Old school charcoal grilling - Lockdown Day 41

I normally only grilled about once or twice a month before lockdown. However, my gas grill was put out to pasture a few months back.  I always meant to buy a new one, but to me it wasn't a necessity so I kept putting it off.  Now that I am spending all of my time at home, I've been getting the itch to start grilling more.  Unfortunately, I'm now furloughed, with no hope of accessing the busted and disgusted Florida unemployment system anytime soon, so I can't afford a new Grill whilst pinching my pennies.  However.. I did free up enough scrilla to buy a charcoal grill for under $20.00.  I ordered it at Wal Mart and they brought it out to me during my grocery pickup last week.

While I turned my nose up at char grilling years ago, I was kind of excited to try my hand at it once again.  My Dad spent hours teaching me the intricacies of how to properly grill from the time I was eight years old, so I was confident I could grill up a good meal for my family.  The biggest turn off to charcoal grills once I was an adult, ended up being the time it took to grill a meal.  Now that I've got nothing but time, this isn't a factor any longer and I'm excited to use some of my time to char-grill once again. So what meal did I chose to cook for my inaugural charcoal grill session?  Why.. the great American backyard BBQ staple, Hamburgers of course!

The new Grill working like a charm

All of the char-grilling techniques came back to me pretty quickly.  With no charcoal starter contraptions except lighter fluid, I knew the longest part of the whole process was going to be getting the coals ready.  I mounded the coals into a volcano looking structure, soaked them with lighter fluid, waited 5 minutes, and lit them up.  It was at about the 20 minute mark that I was sorry I skimped on the charcoal, buying a cheaper generic brand.

Never go cheap on your charcoal
My Dad always told me to buy Kingsford charcoal, and I now see why.  It wasn't hard to get the charcoal glowing red and white on the inside of my volcano tower, but the briquettes were incredibly stingy about sharing and distributing their heat with their neighbors.  My bride had some hand held bamboo fans on the patio, so I grabbed one and fanned the coals for about ten minutes until my arm felt like it was going to fall off.

Once the charcoal briquettes were flaming red and glowing white hot, I spread them out and let them alone for about five minutes.  I then closed up the grill, letting the heat sterilize the cooking surface.  I was pleased to see I poured out exactly the right amount of charcoal to cook up a dozen burgers.  That is just something that comes back to you like muscle memory.  I know a lot of folks that hate char grilling because they say it's too easy to burn your food.  I would agree with that statement IF.. you walk away and don't pay attention to what you're doing.  My Old Man always said.. "Grilling is all about patience" and this is so very true. If you're rushed, irritated, or not 100% invested in what you're doing, your meal will probably at least be sub par.

I remember my Dad grilling only on weekends.  He would work hard all week, and it truly was a type of therapy for him.  He was in his element, he was a master, and it truly brought him joy to prepare any type of meal for us on the grill.  If we were eating dinner at 5:00, he would begin his process at 3:00.  He would start by pulling out the grill and cleaning it up.  He would then arrange all of the charcoal, allowing for proper airflow.  A trick he used was to grab small thin pieces of wood scraps from his wood shop in the garage, strategically separating the charcoal layer by layer.  I remember not being able to walk anywhere near that towering inferno of charcoal for fear of singing the eyebrows off of my face.

Finally, he would spread the charcoal out evenly and would tell me.. "It's still not ready yet.  You need to let it sit for awhile so the insides of the charcoal get hot too.  If only the outside of the charcoal is white, they will go out and get cold when the grease and juices from the meat start dripping on them".  In the meantime, he would carefully prepare the meat, sprinkling it with Lawry's seasoned salt and other spices.  When the meat was finally cooked he'd tell me "We're not done yet!  We need to let the meat rest and clean the grill up.  Let the heat do the work for you! Scrape and brush your grill before the charcoal cools down".


One year around the 4th of July, I had a Black Cat firecracker that ended up being a dud.  The fuse disappeared into the firecracker, but it never exploded.  I decided to throw it into the pile of hot charcoal thinking it would immediately pop off.  At least a minute had passed and it didn't blow up, so I assumed it was an all out dud.  My Dad then came out to check on the coals, and the firecracker finally blew up, spitting coal and ashes straight up into the air.  I thought for sure I was going to get in major trouble, but my Old Man jumped back and said "Hmm.. one of those pieces of pine must have had a lot of water in it".  I never did tell him it was a firecracker, but maybe I will one of these days.  He'd probably get a kick out of it.. now.

Yes, char-grilling is definitely a bit time consuming compared to gas grilling, but I must admit, the meat has a totally different taste.  The burgers I made on my new charcoal grill were possibly the best tasting hamburgers I've ever grilled.  I didn't do anything fancy either.  I just rubbed the patties with garlic salt and sprinkled them with Worcestershire sauce before grilling them up.  In the end, I threw some quality cheddar slices on each patty during their last minute on the grill.  My family raved about them, and that made me happier than all get out.

It does take more time to char-grill, but the whole process makes me slow down and focus on what I'm doing.  The satisfaction I get out of crafting an incredible meal is great, and everything about it to me is very calming.  The walk down memory lane it provided me was priceless, and I can't wait to charcoal grill once again.