How to cook on A cHArcoAl bArbecue

Three firelighters are placed, spaced out, at the bottom of the barbecue, then covered with charcoal. Balls of scrunched up newspaper are added directly onto the firelighters to help the coals to take. They are lit with a long barbecue match. Once the initial flames have calmed, the topmost coals will start to turn white. The coals are moved around with metal tongs until all are white. This takes approximately 20 mins. The grill is now added to the barbecue. It needs up to 10 mins to fully warm up. Now the barbecue is ready to cook on. The amount of charcoal used equates to the length of time the barbecue will burn. 1kg of charcoal will burn at a high temperature for approximately 1 hr 30 mins. If the barbecue is large, one side is piled high with coals while the other side has fewer coals. This creates two heat zones, where food can be seared then moved to a cooler area to cook through. Metal tongs with protective handles are used to turn the food. Special care is taken around naked flames. These are often transparent so can be difficult to see. To extinguish the barbecue, a metal container is filled with water and set on the ground. The hot coals are dropped into the water one at a time, using long tongs.