Top 11 How To Get Charcoal To Stay Lit All Answers

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Charcoal is more likely to stay lit if it’s stacked vertically rather than arranged flat on the bottom of the grill or smoker. Heat, as you may know, rises. Therefore, stacking your charcoal allows heat from the bottom coals to rise up and into the top coals.

How To Light a Grill the Right Way

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Why Won’t My Charcoal Grill Stay Lit? – 7 tips
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Summary of article content: Articles about Why Won’t My Charcoal Grill Stay Lit? – 7 tips
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Make sure you have adequate ventilation and that the vents are not obstructed. Once lit, you need not add any liqu or other fuel; charcoals … …
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Make sure you have adequate ventilation and that the vents are not obstructed. Once lit, you need not add any liqu or other fuel; charcoals … How do you keep a charcoal grill lit? Here are seven easy tips to keep the fire going. From fixing ventilation, stacking and finding out the quality of your charcoal.
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Grilling is a fantastic past-time and the more you grill the better you’re at it Still even the most seasoned grill masters find themselves in a bit of trouble sometimes like when the charcoal just won’t stay lit Has this happened to you Talking about ways of ruining a backyard party right

7 Reasons Why the Charcoal Doesn’t Stay lit

How to Keep a Charcoal Grill Lit

Use a Better Fire Starter Method

Summary Let’s Get That Fire Going!

Help! My Charcoal Won’t Stay Lit When Grilling or Smoking

Whether you are grilling or smoking, you’ll need a bed of hot charcoal to cook your food. You can still add cooking wood or smoking chunks for better flavor, but charcoal will provide the heat required to cook your food. Unfortunately, many home chefs struggle to keep their charcoal lit. After fire starters, the charcoal may ignite to produce a flame initially, only to die out shortly thereafter. If your charcoal won’t stay lit, the problem could be attributed to the following.

Wood Chunks for Smoking

It’s Not Dry

If your charcoal isn’t dry, it won’t stay lit. Always use dry charcoal in your grill or smoker to simplify your cooking experience. Charcoal is naturally porous, so it’s able to absorb and hold moisture from its surrounding environment. If you store your charcoal in a damp area, such as your patio or even your basement, it may absorb so much moisture that it’s unable to light or stay lit. To prevent this from happening, store your charcoal in a dry, climate-controlled environment.

You’re Smothering It

Another possible reason your charcoal isn’t staying lit is that it’s being smothered. Without a sufficient amount of air, the charcoal will die out after being lit. Ensure your smoker is properly ventilated, and make sure you add cooking wood or wood chunks for smoking at the right time. Wait until your charcoal has turned white-hot before adding your cooking wood or smoking chunks. Once your charcoal heats up to this point, you can safely add your cooking wood or smoking chunks without fear of it smothering your charcoal.

It’s Not Stacked

Charcoal is more likely to stay lit if it’s stacked vertically rather than arranged flat on the bottom of the grill or smoker. Heat, as you may know, rises. Therefore, stacking your charcoal allows heat from the bottom coals to rise up and into the top coals. If you arrange your charcoal horizontally on the bottom of your grill or smoker, some coals may stay lit, but others may burn out before reaching a suitable temperature.

The easiest way to create a neat stack of charcoal is to use a chimney starter. This common grilling and smoking accessory consists of a cylindrical-shaped piece of metal with a hollow interior. Just fill the chimney starter with charcoal, place it on your grill or smoker, and light the bottom with a grill lighter. After about 10 to 20 minutes, the charcoal should be hot, at which point you can carefully dump into the bottom of your grill or smoker.

If you’re lighting charcoal inside a smoker or grill like the Big Green Egg, make sure you have plenty of charcoal stacked so that it has an easier time lighting. If it’s simply spread around the bottom, you’ll run into trouble.

You’re Using the Wrong Type of Charcoal

Not all charcoal is made equal. As explained in a previous blog post, there are different types of charcoal, some of which are easier to light — and keep lit — than others.

If you’re struggling to keep your charcoal lit, you should check to see what type of charcoal you are using. Most charcoal can be classified as either lump or briquette.

