How to Grill with Todd Eng

Published on Wednesday, June 25, 2008, by Meredith Arthur and Eric Slatkin / Edit Post

How to Grill with Todd Eng

By Meredith Arthur and Eric Slatkin

Todd Eng, grillmaster and restaurateur-in-progress (he’s planning to open an izakaya), encourages you to rethink your use of lighter fluid and consider investing in a chimney starter. While you’re at it, you might pick up some lump charcoal and a grate brush.

You’re Doing It All Wrong is constructive criticism. Don’t take it the wrong way: Just learn the right way.

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POST A COMMENT |15 Comments

COMMENT

  • I agree with the poster who recommended a grilling series.

    this video only deals with how to LIGHT your grill, but leaves many other issues unaddressed.

    as a grilling amateur, i'd thoroughly appreciate parts 2 and 3!

  • Does anyone else think that he is way too close to a wooden fence??? Seems kind of retarded to be doing a how to video while doing something so dangerous.

  • our chimney starter is a small (12oz) coffee can with holes bored in from a screwdriver; perfect amount for the hibachi

  • Where can I find some Lazarri Lump Charcoal, or any lump charcoal for that matter? Would I need to go to a speciality bbq place?

  • I definitely learned a lot that I didn't know beforehand from this video. However, I was expecting a bit more about basic grilling: proper placement of coals, how to avoid foods sticking on the grill, which foods are best for grilling as opposed to those that need more care, etc. Is this going to be a multi-episode video? If not, the title perhaps should be changed to: "How to start you grill".

  • One more thing to add: make the newspaper in the bottom of the chimney into a donut, so that more air can flow through it.

  • I have been using lump charcoal in smokers and grills for the last 20 years and found a great site that "rates" different brands of lump charcoal. try http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ If your charcoal does not look like little logs but looks like palet or flooring wood, don't use it.

  • You don't need a big 'coffee' can. Any large can will do, the taller the better. Mine is from large can of chicken broth. Or beans would do. Took me all of 5 minutes to make. When it wears out just make another.

  • I use my ash collector as a chimney starter. I squirt some vegetable oil on a piece of newspaper (thanks Alton Brown, why couldn't I think of that), stuff it down in the ash collector, then make a pyramid of charcoal on the grate above. Ready in 20 minutes. Long enough to enjoy a beer or three.

    Of course, I'm a cheap bastard who refuses to pay $10 for a chimney starter. I've been meaning to make...+READ

    I use my ash collector as a chimney starter. I squirt some vegetable oil on a piece of newspaper (thanks Alton Brown, why couldn't I think of that), stuff it down in the ash collector, then make a pyramid of charcoal on the grate above. Ready in 20 minutes. Long enough to enjoy a beer or three.

    Of course, I'm a cheap bastard who refuses to pay $10 for a chimney starter. I've been meaning to make one myself, but I also refuse to buy a giant can of Maxwell House coffee, which was what my dad made his chimney starter out of when I was a kid. One of these days....-COLLAPSE

  • They sure do Bryson. While researching our Gas Versus Charcoal Grills story , I received a bunch of statistics from the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association . In a 2007 survey they conducted on the methods people used to light charcoal and wood grills, 47 percent of respondents reported using lighter fluid, while only 13 percent reported using a chimney starter!

  • People start their grill without a chimney starter?
    How horrifying

  • I really like using the Lazari lump charcoal but it always creates a dangerous about of sparks that fly around my deck. Once a stray spark hit an empty bag of charcoal and lit my deck on fire. Luckily we put it out quickly but I save the Lazari for special occasions now.

    If only Home Depot would once again carry the Rancher charcoal you guys recommended last year...

  • Completely agree, Monkey, surely I thought this is a no-brainer. and yet I was surprised by the number of people who said "yeah? you mean there's a way besides using lighter fluid??" when I told them I had filmed this Granted, these were not very food saavy people, but I guess I chalk it up to mass marketing, and this (mistaken, if you ask me) concept that faster must be better.

    Here's a good...+READ

    Completely agree, Monkey, surely I thought this is a no-brainer. and yet I was surprised by the number of people who said "yeah? you mean there's a way besides using lighter fluid??" when I told them I had filmed this Granted, these were not very food saavy people, but I guess I chalk it up to mass marketing, and this (mistaken, if you ask me) concept that faster must be better.

    Here's a good link for lump charcoal - http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

    Love that guy's site! For the real charcoal voyeur, he opens up each bag and shows you the contents. Ooooo. . . .-COLLAPSE

  • I thought all purist who use charcoal knew this already. Couldn;t imagine not having a chimney starter.

  • Don't see the point in getting a charcoal grill without a chimney starter. It's like getting a knife without a sharpener.