The Blue Bag and the Afterburner Method: Keys to Grilling

This was the warmest March on record, and while that portends evil for the earth, it's nothing but great when it comes to grilling. I was able to burn my first coals of spring on my roof this past weekend. They were the same, classic "blue bag" Kingsford coals that we all grew up using; the C-Town supermarket across the street from me doesn't carry anything else, and in fact, nothing else is really necessary.

A note on charcoal: I know I always say that you should, if at all possible, use lump hardwood, for reasons of both physics and flavor. The lump hardwood does burn hotter, and taste better, than blue bag charcoal, but it also burns out much faster and its irregularities - one spot hotter than the surface of the sun, the other barely getting any radiant heat at all - can drive even the most patient of cooks crazy. My even bed of black, identically-shaped briquettes allowed me to four or five different pieces without refueling, and to have total control of the heat in my weber. And for that super-intense heat, I use my friend Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn's "afterburner" technique.

Basically, this consists of taking the starter chimney, and putting a grill on top of it. The starter chimney is a simple cylinder of metal with a hand on the side: you put coals in it, stick newspaper underneath, and 15 minutes later you have the makings of a hot coal fire. No one but Meathead, to my knowledge, has ever used it to actually cook, possibly because the heat that emerges from the top of it is so blazingly hot. With its bluish flame and round shape, it looks something like the afterburner of a jet - hence the name. By cooking directly on the chimney, you can get an almost-instantaneous sear on thin pieces that can't sit too long over regular briquettes, even when banked up for maximum effect. It's a great innovation, and one Meathead deserves much credit for.

There's just one problem with it: you're limited to the size of the chimney. I wanted to do some thin steaks I bought at C-Town, but they were too long to get the full heat. Like a strip of bacon in a round pan, only the middle really got the heat. So I solved the problem by the most obvious expedient: cutting the steak in half. The think steaks were just the appetizer, anyway; I had marinated some chicken in lemon and olive oil and garlic and whatever spices I had lying around, and cooked it as the main course, along with some pieces of slab bacon and some radicchio. (Danit loves radicchio, don't ask me why.)

The Kingsford coals tasted great, and told me at a stroke that the weather had changed and that the long, weak winter was over, and that I could proceed to exert myself on behalf of the cause of grilled meat yet again. Full disclosure: I recently visited the Kingsford HQ, and am hoping to get them onboard for the big win at Meatopia. But beween the chicken wings, the steaks, and the recipes those guys have developed for out-there non-meat dishes like grilled salsa and grilled lemonade, I was re-inspired to start cooking with traditional charcoal again. And this week I'm going to do it again.