Lump charcoal is the most popular type, as it consists of pure or near-pure carbon. Charcoal briquettes, on the other hand, are comprised of wood and other organic byproducts joined together with a binding agent. While charcoal briquettes typically burn for a longer period of time than lump charcoal, they are also more difficult to light. Therefore, you should stick with lump charcoal if you’re concerned about it burning out.

The Dampers Are Closed

Before lighting your charcoal, check to make sure all the dampers on your grill or smoker are completely open. Most grills and smokers have two dampers, both of which are used to control the flow of air.

Whether your grill or smoker has more dampers or fewer, you should open them before lighting your charcoal. If the dampers are closed, air won’t be able to reach the charcoal. And without a sufficient amount of air, your charcoal will burn out, forcing you to relight it. You can partially close the dampers once the charcoal has turned white-hot and you’ve added your food, but keep them closed until this happens.

It’s Humid Outside

Even high humidity can cause lit charcoal to burn out. If you’re trying to grill or smoke on a particularly humid day, moisture in the air may saturate your charcoal to the point where it’s unable to stay lit. Unfortunately, you can’t control how humid is it outside. With that said, you can still grill or smoke on a humid day — you’ll just need to take precautions beforehand. By using dry lump charcoal — and stacking it vertically — it should stay lit even if it’s humid outside.

You’re Adding Wet or Low Quality Cooking Wood

The type of cooking wood you add to your charcoal matters. Seasoned cooking wood can have a high moisture content that reduces heat and creates musty smoke that doesn’t taste good. Soaking your cooking wood before using it only adds water to the fire (which does not help your charcoal stay lit!). Using properly dried chunks that will ignite quickly will help keep the fire alive and provide great flavor. When you use large chunks, you can know that the wood will burn in your smoker for hours at a time.

Want to learn more about cooking with wood? Make sure you checkout our Cooking with Wood University!

For the best possible flavor and consistent burn, make sure you pair your charcoal with our wood chunks for smoking. Cutting Edge Firewood chunks are easy to light and will burn at the perfect rate. We offer a wide variety of quality smoking chunks, including apple wood chunks and hickory smoking chunks. View all of our cooking wood options in our online store today, or learn about our most popular cooking chunks below:

Why Won’t My Charcoal Grill Stay Lit?

Grilling is a fantastic past-time, and the more you grill, the better you’re at it. Still, even the most seasoned grill masters find themselves in a bit of trouble sometimes, like when the charcoal just won’t stay lit. Has this happened to you? Talking about ways of ruining a backyard party, right?

Yes, charcoal grills can be a pain sometimes, and it might be hard to assess what’s going wrong. Charcoal is supposed to be a fool-proof fuel, but let’s just say it has its bad days. If you’re having trouble keeping your grill lit, here’s all you need to know about what’s probably causing the problem, how to prevent it and even fix it!

You’ll be surprised to know there are many reasons your fire just dies off, but the good news is that almost all of them are easy fixes. Here’s your quick guide to everything charcoal and an answer to such a pressing question: Why won’t my charcoal grill stay lit?

7 Reasons Why the Charcoal Doesn’t Stay lit

Index

To figure out why you’re having trouble keeping your grill lit, let’s find out if it’s the charcoal’s fault or yours. We’ll also talk about a few techniques that can help you light a fire easily and with better results. We’re also talking a bit about charcoal quality and factors that can affect its flammability — some you can control, some you just can’t, sorry.

Let’s dig deep into defective charcoal and good grilling habits, and to end this article on a high note; we’re talking about the most common ways of lighting up a grill. Which one is more effective? Which one is the fastest? Let’s find out!

1. Charcoal is Dry

This might sound obvious, but it really isn’t. When you get a bag of briquettes at the store, you somehow assume the charcoal is nice and dry, and it often is. But, if you have some stored in your backyard, it might be too moist to work.

Charcoal is porous and extremely dry, so it picks up moisture easily. You won’t be able to light this charcoal quickly. There’s some good news, though; you can dry most types of charcoal just by laying them down under the sun for a few hours. Some briquettes are harder to save, as they can crumble when damp.

Also, although you can grill with slightly moist charcoal, you need to use completely dry charcoal as a starter. You can add less than optimal pieces later. Know that charcoal has an infinite shelf-life. As long as it’s dry, you can use it; it will light up beautifully.

