Bar-be-queing with charcoal

Recently I have been to a number of barbeques where the host has used real charcoal.  The drill is that the meat goes on the grill immediately after all the charcoal is white.  Result - burnt meat, dried out meat, tasteless meat, tough meat.  Is this the norm or am I just associating with people who like burnt, etc. meat? 

Are is there anyone who can advise on a better way of cooking over a charcoal fire?

Thanks!

Starving in Warwickshire

I am a dedicated gas griller, however I have had great BBQ on charcoal, I think they key is using indirect heat and without BBQ'ing experience, people might not know that.

Your friends are just crap at grilling, sorry. If they put the meat in immediately after it turns white, it's WAY too hot!! You have to wait a little bit til it cools down.

We're fanatically about grilling with charcoal - there's no way on earth we'd ever switch to gas! I really, very highly recommend buying a chimney starter for anyone who uses charcoal, too. It lights the coals in about ten minutes and it means you don't need to use lighter fluid at all, and you don't get the horrible chemical aftertaste lighter fluid brings, eww.

Yeah, you can sear the meat on direct heat, but it really needs to be moved off to a cooler spot to finish off.  Also knowing how long the item in particular should be cooked.  Oh & I usually marinate stuff for awhile before grilling too, for flavour & extra moisture, etc.

Lastly, I find quite a few of the charcoal grills sold here to be of very poor design.  Maybe it's because the Brits don't have the BBQ-ing thing down like the Americans do?  I don't know.  The grill really should be 4-6 inches above the coals, not immediately over them!  (like those throwaway grills - it's too close)

Fortunately, Webers (made in the good ole USA!) are now sold here too! 

Thank you so much for the speedy replies.  I think (and now I am referring to DH's grill) that the design is lousy, the meat is too close to the coals, etc.  Since this is July 4th I am going to show my national independence and take over the grilling tonight.

I saw Weber grills in John Lewis last week. Hmmmmmm!

Will look into the chimney starter - I know what is.  I've been a gas griller, but do love charcoal.  Happy 4th!

Hopeful in Warwickshire!

If you do ending springing for a Weber, it'll have a nifty little guide to grilling with it that comes along with it! 

I want to get me one of those chimneys now too!

Happy grilling everybody! 

I love BBQing with charcoal, the boy and I had some amazing steaks for lunch today and I grilled up some chicken for tomorrow's lunch and charred some chorizo for a meatloaf for tomorrow's dinner.

The key I think is doing some serious fanning, after they've gone white just leave it, and when it starts to die down and everyone is complaining it has gone out, fan it seriously rigorously and heat will jump up again. I think people put stuff on at least an hour before I would personally

I put the burgers on yesterday not too long after the coals were white and they were done to perfection!

The white coals marker works just fine for small, fast-cooking things like burgers or hot dogs.  But anything thicker, and like Mrs Robinson said, you need to just sear it over the hot coals, then move it off to the side to finish cooking.

Another option, if you're grilling at home, is to pre-cook before transferring to the grill.  I do this with sausages (bratwurst ftw!), and sometimes with chicken.  With the brats, I par boil them in beer & onions, then put them on the grill til they're nice and crispy-brown.  With chicken, just bake it fairly low for a little while, to get the center cooked, then pop it on the grill to finish & brown it, and add any bbq sauce then.  My dad has done whole hams and venison roasts by baking them in the oven til they're mostly done, and then wrapping them in foil, with a bit of water in the foil for moisture, and then putting them on the grill.

Another option, if you're grilling at home, is to pre-cook before transferring to the grill.  I do this with sausages (bratwurst ftw!), and sometimes with chicken.  With the brats, I par boil them in beer & onions, then put them on the grill til they're nice and crispy-brown.  With chicken, just bake it fairly low for a little while, to get the center cooked, then pop it on the grill to finish & brown it, and add any bbq sauce then.  My dad has done whole hams and venison roasts by baking them in the oven til they're mostly done, and then wrapping them in foil, with a bit of water in the foil for moisture, and then putting them on the grill.

I do the same, I always microwave my chicken for a few minutes to get the cooking started and its always delish!

I just purchased and assembled a Weber charcoal grill in preparation for the great grilling cookoff between DH and I.  Now I have to learn how to cook over charcoal, and I'm up for the challenge.

I bought a Weber cookbook as well which I think I'll read under the covers by flashlight.  I wonder if DH will notice?

Cheer me on!