burning. This is often due to chemicals added to the charcoal in an attempt to make it burn better. These chemicals will taint your food and make the whole experience unpleasant. To tell you the truth, If my only choice of fuel is charcoal covered in instant lighting paraffin, then I’d opt for a gas grill.

Try to use a local sustainable charcoal supplier.

DJ BBQ, aka Christian Stevenson says charcoal is the only way: it's faster, tastier and better (David Loftus)

Search out your local charcoal-makers and wood suppliers. Ask where the fuel has come from and who has made the charcoal. Here in the UK, you can look for the ‘Grown in Britain’ symbol, which means the product has been sustainably harvested. Not only will you reduce your carbon footprint, but you can achieve better results in your cookouts.

Seasoning the grill

The best way to season a new grill is to get a fire going – a solid heat (200ºC/400ºF). Then spray vegetable oil inside the lid and on the grill. Let the heat cook the oil in for at least an hour. And the best way to keep it seasoned? Cook on it!

Cleaning the grill

Once you have a well seasoned grill, you can use a lemon, onion or some type of acid like vinegar to clean it. Cut a lemon in half and rub it on the grill. Easy.

How to light your charcoal

The ultimate way to get your cooker going is with the help of a chimney starter – it’s cheap, easy to buy and will revolutionise your cookouts.

It is basically an open-ended cylinder with a wire grate inside that allows you to precook your coals before they hit the cooker. If you’re adding more fuel mid-cook, a chimney starter is a good way to maintain a consistent temperature (as you’re adding cooked coals).

To get it going, start by placing the chimney starter on the grill (if you’re getting top-up fuel ready, make sure the chimney starter is on a fireproof surface. I usually place it on bricks).

Next, fill the hollow chamber with some good charcoal. Take two sheets of newspaper and scrunch them up and place underneath the chimney grate (you can use any natural lighter or kindling). Set fire to the paper, and once the top coals glow red, pour the whole lot into your cooker. Then lay them out in the way required for the technique specified for your recipe. This is a good time to add a couple of chunks of seasoned wood. You can also use fire bricks to help build a reservoir of heat. Place one or two next to the fire. If the fire gets too hot, the bricks will absorb some of the heat; they will also store heat and keep a cook more consistent.

If you don’t have a chimney starter, the best way to build a fire is to use the teepee method. Place scrunched up newspaper, natural fire lighters or kindling in the middle of the base, build a circle of charcoal around it and get it flaming. When it gets going, add coals on top, building the teepee. Don’t pack it too tight or prod it – leave gaps to allow oxygen to reach the fuel, and avoid disrupting the airflow. Once the teepee is glowing, add more coals.

Fire Food: The Ultimate BBQ Cookbook by DJ BBQ (Quadrille, £15) Photography © David Loftus