So, is this the reason your charcoal grill won’t stay lit? Perhaps your charcoal is just too moist! If you’re sure this isn’t the problem, read on and discover a few other interesting causes for such a common problem.

“You might think the charcoal is the fuel here, but it’s actually the air.”

2. Ventilation Problem

Here’s the thing. Fire needs oxygen. You might think the charcoal is the fuel here, but it’s actually the air. You might have noticed your grill has some kind of vents. They let air find its way to the burning embers, creating combustion. The problem with these vents is that they’re somewhat small, and they can get blocked by ash, briquettes or smaller pieces of lump charcoal.

If your charcoal doesn’t stay lit, there’s a chance it doesn’t have enough ventilation. Just like putting out a candle with a small cup (actually called candle snuffer) when there’s no more air around, the charcoal extinguishes. The good news is that you must only allow some ventilation and try again. You’ll easily light your charcoal back up, especially if you have a firelighter.

Keep in mind you should always grill with the vents open. Start by opening them all the way to create a hot air funnel and close them a bit to control the temperature while you cook. The more you open the vents, the hotter the grill will be.

3. Clean grill

You’ll also notice some obstruction when you don’t clean the grill before using it. That’s why you don’t have enough ventilation and therefore the answer to: Why won’t my charcoal grill stay lit.

Clean the grill before and after using it. And if you’re not using it for extended periods, clean it every month. Make sure there’s no water in the grill, or it will ruin it. Also eliminate all traces of ashes. They retain moisture.

4. Are You Closing the Lid?

Not all grills have a lid, but most professional grills do, from the famous green egg to portable charcoal grills and, of course, smokers. Most grills have a cover, and it helps cook food evenly. The problem with grills with lids is that if you close the lid too early, before the charcoal burns evenly, then the charcoal might lose temperature and extinguish.

To make a fire, you need fuel, a heat source and oxygen. Well, the charcoal is the fuel; the initial spark provides the flame, and oxygen is everywhere unless you close the lid. No oxygen equals charcoal that doesn’t stay lit. We’ll get into our electric lighter later too. So, when should you close your grill’s lid? Generally, you want to close the grill if cooking thick steaks (of over 3/4-inches) or large pieces of meat. Otherwise, you can leave the grill open.

You might also want to close the lid if you throw some wood chips in there or if you’re cooking stubborn food like potatoes. For this type of food, you need some convection, yes, just like an oven, so close the lid to cook these. There’s no real reason to close the lid when starting the fire, though.

5. You Have Low-Quality Charcoal

Grilling is not the time to be cheap, especially when it comes to charcoal. A bag of charcoal can go for a few bucks and up to twenty bucks for some fancy Briquettes or nice lump charcoal. So does the price of coal mean anything? Actually, yes.

Did you know one of the most expensive types of charcoal in the world comes from Japan? It’s called binchotan. This specialty is made with hard oak and burns at around 300 degrees without producing smoke!

So, yes, the type of charcoal matters. The cheap stuff, often with a low carbon content of around 50%, is hard to light up and hard to keep lit — it also produces relatively low heat. Why bother, then?

“The charcoal is just half the story”

If you have trouble keeping your grill going, you might be working with the wrong type of charcoal. Splurge a little; it’s worth it. After all, the grill’s temperature matters, and so does the temperature it produces.

And here’s a final tip on the matter. The charcoal is just half the story; use fruitwoods, hickory or mesquite to give some personality to your grilling. Wood will also help the coals stay lit.

6. Stack Them

Talking with a few grill masters, it turns out one of the most common causes for charcoal not staying lit is a rookie mistake, and it’s more common than you think. The good news? It’s an easy fix!

“everyone is a charcoal-piling expert”

If you’re not staking the charcoal as you light it, you’re not allowing for air to slip through and fuel those flames. Never lay coals flat on the grill; instead, pile them up while leaving some space between them.

There are many techniques here, and it seems everyone is a charcoal-piling expert. Of course, a charcoal chimney might help, but they’re often bulky and not very practical. When it comes to charcoal chimneys, you either love or hate them. But there’s no right or wrong answer here!

