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To grill steaks and chops in the coals, you have to use lump charcoal, wood chunks, or logs, all of which create relatively large ashes. Avoid briquettes, which burn down to such a fine ash that the ashes stick to the meat and make it taste sooty. Before adding food to hot coals, you have to blow off the excess ashes. Rake the coals to a somewhat flat bed, and then blow off the ashes with a leaf blower, a hair dryer, a portable fan, or a magazine and a strong arm. Put the meat directly on the coal bed and cook until nicely crusted, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Season the meat as you turn it, then remove it from the coals and pick off any loose ash. See Scotch Steak in the Coals with Stilton Butter (page 145) for an example.

To grill root vegetables in the coals, bury the unpeeled vegetables in the hot embers and cook until tender when pricked with a fork or knife, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the size and density of the vegetable. The skin will char to an inedible blackness, but the flesh inside will be tender, moist, and smoky. And you’ll win raves from whoever sees you pull off this feat of grillmastery. For an example, see Sweet Potatoes in the Coals with Lime-Cilantro Butter (page 287).

07. Wrapping

Food can be wrapped in lotus leaves, grape leaves, banana leaves, corn husks, aluminum foil, or almost any other wrapper that will stand up to the heat of the grill. It’s a useful technique for delicate foods like fish or loose foods like ground meat that can crumble easily during grilling. Complete wrapping also traps moisture inside the wrapper so that food steams, cooks more quickly, and becomes infused with the subtle flavor of the wrapper. Most wrappers are soaked in water before wrapping to prevent them from burning. Use the technique of wrapping with direct or indirect grilling. For some examples, see Turkey Sausages in Vine Leaves (page 111), Fish Stuffed with Five-Treasure Jasmine Rice Roasted in a Lotus Leaf (page 233), and Grilled Brie Wrapped in Grape Leaves (page 345).

08. Cooking on a Plank

Thin, delicate foods such as fish fillets can stick to the grill, break apart, and become difficult to serve. A wood plank solves these problems and adds smoky flavors to the food. It also allows delicate foods to cook more gently and gradually because the wood forms a barrier between the food and the flame. This technique is used most often with salmon fillets (try Mustard-Glazed Planked Salmon with Horseradish-Dill Sauce, page 175), but can be applied to other fish fillets or delicate foods such as fruit, cheese, vegetables, and ground meats.

To grill on a plank, choose a relatively thin (about ¼ inch thick) plank of wood that is wide and long enough to accommodate the food you are grilling. Cedar and alder are the most common wood planks used for grilling, but fruit woods such as apple and cherry also work well. Soak the wood plank in water for at least 30 minutes–and preferably for 1 hour—so that the wood smokes and smolders instead of igniting on the grill. Put the food on the plank, brush with a glaze or add other seasonings, and then put the planked food on the grill grate and close the lid. When cooked through, remove the planked food to the table and serve. The bottom and edges of the plank will be charred, so you may prefer to put the planked food on a cutting board or large platter rather than directly on the table. Serve the food from the plank, dividing it into portions as necessary. For more information on wood planks, see page 27.

Instead of using a solid wood plank, you can try using wood “paper.” These thin, pliable sheets of wood are wrapped around the food, which allows you to turn the food for more even heating and delivers the woodsy aromas to all surfaces of the food. Sheets of wood need to soak for only 5 to 10 minutes, instead of 30 minutes to 1 hour. They make a good choice for individual or smaller pieces of food.

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D. Mastering Temperature

The temperature of any fire is determined by its ratio of fuel to