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Know what you're searching for. Even heat distribution is key, and it's achieved by changing the vents to let oxygen in and out and stacking the coals to produce indirect and direct cooking zones. You also want a blazing-hot fire. Charcoal does not contain water, allowing it to reach those white-coal temperatures that produce the ideal sear on a steak or char on a cob of corn.

Sure, there are many types of charcoal grills, from barrel shaped to flat-tops. Even a standard Weber Original Kettle grill (premier in Consumer Reports' "Finest Charcoal Grills of 2020") can surpass the others merely based on its classic shape, which is optimal for heat blood circulation.

If you desire the highest-performing, a lot of heat-efficient charcoal-burning grill on the market and cost isn't a deterrent, consider a Kamado, whose designs consist of The Big Green Egg (see opposite page). Choose swelling charcoal over briquettes.

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This hollow metal cylinder with a bottom grate holds the charcoal. You use paper and matches or an air-driven lighter to assist the charcoal catch fire and never have food that tastes like lighter fluid.

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One failsafe technique is to choose thigh meat, which has more fat and for that reason greater juiciness and flavor. Do not like dark meat? Purchase bone-in, skin-on breasts and cook them carefully over indirect heat. Zerkel also recommends marinating the breast ahead of time and butterflying it slicing open the breast to make two cutlets.

The way you cook this lean white meat makes a distinction, too. To keep it from losing its precious juices, "I would burn it and move it to the cold side of the grill" to prepare gradually, he says. He also purchases whole chickens, cuts them up and has parts he can prepare differently grilled thighs, poached (in liquid on the stove) breasts for ramen.

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Season your meat with salt and let it come to room temperature level. (You can even season it approximately 8 hours before cooking and let it sit in the fridge.) Position the steak on the hottest part of the grate and scorch it for 2 to three minutes on each side.

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Move the meat to the cooler part of the grill to complete it off to whatever temperature you like. "I'll put a half-cabbage on the 'cold' side of the grill, get a good char on it, and it softens and becomes something else" something terrific, he states.

He then puts it cut side down and leaves it alone. "The crust it forms will also assist it different" from the grate without breaking down, he states. For cleaning, choose a wire brush. Before using it each time, Zerkel scrapes the grate and cleans it down with oil.

Weber Original Kettle 26," $329 at Town Ace Hardware (2170 N. Prospect Ave.) Proponents declare the huge benefit is the taste it imparts to food that tantalizing smoky taste. Zerkel, an expert chef who's accustomed to utilizing a range's knobs and temperature level controls with precision, likes this technique of cooking for its unpredictability.

Photo by Aliza Baran The Big Green Egg can bake, slow-smoke, saut and sear. If cost is no object, this grill simply may be for you. Photo thanks to Didriks You may have become aware of this device a green, egg-shaped ceramic grill that can cook a pizza at 700 degrees in minutes and smoke a beef brisket at 220 degrees for 14 hours.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

The Big Green Egg is a grilling investment that may make good sense if you plan to use it a lot. Todd Minkin does. The Fein Brothers co-owner keeps his Egg in routine rotation in summertime. What does he like about it? "Since of the density of the ceramic, it holds its temperature level well.

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The Egg does not need much charcoal, and for those who loathe cleansing grills, this one is low-maintenance. To buy: Particularly great for steaks, ground meat and pork ribs, bone-in roasts, chops.