5 Mistakes Beginners Make When Using Charcoal

i put together a list of five mistakes that beginners make when using charcoal but before we get into them let me know in the comments where you think you're struggling or where you think you might be able to use a little help when it comes to using a charcoal grill so let's dig in

mistake number one using lighter fluid don't do it when i first started using a grill i would use lighter fluid or i would buy the charcoal that's already pre-soaked in lighter fluid and you get the same results every single time the food ends up tasting just like the lighter fluid nobody wants to eat lighter fluid so get

yourself a chimney these are inexpensive and when you make the purchase you'll be able to use the same one for years and years mistake number two is not allowing the charcoal to become fully ignited before you put it onto the grill if you're using a chimney the charcoal will start lighting from the bottom up

so how do you know when it's ready you want to look at it and when all of the charcoal is completely iced over it's ready to put on the grill you'll get better results if you'll wait and just give it a few minutes it usually takes 20 to 25 minutes for a full chimney of

charcoal to become ignited mistake number three is not cooking with zones when i first started i would pour all the charcoal out just spread it evenly on the bottom of the grill but when you do that you don't have a cool zone or what you could call a safe zone you need different zones you need a cool area and

you need a hot area that way one if you're going to put a sear on and cook it indirectly you can move it to the other side and two you're going to have flower ups and you'll be able to move the food over away from the flames and get it in what you call a safe zone for