Alright, this is one of those posts where I sheepishly admit I don’t understand something I should probably know. It’s in two parts.
First, I’ve always been under the impression (and this has served me well) that you really do NOT want flames from the coals touching the food. It’s all about proximity to hot coals, not letting the fire actually engulf the food. And yet I see it all the time in videos — even in the new (amazing) Netflix "Chef’s Table BBQ", where in ep2 that amazing chef in Sunday cooks literally everything over fire. There’s tons of shots where the fire wraps around the food and I’m thinking "WTF". So, is that thinking that it shouldn’t touch just wrong? It looks cool, and makes for great youtube videos, but when I see a Michelin start chef doing it, it’s suddenly time to rethink my life.
Second, and this is somewhat related, is understanding where the black-ish "oil" comes from that sometimes shows up on grilled food, which I think is related to the above paragraph of flare-ups and actual flame touching, although I think it might also be from cooking over not-quite-burned-down charcoal briquettes. If your coals are running low and you need to keep cooking, is it bad to add fresh coals to the already burning ones? Should I be starting another chimney to add already-lit coals instead? I’m pretty sure, but not 100%, that this is one of the things that leads to that occasional "black oil" issue. Or maybe that’s simply from having too much oil on the food before adding it to the grill, which now that I write this I think I see this mostly on veggies like asparagus where I definitely oil before adding to the grill.
Thanks… be kind, I’m feeling a little vulnerable posting what are probably pretty basic questions here!!
First, I’ve always been under the impression (and this has served me well) that you really do NOT want flames from the coals touching the food. It’s all about proximity to hot coals, not letting the fire actually engulf the food. And yet I see it all the time in videos — even in the new (amazing) Netflix "Chef’s Table BBQ", where in ep2 that amazing chef in Sunday cooks literally everything over fire. There’s tons of shots where the fire wraps around the food and I’m thinking "WTF". So, is that thinking that it shouldn’t touch just wrong? It looks cool, and makes for great youtube videos, but when I see a Michelin start chef doing it, it’s suddenly time to rethink my life.
Second, and this is somewhat related, is understanding where the black-ish "oil" comes from that sometimes shows up on grilled food, which I think is related to the above paragraph of flare-ups and actual flame touching, although I think it might also be from cooking over not-quite-burned-down charcoal briquettes. If your coals are running low and you need to keep cooking, is it bad to add fresh coals to the already burning ones? Should I be starting another chimney to add already-lit coals instead? I’m pretty sure, but not 100%, that this is one of the things that leads to that occasional "black oil" issue. Or maybe that’s simply from having too much oil on the food before adding it to the grill, which now that I write this I think I see this mostly on veggies like asparagus where I definitely oil before adding to the grill.
Thanks… be kind, I’m feeling a little vulnerable posting what are probably pretty basic questions here!!
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