Blog – BrettsBBQ

Have you ever wondered how your charcoal grill works? Where does it get oxygen, and how does it release excessive heat? If you are a BBQ lover and often arrange outdoor dinners, you must know the grill’s mechanism. You will be surprised that your grill also has a proper ventilation system for precise working. Charcoal grills come with a top and bottom vent. But unfortunately, most people didn’t know how to use and operate these vents. Are you seeking a proper guide for closing and opening your grill’s vent? Do you grill with the vent open? Or do you grill with the vent closed? If you are struggling to find the right way of using vents, no need to look any further. In this article, we will guide you about your vent’s working. But before we explore the right way to use vents, let’s find out what is a grill vent. What are the Vents of the Grill? What happens if your room gets out of oxygen or the excessive heat doesn’t find an emission route? Of course, you will not survive longer. That’s why ventilators like windows are installed in houses and other spaces. They ensure ventilation and heat emission from rooms. The same goes for your charcoal grills. They also need proper ventilation for working. A Vent is a hole in the grill. A typical grill comes with a pair of vents. Two vents are at the bottom, and two are at the top of the lid. Now let’s get straight into the working of vents and find out if working with the vent open is OK. How to use the Vent of the Grill: Open or Close? You must know that the temperature inside the grill plays a vital role in appropriate cooking. Controlling and handling your grill’s temperature is a little tricky sometimes. However, grill lids and vents play an important role in heat control. The bottom vent in the basin is responsible for oxygen supply. And the top vent for checking how much heat is leaving the system. You cook with the vent open or closed, depending on the food’s condition. Sometime during the early stages of cooking meat, we open both vents. While some other time for half-cooked meat, we close both vents. Let’s deep dive into the mechanism of Vents to understand more about it: Grilling with the Vent Open Before we start, let me clarify that this is only for charcoal grills. Vents open means a hotter grill and more charcoal burning. You can open both top and bottom vents when you need a large amount of heat in the grill. The open vents provide a lot of oxygen, increasing the grill's temperature. This condition is required at the initial cooking stage or for direct meat grilling. Grilling with the Vent Close Close vents mean less heat in the cooking range and slow charcoal burning. Closing both vents means extinguishing the charcoal. Mostly, both vents are kept closed when we don’t need any heat. There will be no oxygen supply in this situation, resulting in a lower grill temperature. We shut down the top and bottom vents at the end of cooking to cut down the oxygen supply. It automatically stops charcoal burning. Grilling with the Vent Half Open Do you grill with the vent open? If you keep your grill vents open all the time, it might ruin your food. Keeping the vent open all the time can cause excessive heat, resulting in severe burning of food. Depending on the food’s state, you should adjust your vent positions. What should you do if you are in the middle of cooking and your BBQ ribs don’t need much heat? Well, sometimes food doesn’t need much higher or much lower heat. It just requires a moderate temperature to cook the inner ingredients. At this stage, we grill with half vent open. If you keep the bottom vent half open and the top vent open, it supplies less oxygen. It also removes any smoke in the grill. This results in a moderate grill temperature. This is the perfect state for indirect grilling. Keep the top vent half open, and the bottom vent open will cut down oxygen. But at this stage, it doesn’t allow any ventilation of smoke. This type of condition is required for making smoky dishes. How do I leave the vents after cooking? Most people ask how to leave the grill vents after cooking. Should we close both vents? Or should we open them after cooking? Let’s answer this question and wrap up our discussion. Well, it is very important to close both vents after cooking. It will cut down the oxygen supply, ultimately cooling your grill space. It also stops the charcoal burning. Conclusion As discussed earlier, a vent plays an important role in temperature regulation. For using a charcoal grill professionally, it is very important to understand the mechanism of vents. But keep in mind that every grill has a different structure and working. Charcoal grills, gas grills, and others have different structures. So before adjusting temperature or vents, thoroughly understand how it works. Secondly, the only thing that decides the opening and closing of vents is your food’s cooking stage and temperature requirements. Understand your vent dynamics and have a perfect grill on Sunday. Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs) 1- Do the grill's vents help control temperature? Obviously yes. Grill vents are specially designed to control temperature. They work by supplying oxygen and removing excessive heat and smoke. 2- Do I grill the vent open? Whether you grill with the vent open or closed depends on your food’s heat requirements. 3- How to use vents on Weber charcoal grill? Weber charcoal grills have a pair of vents. One on the top and the other on the bottom. You can leave both vents open if you just started using a grill. But over time, you will learn how to adjust vents and lids.