Barbecues; charcoal, lighting and longevity.

Emp_Fab

I use only lumpwood charcoal and light it with a chimney thing. I'm not a huge fan of briquettes as I have no idea of what they're glued together with.  Having said that, I have no idea where my lumpwood charcoal is coming from; for all I know they could be from barrels of insecticide!

Anyhow...  I'm having problems....  I light the charcoal with the chimney and by the time the flames are visible out of the top (the supposedly 'ready' point), 70% of the stuff is burning bright orange within the chimney.

Empty the coals and start to cook.  Here's the problem...  I'll get 20 mins at most from this point before the coals are mostly ash and much cooler.  This isn't enough time.

What am I doing wrong?

Anyone suggesting using gas will be ignored for the uncivilised oafs that they are. 

Adam_MD

I'd say you're letting it go too long in the chimney how long does it usually take to get to what you're calling 'ready'?

hywelg

I thought they were just starter devices. Scatter the red hot coals on the BBQ and add more lumpwood.  Have a beer whole you wait for the new coals to get hot 

FX_Munkee

And that's why I use briquettes.

strumjoughlamps

Weber briquettes, well worth the money.

thread over

fastonebaz

Briquettes are denser and burn slower lasting longer

Winny_Pooh

I never use a chimney, just stack charcoal on 1/3 pack firelighters. I start cooking once they stop flaming (need to blow or fan air to get them there first occasionally) and have been flattened to make a bed. What is vital is having an adjustable height grill so you can cook and drop the height as the coals cool. If you have more than 4 eaters you can add coal halfway. 

Fixed height grills suck.

RandallFlagg

Yep briquettes for the win, I get plenty of heat and duration if I add enough and get the food on slightly ahead of them being all white

Gulliver

I use lumpwood and a chimney too - I only leave the charcoal in the chimney for ~15 minutes, then transfer to the cooking space, and add more if required.  I wouldn't expect to see flames out the top

Emp_Fab

Thanking you all bigly.  I shall try briquettes next time and adopt the slower-start method.

exocet

Weber briquettes burn for far longer than others types that I've used.

FX_Munkee

Just for reference I use decent briquettes and a chimney. When the top biquettes are about "half grey" I transfer to the BBQ. I get about 20mins + cooking time from that.

shaunyshaun1234

strumjoughlamps said:

Weber briquettes, well worth the money.

thread over

This in buckets!!

I saw them in the shop and and thought 'christ. thats pricey'. Than after a few years of buying lumpwood buy the lorry laod, I purchased a pack. 

They will burn for a couple of hours and if you only use them for an hour, you can close the vents on the BBQ and relight the coals next time you have a barbie. 

Really are worth the money! 

rlw

the gas hob was invented for a bloody good reason...........................

shaunyshaun1234

FX_Munkee said:

Just for reference I use decent briquettes and a chimney. When the top biquettes are about "half grey" I transfer to the BBQ. I get about 20mins + cooking time from that.

I don't get how you only get 20 odd minutes from briquettes?

I can cook a whole chicken (approx 40 mins) and then do a "normal" BBQ after. So I get well over an hour without even trying! 

thomasw88

I used Big K charcoal and the chimney.  I tend to leave the starter on for a good 40 minutes.  you don't want to start cooking until the coal all has a layer of dust on it really.  I don't like briquettes really as I always thought they used a bunch of chemicals in their as well and the food doesn't seem to taste as nice (could be psychological)

I've just bought a 20kg of kameeldoring african wood which is meant to be the mutts nuts for BBQ  Not sure I'll be using a chimney with it tho.

Adam_MD

thomasw88 said:

I used Big K charcoal and the chimney.  I tend to leave the starter on for a good 40 minutes.  you don't want to start cooking until the coal all has a layer of dust on it really.  I don't like briquettes really as I always thought they used a bunch of chemicals in their as well and the food doesn't seem to taste as nice (could be psychological)

I've just bought a 20kg of kameeldoring african wood which is meant to be the mutts nuts for BBQ  Not sure I'll be using a chimney with it tho.

You only need to let the briquettes ash over before you start cooking because they have chemicals added that doesn’t apply with charcoal.  

Ive been buying locally produced charcoal and have hot coals ready to use in about 8 mins with a chimney starter.  When I was using charcoal bought from a supermarket it would take 15 to 20 to get them hot enough to use.  

kjdowd

If you cook on the BBQ a lot I heartily recommend investing in a Big Green Egg. Pricey but worth it. Absolutely no hassle to light and keep going and the results are amazing. 

ToneControl

cook the food ON the chimney:

strumjoughlamps

I BBQ pretty much all year round, I have a Weber charcoal and Outback gas, I use the gas instead of cooking indoors.

Sunday was chilli and bread, bloody lush it was.

shaunyshaun1234

strumjoughlamps said:

I BBQ pretty much all year round, I have a Weber charcoal and Outback gas, I use the gas instead of cooking indoors.

Sunday was chilli and bread, bloody lush it was.

Bread looks good!! What's the recipe and how long does it take to cook?