When Is Charcoal Ready to Cook On?

When is charcoal ready to cook on?

How long does it take for charcoal to be ready? 

How to tell when charcoal is ready for cooking? Because it does take some time for a charcoal BBQ to be ready to cook on. You definitely shouldn’t start cooking right away. No matter how you’re starting a grill, with or without a lighter fluid, and especially if you are using a lighter fluid. It’s simply dangerous to do so, and it can also ruin the food you’re cooking. 

When Is Charcoal Ready to Cook On?

It depends from the grill and the type of charcoal.

With My BBQ Table grills it takes around 15 – 20 minutes.

We use and recommend charcoal briquettes. As our experience shows, a 2-kg bag is the optimal amount of charcoal for a single grilling session of up 5 hours. We also use some 2 kilos of dry firewood or wood chips and lighter fluid to start a grill. We pour in the briquettes, cover them with firewood, lightly pour over the liquid, wait a minute and start the fire. In 15 – 20 minutes all the firewood is burned up, and the grill is ready for cooking.

If you’ll be starting a grill without a lighter fluid, plan more time.

How to Know When Charcoal Is Ready?

When is charcoal ready?

Simply wait until most of the charcoal has turned white/grey.

That’s when it’s already very hot on the outside (and ready for cooking), but still burning from the inside — even though it has stopped smoking. For the best experience, it’s actually better to wait for it to stop smoking. If you’re using firewood or wood chips for starting a fire, wait until all of it has burned up.

Cooking on My BBQ Table

How Long Does Charcoal Stay Hot?

It can be anything from 1 hour to up to 5 or more hours.

It depends from the grill and the amount of charcoal used.

With My BBQ Table grills and 2 kilos of charcoal briquettes, it’s around 5 hours. That’s 5 hours of grilling with a 2-kilo pack of charcoal briquettes and about the same amount of firewood. With a simple box or bowl grill without a lid, it’s gonna be less than that (because faster burning).

For more tips see our Charcoal Grilling 101.

Read more: How Long Does Charcoal Last?