Your First Cook on a Collapsible Grill

A low-stress plan for the first fire on a new flat pack charcoal grill: what to cook, how much charcoal, and what to watch for.

The first cook on a new grill should be forgiving. Pick food that tolerates a little extra heat, use less charcoal than you think, and leave yourself room to move food around. Here is a plan that works.

Before the day

• Season the grill first: how to season a new collapsible grill.
• Assemble it once at home so you know the order.
• Have a chimney starter, charcoal, long tongs, a spatula, heat-safe gloves and an instant-read thermometer.

The menu

Bratwurst or sausages (fully cooked or fresh), thick-cut vegetables, and something sweet like grilled pineapple. Sausages teach you heat zones, vegetables teach you timing, fruit teaches you how fast sugar burns. Burgers are fine too; see smash burgers on the griddle.

The fire

1. Fill a chimney about half full for the Compact, a bit more for the Full Size.
2. When the top coals are covered in light gray ash, pour them toward one end of the firebox.
3. Leave the other end empty or nearly so. That is your safe zone.
4. Set the grates and let them heat for a few minutes, then scrape and oil them.

The cook

1. Start sausages over the coals to brown, then move them to the empty side to finish.
2. Lay vegetables on the hot side and turn when marked.
3. Check sausages: fresh pork or beef sausage to 160°F, fresh poultry sausage to 165°F, precooked to 165°F.
4. Grill pineapple last, over the hot side, a minute or two per side.

What to notice

How fast food browns over the coals. How much cooler the empty side is. How the fire changes after 30 minutes. That's everything you need to know to plan the next cook.

Fire safety on any collapsible grill

• Outdoors only. Burning charcoal makes carbon monoxide, which you can't see or smell. Never use it in a garage, tent, camper, vehicle, boat cabin or under a roof or awning.
• Non-combustible, level ground. Soil, gravel, sand, concrete, pavers or a fire-safe pad.
• Clearance. Away from walls, vehicles, tents, overhanging branches and dry grass. Kids and pets kept back.
• Seated tabs. Check every tab is fully in its slot before you add fuel.
• Water and gloves at hand. Hot steel looks exactly like cold steel.
• Leave it alone until cold. Don't move or take apart a lit or warm grill.

Mistakes new flat pack owners make

1. Too much charcoal. A small firebox gets very hot. Start with half a chimney and add.
2. No cool zone. Without an empty end, a flare-up has nowhere to go.
3. Cooking on black coals. Wait for gray ash.
4. Old ash left in. It blocks airflow; empty it before every cook.
5. Heavy oil when seasoning. Thin coats cure; thick coats turn gummy.
6. Packing it warm. Wait until steel and ash are cold, every time.

The one-minute care habit

Most carbon steel problems come from skipping the last minute of a cook. After the grill cools, scrape the grates, empty the ash, and wipe a whisper-thin coat of oil or Seasoning Balm on the cooking surfaces. Store it dry. That habit is the difference between a grill that darkens into a slick patina and one that shows orange freckles every spring. If freckles do show up, it's not a disaster: see surface rust.

Questions people ask