New kitchen toys always get me excited about cooking – sometimes a little too excited. It’s easy to dig into the novelty of it all and immediately dive into challenging recipes and elaborate projects, but every new method and device has a learning curve, which is why it’s usually best to start small and build your confidence before you do get to work doing something big and expensive.
When I first got my Weber kettle, I couldn’t wait to smoke some meat, but it depends on being able to manipulate and control the air that goes through the charcoal grill. This takes a bit of getting used to, so I’ve dialed my immediate goals back a bit and focused on some simpler proteins.
In addition to the hot dogs (which are almost too simple), I’m now completely confident that I can cook exactly two things on my Weber Charcoal grill – flank steak and chicken thighs. Mastering these two simple proteins made me more relaxed about my grill and vents, and each protein helped in its own way.
The steak helped me understand what really hot coals look like and behave, and the chicken made it important for the two-zone grilling to click into place. If you’re a brand new grill baby too, I recommend both meats as good starting points for your own grill trip.
To get used to scorching, light a flank steak
Flank steaks are thin and lean and do best when cooked quickly over high heat, which makes them great candidates for grilling. (You can sear one in the pan, but it can get quite smoky.) Cooking a flank is a great way to familiarize yourself with very hot coals – it may seem straightforward, but it can be intimidating at first.
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Flank steaks are also a little forgiving, provided you don’t overcook them into oblivion. The tenderness of the meat depends on how thinly you slice it – always be sure to cut perpendicular to these long muscle fibers – and even slightly overcooked flanks can taste tender and juicy if properly sliced and tossed with one Board sauce. To make your first flank you will need:
- 1 flank steak weighing about two pounds (start with a smaller cut until you gain confidence – messing up two pounds of meat doesn’t feel as bad as messing up four pounds.)
- salt
- The ingredients for a Board saucewhen with
- Neutral oil like vegetables
- An instantly readable meat thermometer
About an hour or two before cooking, salt each side of your steak heavily, then let it hang in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to grill, fill a chimney with charcoal and place it on your grill grate over something flammable. I use the weaver lighter cubes, but crumpled newspaper works fine too. (If you are using the cubes you can light them up and put the chimney on them. If you are using paper, put the chimney on top and then light it through the grids.) When you see a deep orange glow from inside the chimney, and the top coals are just beginning to turn ashen at the corners and edges, throw the coals on one side of the grill and place the grill rack on top. Make sure the bottom vent is fully open and get your steak.
If your flank is crooked, you can cut it in two servings or if you are feeding a group of people who all like their steaks at different degrees of cookingEmbrace the fact that some parts are done more than others. Dab the steak with paper towels and brush lightly with a thin layer of neutral oil. (If you’ve cut your steak in two, place the thick one on the grill about three minutes before the thin one.)
Grill the steak for 3-4 minutes on each side until you get a nice dark crust and the steak reaches an internal temperature of 125 ℉ -135 ℉, depending on how good you like your meat. (If you have someone on your crew who doesn’t like pink in their meat, serve them the end.)
If you’re serving your steak with a board sauce, pour the sauce on the cutting board, place the hot steak on top, and slice the meat thinly – aiming for an eighth of an inch – across the grain, tossing the meat with the oil , Herbs and the steak’s own meaty juices to make your sauce. If you’re not using sauce, let the steak sit for five minutes before slicing thinly over the grain.
Chicken thighs will make you appreciate both zones
One of the keys to effectively cooking with your grill is understanding the importance of a two-zone setup. To put it in the indoor kitchen, the zone that is directly above your coals is like a stove burner, and the side opposite the coals is your oven. You can use these two zones just like your actual stove and oven to invert almost anything, including some very delicious, immensely forgiving chicken thighs.
As I already mentionedChicken thighs are great beginner chicken no matter how you cook them. Due to their high fat and collagen content, they stay moist at high temperatures. So if you underestimate how hot your grill is and cook a little over 170 ° C, nothing tragic will happen. (I recommend buying a thermometer with a probe that sits in your grill, though – those little round ones on the top of your grill dome just aren’t that accurate).
I like marinating my thighs overnight, but a couple of hours will work when that’s all you have (Miso, Buttermilk powder, and yogurt are my favorites). Either way, let the chicken hang in the refrigerator until you can toss it on the grill. To prepare grilled chicken legs you will need:
- Chicken legs as many as you want
- A marinade of your choice
- An instantly readable meat thermometer
Mix up your marinade and pour it on your chicken. You can do this by placing everything in a freezer bag and throwing it all up, or placing your thighs in a deep baking dish or pan and pouring the marinade over it and tossing it to coat before covering with plastic wrap. Let the chicken hang in the refrigerator for at least a few hours, ideally overnight.
Fill a chimney with charcoal and place it on your grill grate over something flammable. (If you are using the cubes you can light them up and put the chimney on top. If you are using paper, put the chimney on top and then light it through the grids.) When you see a deep orange glow from inside the chimney and the upper coals are just beginning to turn ashen at the corners and edges. Let the coals fall to one side of the grill and place the grill rack on top. Place the dome on the grill, make sure the bottom vent is fully open, and adjust the top vent so it is open about 1/3 of the way. Let the temperature stabilize for 10-15 minutes and get your chicken.
Wipe off the remaining marinade with paper towels and place the chicken skin-up on the indirect heating side of your grill (opposite the coals). Put the dome back on the grill, making sure the ventilated side is over the chicken (opposite the coals) to allow the indirect, oven-like heat from the coals to flow to your food.
Let the chicken cook for 10 minutes, then check the temperature to see how it continues. If it gets a little too hot too quickly, close the top vent a little more to calm it down. Turn the chicken over, put the dome back on top, and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Then check the temperature again.
Carry on like this – turn around and check – until you have reached an internal temperature of 150 ° C. Skip the dome and move your thighs over the coals to crisp the skin. Flip them over every few minutes until they are a nice color on both sides and reach their final temperature of 165 ° C. However, do not sweat if they are a little higher. I had chicken thighs as hot as 178 ℉ and – thanks to all the very helpful and forgiving collagen – they were perfectly delicious.
Updated 5/14/21 at 4:33 p.m. EST to include a note on lighting your starter.
