I'm Just Here for the Food_ Version 2.0 - Alton Brown [19]
To make a long story short, now I lay a sheet of newspaper on the ground, mist it with vegetable oil, wad it up, and stick it under my grill’s charcoal grate. I pile on the charcoal, then light the paper through one of the air vents with my pocket torch. It never, ever fails—or at least it hasn’t yet.
I still keep a couple of chimney starters around for those times I need to have some charcoal lit before adding it to the fire or have a filet or hunk of tuna to sear (see illustration, left). Other than that, I’ve gone to the oil-on-paper method, which is a lot cleaner and a lot less dangerous.10
The Grill
There was a time when I did not own a gas grill. It is not that I had anything against natural gas as a fuel (even if it does burn a little wet), it’s just that the only gas grills I’d seen that are worth a darn cost more than my first three cars put together. Gas grilling is really just upside-down broiling and the only major advantage that this kind of cooking has over oven broiling (assuming, of course, that you have a gas broiler) is that the grill will produce nice grill mark—but if you use the right pan under the broiler you can do that, too (see How to Make People Think You Grilled When You Didn’t). If you only have an electric broiler, a gas grill makes some sense.
And, as of 2002, I own a Weber Genesis Silver gas grill, which I love. No, it’s not ever going to give me the flavor of charcoal, but for speed and convenience it can’t be beat. This is not to say that I’ve gotten rid of old fireball.
Up until the late nineteenth century, rural communities would get together to build a charcoal kiln, a giant “teepee” of wood with an airshaft down the middle. The structure was covered with a kind of adobe made by mixing ash with mud and water. Once this covering had dried, a fire was set in the center shaft and the mouth sealed. Holes were opened at the base of the kiln so that the fire would have just enough air to cook the volatile elements out of the wood, leaving a carbonaceous mass behind. After a few weeks the kiln was torn down and voilà!: charcoal for everyone in the family.
A WORD ON COUNTER-TOP GRILLS
A certain retired boxer has made approximately a gazillion dollars by marketing an electric counter-top grill. I know plenty of folks who like them, but I’ve never been able to get any real lasting heat out of one. And without real heat there will be little if any sear. And, of course, with the top down there’s going to be steam. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a valid method of cooking—it’s just not grilling, and you should adjust your expectations accordingly.
I have learned that the George Foreman Grill has changed the world in a very positive way. Many people out there live without kitchens and this appliance gives many of those folks a way to cook that they haven’t had before.
I am very much at home with charcoal. I love charcoal. I can reach a Zen-like oneness with the coals. A couple of summers ago I constructed a 4-by-8-foot fire pit in my backyard and had special grates made to fit it. I cooked whole pigs over hickory fires, then harvested the leftover charcoal to use in my three grills. I am a freak, but I can live with that.
By the way, even truly fine gas grills cannot generate the heat of natural chunk charcoal. That’s because a glowing coal simply has so much of the light spectrum going for it. Don’t believe me? Go into a darkened hangar with a gas grill and a charcoal grill. Fire them both up and observe them through your infrared goggles. See what I mean?
CHARCOAL LORE
Henry Ford was really into camping. The Ford archives are lined with photos of the godfather of the assembly line lined up with his cronies, all sitting around smoldering