In a nutshell, your charcoal is not staying lit because you’re not piling it, or you’re piling it wrong. It’s okay if you’re a noob but come on! We’re talking about a basic grilling skill here! So, keep on practicing! Seriously, the difference between a blistering, successful grill and a so-so one is the way you arrange your coal and the heat you get from it.

7. Perhaps It’s Just Humid Outside!

Is the charcoal not hot enough? Although some things you can control, there are many others you can’t. You might have nice, dry charcoal, a perfectly clean grill, and the correct technique. If the weather is not on your side, sometimes there’s little you can do! How to keep fire going in the grill? Sometimes you can’t!

“Once you reach a temperature between 450°-600° F, humidity won’t have a chance against your grill.”

Many places worldwide often have humidity levels as high as 70%, and that doesn’t help — especially when trying to light a fire. Humidity is in the air, and it dampens everything, including your wood and charcoal. Of course, this will not only make lighting up the grill harder, but it might also cause your charcoal to cool off and die; your charcoal is not hot enough.

Did you know the most humid season in most places globally is summer? Which is when we all want to go out and play with our grills. And sure, humidity might not be a factor where you live, but if you can’t keep those embers burning, it might be mother nature having a bad day.

Sadly, there’s nothing you can do about humidity. Your best bet is to light the first coals and keep on feeding them with dry fuel. Once you reach a temperature between 450°-600° F, humidity won’t have a chance against your grill.

How to Keep a Charcoal Grill Lit?

Provided you brought the right kind of charcoal, and it is dry and in good condition, keeping charcoal lit is easy. That’s your answer to why won’t my charcoal grill stay lit. Now, the next pressing question, how to keep fire going in the grill?

“Dry coal, ventilation, adequate spacing and patience. That’s the secret formula right there.”

Once you’ve got those embers going, it’s time to keep them lit. Remember to light the charcoals in a pile and then spread them around the grill. You can then add more charcoal to hot coals. This is an excellent opportunity to create a ‘hot’ and a ‘cold’ zone on the grill to cook different things at different temperatures.

Make sure you have adequate ventilation and that the vents are not obstructed. Once lit, you need not add any liquid or other fuel; charcoals are cool like that — once they get going, they won’t stop. That’s the beauty of it! That’s how to keep a charcoal grill lit right there.

Dry coal, ventilation, adequate spacing and patience. That’s the secret formula right there. And remember, we all have different grills and live in different places — what works for you might not work for a fellow grill-enthusiast. Still, we’ve got to start somewhere, right? After all, we’re all a big meat-loving family.

Before we wrap this one up, let’s look at the different ways of lighting the grill. In fact, that’s what usually makes all the difference!

Use a Better Fire Starter Method

Lighting a grill and keeping that charcoal lit can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to. There are many ways of lighting your grill, so which one is best? Well, it depends. Here are the most popular methods of lighting charcoal.

Traditionally, you might use some kind of charcoal fluid or fire starter to get things going, but here’s the thing. One, it’s dangerous; two, your food might end up tasting like a nasty liquid; three, you might need to add a lot of fluid if the charcoal isn’t in prime condition. A second method, one friendlier, is steeping paper with cooking oil and building your charcoal pile around it. With some patience and a little luck, you’ll get that fire going in fifteen to twenty minutes. And we’ll admit, there’s nothing wrong with this method, but you DO need to be patient; we hope your kin is not too hungry! A third method is revolutionary and has taken the world of cooking with fire by storm (of course). Looft lighter – An electric lighter . A handy appliance that propels hot air, lighting charcoal in just sixty seconds. The firelighter is relatively straightforward, but it’s still genius. Just point and shoot — you’ll thank us later! And then you can add more charcoal to hot coals.

Summary: Let’s Get That Fire Going!

Hopefully, you found what you were looking for and have identified what’s wrong with your charcoal. Was it the humidity? Or were you just not paying attention? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that now you’re all set to light that grill and cook some food for your friends and family.

Sure, we all have bad days in front of the grill, but we can always learn something new. Mastering the art of cooking with smoke and fire is worth it, even if sometimes things don’t go our way.

Now that you know how to keep a charcoal grill lit, let’s marinate some meat and get that grill flamed up. Who’s up for a grilling party?

