Charcoal takes fifteen to twenty minutes to reach cooking temperature if you leave it alone. Most people get impatient, add lighter fluid, and end up with food that tastes of petrol. Here is how to do it properly and quickly.
Why lighter fluid ruins the food
Lighter fluid needs to burn off completely before you cook. If you put food on while any of it remains, that flavour goes into the meat. The problem is that judging when it has fully burned off is difficult, so most people get it wrong at least some of the time.
The alternative is simply to move air through the coals faster, which is what a blower does.
The method
1. Build a pile, not a layer
Heap the charcoal in the centre rather than spreading it flat. Concentrated heat lights faster, and you spread it out once it is going.
2. Light from underneath
Use a natural firelighter or a few sheets of paper under the pile. Charcoal lights from below because heat rises through the pile.
3. Blow air at the base
This is where a blower earns its money. Aim at the base of the pile, not the top. You are trying to feed oxygen to the part that is already burning, which then spreads upward. Thirty to sixty seconds of steady airflow usually does it.
4. Wait for grey
Coals are ready when they are covered in light grey ash, not when they are still glowing orange and black. Orange-and-black means the outside is burning but the middle is not, and the heat will drop away halfway through cooking.
5. Spread and zone
Push about two thirds of the coals to one side for high heat and leave the rest thin on the other. Sear on the hot side, finish on the cool side. This is the single biggest improvement most people can make to their grilling.
In desert wind
Wind is the main variable at a desert camp. Too much and it strips heat off the coals as fast as it feeds them.
Set up with something on the windward side — the car, a cooler, a windbreak. Then use the blower in short bursts rather than continuously, because in wind you are usually fighting to hold temperature rather than raise it.
Choosing a blower
Three things matter. A metal or stainless steel nozzle, because plastic ones deform near coals. A focused outlet, because a wide one throws ash over the food. And power you can control, because full blast is for lighting and low is for holding temperature.
Battery models are fine and mean nothing to charge before a trip. Manual crank versions never run out but keep one hand busy.
Common mistakes
- Cooking too early. Wait for grey ash.
- Blowing at the top of the pile. Aim low, at the base.
- Spreading coals too thin. You lose heat and cannot recover it.
- Opening and poking constantly. Let it settle.
- Not enough charcoal. Running out mid-cook is worse than having spare.
Our Desert Season range includes blowers from AED 59, including a manual version that needs no batteries at all.