Grill and barbecue: juicy kebabs, proper coals and vegetables with char marks

The most common mistake is putting kebabs over flames. An open fire burns the surface while the middle stays raw. You grill over the heat of the coals: they give off even infrared heat without flames.

Coals are ready when covered in an even layer of grey ash and no longer flaming. Usually that's 30–40 minutes after lighting for charcoal and 40–60 minutes for wood. If the coals glow red under the ash in the dark, the heat is just right.

Push the coals to one half of the grill, leaving the other half empty or thinly covered. That gives two zones: direct heat for the crust and indirect heat to finish cooking without burning.

It solves most problems: thick pieces, bone-in chicken, sausages — start over direct heat for colour, then move to indirect to finish. If fat flares up, just move the skewer to the cool zone.

Hold your palm 10–12 cm above the grate, where the meat will be, and count the seconds until you have to pull it away.

Kebabs need meat with some fat running through it: the fat melts over the heat and keeps the meat from drying out. Lean cuts dry out quickly over coals.

A lot of vinegar doesn't make meat more tender — it "cooks" the outside: acid sets the protein, the surface turns grey and stringy and the kebab ends up dry. A classic marinade for pork neck needs no vinegar at all.

The simplest and best marinade: per 1 kg meat — 2–3 onions, grated or sliced into rings and squeezed by hand until juicy, 2 tsp salt (1–1.5% of the weight), 1 tsp ground pepper and spices to taste. Onion gives juice and enzymes; salt keeps the meat juicy. 4–12 hours in the fridge.

For chicken, kefir, yoghurt or soy sauce with honey work well. More in our article on marinades.

Thread the pieces with a 3–5 mm gap rather than tight together: otherwise heat can't get between them and the sides stay raw. Onion rings from the marinade can go between the pieces. Soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes so they don't burn.

Grill over high heat for the first 5 minutes, turning every 1–2 minutes — the surface sets quickly and holds the juice. Then turn every 3–4 minutes. Pork kebabs are done in 15–20 minutes, chicken thigh kebabs in 12–15.

Doneness: cut into the largest piece — the juice runs clear and the meat is pale with no pink. More precise is a thermometer: pork 63–70 °C, chicken 74 °C and above.

Fat dripping onto the coals flares up. Many people splash water on the coals — but that raises a cloud of ash that settles on the meat and kills the heat.

Better to move the skewers aside into the indirect zone and let the fat burn off. On a lidded grill, close the lid: without oxygen the flames go out. If you need to knock the heat back, use a fine-mist spray bottle aimed at the flame, not the meat.

Vegetables should be dry, brushed with oil and salted just before grilling. Courgettes and aubergines in 1–1.5 cm rounds, 3–4 minutes per side. Peppers whole until blackened in patches, then into a bag for 10 minutes — the skin slips off. Corn 10–15 minutes, turning. Button mushrooms whole on skewers, 6–8 minutes.

Fish sticks to the grate — use a fish basket or grill it skin-side down. Clean the grate thoroughly, heat it and oil it. Salmon steaks 2–3 cm thick, 3–4 minutes per side. Whole mackerel and sea bream 6–8 minutes per side.

Shrimp on skewers: 1.5–2 minutes per side over high heat. Thread them onto two parallel skewers so they don't spin when you turn them.

Hardwoods suit a barbecue: birch, oak, fruitwoods (apple, cherry, pear) — they give even heat and a pleasant aroma. Softwoods like spruce and pine are no good: the resin gives bitter soot.

Charred, black patches on meat are not a "tasty crust". Heavy charring produces compounds that are harmful if eaten often. Cut off burnt bits, don't grill over open flame and use marinades — they reduce the formation of these compounds.

Never leave the grill unattended, keep a bucket of water or sand nearby and never squirt lighter fluid onto burning coals — the flame can travel up the stream. Put the coals out completely with water, but only once you've finished cooking.