How To Keep A Grill Lit: All The Do’s And Don’ts • BoatBasinCafe

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Despite so many conversations on how charcoal grills are wasteful and bad for the environment, people can’t seem to stop using them.

The onion grill trend might be grass grill at the moment, but the charm of good ol’ fashioned charcoal grill stays the same.

Maybe it’s due to the irreplaceable smoky flavors or the gorgeous char marks on stakes, charcoal grill is not going anywhere anytime soon.

One issue however, people have with them is how tricky it is to start a fire on them. And if you manage to actually do so, it does not want to stay lit.

So in this guide, we will explore how to keep a grill lit. We will also see the best methods of firing up a charcoal grill. And as a bonus, you will get our expert tips for the best BBQ experience!

You may also like: How to start a traeger grill

How to Light a Charcoal BBQ with Fire Starters

Charcoal BBQ with Fire Starters

The easiest way to light a charcoal BBQ is to use fire starters. It takes approximately 40 minutes for it to heat up all the way through. Here’s how you do it.

01. Use Enough Briquettes:

Most people end up using too little charcoal and the fire dies very fast. Use enough briquettes so this doesn’t happen. Read the instructions behind your charcoal package and it should say how much you’ll need for a certain period of grilling.

02. Pile ‘em Up!

Do not spread the charcoal all over the grill. Instead pile them in one spot like a pyramid. It’s better to pile all the charcoal in one corner of the grill.

03. Place All Natural Starter Cubes:

Now it’s time to bring out your starter cubes. Use all natural ones as they don’t contain any chemicals.

Place them in different corners in the pile. Tuck them inside so the fire gets all the way through.

04. Open the Vent:

Light up the fire starter cubes using an automatic fire starter. Then open the vent of your BBQ grill. This will cause the air to flow easily and make the charcoal lit up faster.

05. Start the Timer:

Start the timer and wait for 40-45 minutes. Fire starters are the easiest way but it does take more than half an hour for the grill to be ready. So always plan ahead for your BBQs.

You can simply go somewhere else and go to your BBQ marination or other tasks. When the timer goes off, your grill will be ready.

How to Start a Charcoal Grill with Lighter Fluid

lighting a charcoal grill

Lighter fluid is probably the most common method of lighting up a charcoal grill. Well loved by all dads around the world, this method can be quite risky if you are not being careful.

Lighter fluid lights up inconsistently. So it can be tricky to learn how to do it the most efficient way. We recommend following these simple steps.

First you have to arrange your charcoal and gather them together into a pyramid-like shape. So it should go from larger to smaller piles. Pour the lighter fluid evenly over all the coals. Be sure to read the instructions on the packaging to know exactly how much you need to use. In general, you need a light even coating but not too much. Do not pour the liquid in one spot. Wait 30 seconds for the coals to absorb the liquid. Then lit it up with a matchstick. You can use a grill lighter to light the coals in separate places. Once the coals are lit, don’t add any more fluids. It might take a few minutes for the coals to catch fire. But once they do, you can spread them evenly using a stick and start grilling.

Tips for Getting Started with Charcoal Grills

It’s important to prepare the grill for lighting. This part needs to be done long before you start. Make sure to buy the best quality charcoal you can find within your budget.

If you save bucks in this step, your food might end up tasting a bit off. As the charcoal gives the smokiness, picking the right type is essential.

Choosing the right charcoal includes figuring out whether you want big lumps or smaller chunks. What kind of scent you want.

Whether you want hardwood or oak or cedar. Certain dishes benefit from certain smokes. So do your research on this part.

Arranging the charcoal is not as simple as you might think. You can’t just dump all your charcoal into the grill. You need to arrange the pieces from bigger to smaller.

This way you get the best smokiness and result. The way you spread your charcoal also ensures even/uneven heat distribution.

How to Keep a Grill Lit

starting charcoal grill

If you struggle to keep your grill lit, there might be some stuff you’re doing wrong. Here’s our simple guide to keep your charcoal grill lit and ready for cooking:

01. Use Dry Charcoal:

This one is pretty obvious but your charcoal needs to be dry. Sometimes when we store our charcoal in the garage on concrete floors, it gets damp and wet.

