Whether it’s coals or propane, the fire of the grill is a passionate pursuit – blending nature and skill to produce something greater than the sum of its parts. While no one starts out a born pitmaster, it’s not difficult to get started.

Picking Your Grill

You’ve got several options when you begin your barbecue journey. Usually, you’ll find yourself dealing with gas, propane, electric, or the traditional charcoal grill. There are varying levels of complication to these but are easily identifiable. Look for a tank or cord to classify your grill easily – but don’t worry, even for far far-reaching Filipino-style inasal menu, most of these options will work.

Prepping Your Grill

Once you’ve got your kind of grill all figured out, it’s time to start prepping it for meat, the first step for any aspiring pitmaster. It’s your chance the perfectly clean your grill of grime, gunk, or dust that litters the grill – as well as season it to prevent your meat from sticking to it. You also have to make sure nothing’s blocking off your heat source, especially from past uses of ash and coal, if your grill is a charcoal one.

Fuelling Your Grill

With a clean, seasoned, and prepped grill, you’re almost ready to go – it’s time to make sure your power or fuel source is ready to go. To make sure, preheat your grill (you can think of it as preheating an oven in the same way) – and note that propane and charcoal grills are somewhat more complicated to get going than electric or gas ones.

Cooking on Your Grill

Cooking on Your Grill
Cooking on Your Grill – Image via Flickr

While it may be a simple endeavour to control the fires with an electric, gas, or propane grill (it’s as easy as turning a few knobs), adjusting temperatures on a coal-burning grill is going to be more of an effort. You’ll have to take into account things like oxygen flow, direct/indirect heat, and coal volume to ensure the best cook, regardless if it’s American barbecue, or from a Filipino brand like Mang Inasal Philippines.