HOW TO LIGHT A BBQ

If you’re unsure about how to light the coals or worry about burning your food, you can follow this simple advice.

1 Set up in an open space

You are making a contained fire, so set your barbecue up in an open space away from fences or trees. Have a fire extinguisher or bucket of water nearby, and keep kids and pets well away. Use long-handled tongs and proper barbecue equipment with insulated handles. 2 Buy good-quality charcoal Choose quality, sustainably produced charcoal – look for brands made from coppiced wood, or wood approved by the Forestry Commission. Quality charcoal lights easily, burns better and won’t taint the flavour of food, unlike charcoals with accelerants.

3 Use a chimney starter

These tubular starters mean you’ll be able to light the charcoal easily with just a few sheets of newspaper – the coals will catch and start glowing quickly. A chimney protects the coals (and you) on a windy day. Once the coals are ready, you can safely and easily tip them into the barbecue.

4 If you don’t have a chimney, arrange the charcoal in a stack

Push balls of newspaper or natural firelighters (such as wood shavings or wool) between the coals. Light the paper and firelighters and allow the flames to catch and get going in their own time. Then, let them die down again – all you’re going to achieve with flames is burnt food. You need ashen coals in order to cook food properly.

When a few coals have been lit, the rest will catch on their own, so don’t hurry them along by adding more firelighters. If the heat is starting to die down as you barbecue, add coals around the outside and leave them to flame up and die down again before cooking over them.

5 Know whether you need direct or indirect heat before you start cooking

Direct heat If you think of a barbecue as a stovetop, lighting an even layer of coal is equivalent to cooking everything on the highest heat in the hottest pan. Although this direct method might be fine for thin cuts of meat that cook quickly (like burgers and thin-cut steaks), it will cremate anything that needs more time to cook through.

Indirect heat Push the coals to one side of the barbecue and keep the other side free to get a range of temperatures – use the coal-free side to cook over indirect heat. Hot coals on just one side also enables you to cook on one half and keep food warm on the other. Indirect cooking is perfect for larger joints and meat on the bone, such as chickens and lamb. It’s also great for more delicate items, such as fish fillets. Plus, this gives some direct heat where the coals are stacked should you want to brown other items quickly. Cooking indirectly means food won’t burn or scorch.

6 Learn to recognise when your coals are ready

If you try to cook something when the coals aren’t ready, the food may overcook or burn – it’s not a risk worth taking. Use the guide below to decide when to start cooking your food:

Black or grey with flames

Not ready yet. Step away, have a beer and relax.

Glowing white hot with red centres Ready for direct heat (blow very gently to check the colour of the centres).

Ashy white but still very hot Ready for indirect heat or cooking in the coals.

7 Use a thermometer

Testing the temperature of food helps prevent disasters. We like Thermapens, which have a temperature probe that folds away for safe storage in a cutlery drawer.