Using those charcoal can make the grill smoke way too much. They might not even lit up in the first place. So make sure your charcoal is dry.

02. Dampers:

Dampers are very important to keep a grill lit and hot. Every charcoal grill comes with one or two damers.

They control and moderate the airflow and keep the fire going. You can control the dampers to moderate how high or low the fire should be.

Pampers basically let oxygen run through the charcoal. More oxygen means more fire. So when you’re preheating, open the vents and let the oxygen do it’s thing.

03. Always Stack up:

Charcoal should be stacked rather than scattered. When you stack your charcoal, the fire stays the same and high for a longer period of time. The charcoal then works as a shield and keeps the temperature consistent.

It’s ideal to stack up your charcoal right in the middle of the grill. This way the fire can reach every single corner.

04. Clean Your Grill:

This is no other obvious one but you need to clean your charcoal grill more often. If you don’t clean your grill on a regular basis, the ashes and grimes can cause it to not stay lit for a long time. So clean your astray more than you think you have to.

05. Consider the Weather:

The weather plays a very influential role in keeping a grill lit. If the weather is humid, the charcoal can get damp and thus not lit up properly.

If the weather is too windy, the fire can die from the high airflow. Breeze is not your friend in grilling. You might need to use some sort of shield or cover the grill with its lid to prevent the fire from dying.

How to Keep Charcoal Grill Hot

Keep Adding Charcoals:

As you turn on the fire and the charcoal starts burning, you have to keep adding more charcoal after a certain amount of time. As the charcoal keeps burning, they disintegrate, so the quantity decreases overtime.

Adding more charcoal helps to keep the temperature steady so your charcoal grill stays hot.

You may also like: How to Connect Natural Gas Line to Grill

Add Wood Chunks:

Many people get intimidated by woods. They don’t add wood for BBQs. Many things can go wrong with wood. You can pick the wrong type that creates a bad odor, it can be too damp.

But if you can pick good quality wood chunks, they will help to keep the charcoal grill hot for longer. They are great at keeping the fire alive.

Invest in a Temperature Probe:

If you are passionate about grilling, it’s smart to invest in a temperature probe. If you want to keep your grill stable and at a specific temperature level, keep an eye on the temperature prble.

This way whenever the temp is going down, you can add a few bits of wood or change the airflow to fix it.

Create 2-Zones:

Most modern gas grills come with double grilling zones. If you want to keep your charcoal grill hot for longer, creating double zones is essential.

What it basically means is, you have to create direct and indirect heating. This helps to use your grill in a very versatile manner. You can even use it as a smoker.

To do that, you have to move all the coals to one side after lighting them up. Put them on either the left or right side in a stacked manner.

Then put the grill grates back on. Once the grates are in place, you will notice half of the grate is super high in temperature while the other half is moderately hot. So you can sear your steaks on the hot side for a few minutes then move it to the moderate hot side.

This helps to not only use the coals in an efficient way, but also makes cooking faster and versatile. You will be able to cook a few different types of meat at the same time. Due to seperation, the moderate hot side remains steady in temperature which is perfect for grilling.

How to Stop Charcoal Grill

If you are done with cooking and want to put out your charcoal grill, there is a fool-proof method for it.

You can simply close the lid. Yes it can be this easy. When you are tired and can’t be bothered, close the lids and vents on your grill and let it sit like that for a while.

The lack of oxygen will eventually cause the fire to die. The coals however can take 2-3 days to completely cool down. This method is by far the safest way to put out a charcoal grill.

Frequently Asked Questions

01. Can I Add More Charcoal While Cooking?

Yes you can. You can definitely add more charcoal during and in-between grilling. Infact, we recommend doing so. This is a great way to keep the temperature steady.

As you cook, the colas start to disintegrate. Longer grilling can cause them to decrease in amount. So adding a few scoops of charcoal in between grilling can actually help.

We recommend doing it in smaller amounts. Instead of adding a big portion of charcoal, divide it in 3-4 parts and add them in a closed interval. This way the temperature won’t suddenly drop due to cold charcoal.

02. Can I Pour Water on My Charcoal Grill?

No matter what you do, never pour water directly on hot charcoal. Yes it will definitely put out the fire but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

The thermal shock of drastic temperature change can cause your grill to crack. This is not a joke when grills are so expensive to begin with!

