Setting up your barbecue

Fuel For kindling, use hardwoods such as oak, apple, beech, elm, hornbeam, cherry, pear or plum. Avoid softwoods, especially pine, which gives off a resinous deposit that makes the food bitter. Juniper is different; it adds a nice flavor to food. Woody branches of rosemary, bay and thyme as well as vine cuttings can be used for kindling, and to throw on the barbecue at the end of cooking to flavor the smoke and gently scent the air.

For the primary source of fuel there are several choices. Logs will not last as long as lump wood charcoal or briquettes, but are perfect for beach barbecues. Lump wood charcoal, which is wood that has been cooked in a kiln, is ideal for open braziers and portable barbecues. Check the size before you buy, as small pieces can fall through the bars of your barbecue's fuel rack.

Briquettes are made from particles of charcoal mixed with a binder and formed into shapes of a uniform size. They tend to last longer than pieces of lump wood.

Use briquettes and lump wood charcoal from sustain ably managed forests. These will carry the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) logo, an independent organization set up to regulate, amongst other things, the use of trees from forests throughout the world.

Firelighters Odorless barbecue firelighter cubes (not the type made for domestic fires) are made without paraffin, and will not taint the food. Two of these, broken in half and pushed into the unlit coals or newspaper under a fire chimney, will be sufficient for the average barbecue. Alternatively, use barbecue lighter gel. This concentrated slime is 100 per cent vegetable in origin, and is quite efficient when squeezed on to the coals and lit with a long match. If you must use lighter fluid, follow the directions carefully and lock it away after use.

Getting the Heat Right An average gas barbecue will be ready to go after about 15 minutes. Charcoal needs longer, and will be ready 30-45 minutes after the fuel has been ignited. There is an art to starting a charcoal barbecue. You will learn to gauge how much fuel to use, but as a guide, a couple of layers of lump wood charcoal or a packed, single layer of briquettes on the fuel rack will give you sufficient heat to run a barbecue for 1-1½ hours. Heap the fuel up in the centre, using newspaper and twigs underneath as kindling, or one or two firelighters. Do not use more fuel in the belief that the fire will burn for longer: it will be hotter, and will burn just as quickly.

If you do make an error with quantities and have a large amount of extremely hot coals, dissipate this energy either by using the griddle on the rack, or by protecting foods in a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Spit roasting is the exception - it actually benefits from high temperatures. The meat cooks to a delicious crispness as it turns.

It is not difficult to estimate the heat of the fire by its appearance. When very hot, both lump wood charcoal and briquettes will glow red, with a light dusting of white or grey ash. At this temperature, thin foods can be seared quickly. These are the right conditions for cooking rare steaks. As the temperature drops to medium, the ash covering gets slightly thicker, with only dots of red showing in places. This is good for most food. When the ash is very thick and powdery, and the coals crumble and collapse when touched, the heat will be low. If extra coals are added at this point, they will ignite and replenish the fire and the coals will take 15-20 minutes to burn down to a useable temperature again. To do this during the cooking, move the grill rack with the food to a tray and cover it while refueling. Add about half the original amount of coals, return the food and complete the cooking.

Changing the Temperature The barbecue heat can be altered a little during cooking. To increase the temperature, move the coals to knock off the ash, and then pile them up again in the centre of the firebox. If the fire is too hot, carefully spread out the coals and close any air vents in the base for a few minutes. If your barbecue has a lid, use it with the air vents closed to reduce the temperature quickly.

Another way of regulating the heat once the coals have built up a coating of ash is to move the grill rack up and down. This will not work if the coals are red hot, as any unprotected food would quickly turn to carbon, regardless of distance. If you cannot wait for the coals to cool down, rake them aside, put a drip tray in place and cook by indirect heat, with a lid.

If you know you will need to move coals around or to one side at some stage during cooking it is a good idea to start with some coals on each side or on the side you need them on. Its best if you use briquettes rather than lump wood charcoal as these are easier to move. If the barbecue has air vents in the base, always remember to close them before moving the coals around, and open them again as soon as the coals are positioned.