The Direct & Indirect Grillin’ Method

Lesson

Many barbecue chefs cook everything “low and slow,” meaning they use a temperature of 180°F to 240°F (the “low” part), and cook for 2 to 24 hours (the “slow” part). Cooking for 2 hours means they’re probably grillin’ pork ribs or small roasts; 24 hours for tough beef briskets.

In this method, we combine “direct” grillin’ (cooking directly over the source of heat) with “indirect” grillin’ (moving food away from the hottest part of the grill to the “cool” side). Doing so cooks the meat slowly, keeping it juicy, tender, and loaded with taste.

Cooking with indirect heat on charcoal grills

To create the hot side, place coals, briquettes, or wood pieces at the bottom of one half of the grill. Leave the other half empty (for now) and start your fire as you normally would.

When the grill heats up and the coals are covered with a thin film of white ash, take a 9 × 12 inch foil pan, and carefully place it on the bottom of the empty side. Then fill the pan with 1 to 2 inches of water. The pan of water keeps flames from shooting up and engulfing the food. The water evaporates during cooking and the steam helps keep the food above it moist, juicy, and tasty. Refill the pan during cooking as the water evaporates. This is now the cool, indirect side of the grill.

We recommend starting chicken, chops, and steaks on the hot side of the grill, to sear the food over high heat, thus trapping in natural juices. Depending on the food, its thickness, and the fire temperature, you only need to cook the food for a short time on each side. Two to three minutes per side is an average.

After you’ve seared meat, move it to the cool side of the grill to finish cooking. (Cool is a relative term: the “hot” side of the grill may be 600°F to 700°F, while the “cool” side may be as high as 400°F to 500°F.) A temperature of 275°F to 350°F is a good target for “cool.”

Cooking with indirect heat on gas grills

If you have a two-burner grill, turn on only one burner. Place the 9 × 12 inch pan of water over the unlit burner, as described above. Because of the height of some burners, you may have to put bricks on both sides of the unlit burner to support the water pan.

Follow the directions above for searing the meat over direct heat and finishing it over indirect heat.

If you have more than two burners, turn on both outside burners to the same temperature (otherwise you’ll cook one side of your food faster than the other). Then place the water pan over the middle burner, under the grill. Again, sear the meat over direct heat, and cook for the remaining time over indirect heat.

Using indirect cooking, we’ve made soufflés, baked bread, custards, and cakes—foods that might have been incinerated over direct heat.