Another issue with pouring water over hot charcoal is the sudden cloud of steam. It can be hazardous and cause your eyes to water severely.

Then after all this imagine the cleanup you’ll have to do. You’ll have to remove all the charcoal from the grill, clean the bottom of the grill very thoroughly to remove the ash and water. It can get very messy. So why bother?

03. Does Closing the Grill Make It Hotter?

Contrary to popular beliefs, closing the grill does not make it hotter. In fact, it cools down the coals and turns the temperature down.

The misconception probably comes from traditional cooking. When you are cooking on the stove and you put a lid on a pot, the inner temperature increases because the air can not get out. In grilling however, the opposite happens.

This is due to the vents underneath the grill. Those vents provide oxygen which causes the coal to burn faster. The faster the coal burns, the higher the temperature gets.

So when you put a lid on, the air can jto pass through cand the charcoal starts too slow-burn. It’s a great way to smoke your food as the temperature remains steady and low.

04. Why Does My Fire Keep Going Out on My Grill?

If your fire keeps going out, chances are there isn’t enough air ventilation going on. Fire needs oxygen to stay lit and hot. Without sufficient air, the coals will eventually die out.

So make sure the vents underneath your grill are open. Another thing to focus on is to not use damp coals or wood.

Damp coals might lit up but they won’t stay lit for longer. So make sure the charcoal is bone dry.

05. How Can I Save Unused Charcoal?

After you have coveted your grill and killed the fire, a good amount of charcoal can be left inside. Keep in mind the charcoal keeps burning until they cool down completely. So you might not have enough salvageable colas left.

But if you do, there is a way to save them for next time. Fill up a metal basket with cold water and then dunk the charcoal in the water. Wear a heat-proof glove and use metal tongs to move the charcoal around.

Grab each individual charcoal and dunk them in the water for 60 seconds. Then transfer them to somewhere with enough air.

Allow them to dry in the sun. When they are completely bone dry, store them in an airtight container until needed.

06. Is It Better to Leave Grill Open or Closed?

This depends on what kind of meat you are cooking. If you are grilling thin cuts of meat, you don’t need a longer period of time to cook it.

So you can keep the lid open. The high temperature will grill the mat within a few minutes.

But if you are grilling something large like a brisket or ribs, it’s better to close the lid to let it cook for longer. When you close the lid, the temperature remains steady and low.

So you won’t have a piece of meat that’s burnt on the outside but raw on the inside.

To End

Keeping the temperature of your charcoal grill consistent is a very tough job. It takes a long time for grill enthusiasts to master this skill. As it’s one of the integral parts of barbecuing, knowing how to keep a grill lit is super important.

Hopefully with our easy guide you were able to grab some useful tips and hacks. Now tell us, what method do you use to light up your BBQ?

Do you have any tips for us to keep the heat consistent? Let us know in the comments down below!

So you have finished reading the how to get charcoal to stay lit topic article, if you find this article useful, please share it. Thank you very much. See more: how to get charcoal lit, how to keep a charcoal grill going for hours, when is charcoal ready to cook on, how to relight charcoal grill, how to keep a grill lit, why is my charcoal not burning, how to keep charcoal lit without lighter fluid, when to put food on charcoal grill

Top 11 How To Get Charcoal To Stay Lit All Answers

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Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Why Won’t My Charcoal Grill Stay Lit? – 7 tips – LOOFT

How to Keep a Charcoal Grill Lit (And Why You were Failing)

How To Keep A Grill Lit: All The Do’s And Don’ts • BoatBasinCafe

8 Common Reasons Your Charcoal Won’t Light – What To Do

Charcoal Grill Keep Going Out? 5 Tips to Keep A Hot Flame

6+ Hacks How to Keep a Charcoal Grill Lit? – Beezzly

How to Light Charcoal Before Grilling

Help! My Charcoal Won’t Stay Lit When Grilling or Smoking

Why Won’t My Charcoal Grill Stay Lit?

How To Keep A Grill Lit: All The Do’s And Don’ts • BoatBasinCafe

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Why Won’t My Charcoal Grill Stay Lit? – 7 tips
– LOOFT