How Much Charcoal to Use When Grilling

Published on Friday, May 29, 2009, by CHOW Video Team / Edit Post

How Much Charcoal to Use When Grilling

Jamie Purviance, author and grillmaster, dispels a common grilling myth: You don’t choose how much charcoal to use based on how much food you’re cooking. Instead, you should fill your grill two-thirds of the way with briquettes, regardless of the grill’s size.

Jamie, who is a grilling authority, also represents the Weber brand. He was not paid, nor did Weber in any way compensate CHOW, for his participation in this video. We just thought he knew his stuff. CHOW Tips are the shared wisdom of our community. If you’ve figured out some piece of food, drink, or cooking wisdom that you’d like to share on video (and you can be in San Francisco), email Meredith Arthur and tell us what you’ve got in mind.

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  • Way too much chardoal being used here. What a waste of money, and also what a waste of your time watching the BBQ every minute to keep from burning up your food. He says 2/3 of grill and I say 1/3 of grill covered with the charcoal gives perfect kettle cooking.

  • Hi Germangriller, Thanks for your comment. We have a tip from Jamie about lump vs briquette charcoal. Take a look and see if you agree with his assessment: http://www.chow.com/stories/11691

    Meredith of CHOW

  • Good advice as far as it goes. Jamie is a grilling expert and knows his stuff, but is definitely pushing a brand. In 20 minutes that grill is going to be extremely hot - probably hotter than you want for most foods. Unless you are using it for a quick sear of something, you'll have to watch it like a hawk or you'll incinerate some expensive food.

    Also - please try lump charcoal. You'll never go...+READ

    Good advice as far as it goes. Jamie is a grilling expert and knows his stuff, but is definitely pushing a brand. In 20 minutes that grill is going to be extremely hot - probably hotter than you want for most foods. Unless you are using it for a quick sear of something, you'll have to watch it like a hawk or you'll incinerate some expensive food.

    Also - please try lump charcoal. You'll never go back to briquettes. it burns faster and hotter and gives off a much sweeter smoke. You won't need as much to achieve the same heat for a hot grill, and your food will taste better.-COLLAPSE