Cooking on a charcoal grill can all be fun and games when you are not doing the work yourself. It is quite difficult to control the temperature of the charcoal grill when you are not an expert. Many users avoid the use of charcoal grills, especially the amateurs because they can mess up the food and cause a lot of trouble. It is better to take a look at how you can cool down the charcoal grill effectively without doing too much about it.
Adjust Portion of Grill Grates
This is one of the most effective ways of bringing the heat down when your charcoal grill is too hot. This can be a problem when you do not know what to do but adjusting a portion of the grill grates can help with the problem. Not a lot of people know about this but it is one of the simplest methods out there.
It is said that the closer the food is to the fire, the higher the temperature is going to be but if you move the grill grate away from the fire then the grill should cool down a bit. This trick surely does work like magic. The moment you place the grill grate on an upper rack, the temperature lowers. If you are using this method then you do have to have a grill model that has adjustable racks. It does not work in the other models.
Use Vents To Control The Flow
Charcoal grills are hard to use because some people can not figure out the functioning of the grill vents. However, they can be useful for controlling the temperature of the grill. In fact, they are there in the first place because of the function. If you are looking for a way to cool down the charcoal grill then you need to go ahead and close the vent partially. Closing it fully will cause the flame to go out.
The very important factor to note is that fire can not burn without the oxygen in the air. That is exactly what the vents do. They control the amount of air that is flowing in the grill. You can change the way you want it. If you want the temperature to go higher then allow more air to flow into the grill and if you want it go lower then you need to close the vents partially so that the temperature of the grill can go down.
So the main question is which grill vent should you be closing?
There are two vents in a charcoal grill. The bottom vent and the top one. The bottom one is known as the intake damper and it just allows the air to flow into the grill. This is the vent that you need to control. You can control the amount of oxygen that you are feeding to the fire. If you close this vent completely then the grill is going to go out.
There are top vents that act as an exhaust damper. This is also known as the chimney because they do the work of one. The upper vent should always be open because it allows the exhaust gases to go out. If you close it them it can shuffle the fire. This vent is not generally used to control the temperature. It is kept open and the temperature of the grill is controlled by the lower vent only. This is an important part of working with a charcoal grill so make sure to make a note of it. Do not ever forget about the use of the vents. People confuse them and make a blunder.
Different Heat Zones
You have to create different heat zones on your charcoal grill! This is another way to bring down the temperature of the grill but we are sure that you are looking at us all confused on how to do so because it surely does not look like a minimal task. Well, it can be made easy with practice but you just can't expect it to be easy from the first time.
If you want to create a medium heat zone then you can place the coal flat on the surface where you want to create it. Then if you want to create a lower heat zone then you should not lay any coal in this area. Coal can be placed at a distance from this area but you can not place it right under the place where you want to create the low heat zone. The food here is cooked in indirect heat. The temperature of the grill can be controlled using this method and you can cool down the temperature in a way.
Make a Grill Shield
The best thing to do at certain moments is to let the creativity out of the bag. You can cool down one side of the grill but putting a barrier between the fire and the side of the grill. This is not a joke. This actually works and even though it will not stop the heat from reaching, it is going to cool down the grill by bringing the temperature down. This is a way of cooking using indirect heat too. You can cook for long hours using this method.
You just need an aluminum foil for this. You should make a folded plate that is going to allow you to block out the excess heat and cool down the temperature of the side of the grill. That's it. That's all you need to do. We have completed the 4 ways in which you can cool down the grill. Let's move to the next segment of the article and see what it holds.
How To Cool The Grill While Cooking?
As we have stated in the steps above, there are several ways to do so. Fire and oxygen are the main components in this entire ordeal. If you do not allow air to flow into the grill by closing the vents then the amount of oxygen that the fire needs for burning high will go down and the flames will go down too. This is going to cause the heat of the grill to be low and essentially the charcoal grill will be cooling down to a lower temperature.
How To Cool After Use?
If you are going to leave the house soon after grilling then you might need to cool down the grill after use. This can also be important for people who have to go on and move the grill from their picnic spot back to their home. There might not be infinite time to let the charcoal grill cool down on its own. You need to speed up the process and to do so, you have to go ahead and spread the charcoal as much as possible at the bottom of the grill using a pair of tongs.
Close the lid and the vents of the grill. You will cause the fire in the grill to go out. Wait for 15 minutes and then you need to spray the charcoal briquettes with water. This does not mean that you just empty mugs of water on the charcoal. It is still going to be hot so you should just spray using a spray bottle. It is not going to end well if you just dump water on coal. They will still be hot and produce a lot of steam. That much steam can harm you or even cause burns. Never do that. It can also destroy the bottom of the grill.
Conclusion
We hope that you enjoyed the article. It was fun to write about the different ways in which you can cool down a charcoal grill. Make sure that you are always leaving the grill turned off and cooled down when you are leaving because we do not want any accidents. Also, controlling the temperature of the charcoal grill is going to be easy if you master this step. Some people face a lot of problems with the temperature control of the charcoal grill. Remember that every master and grilling expert was an amateur at some point too.Have a lovely day and don't forget to take care of yourself. Happy grilling!