How to make an ecological and smokeless homemade barbecue

Barbecue fanatics are ready to heat up the grill and invite friends over for a spectacular summer cookout… but it can all go wrong if you make the rookie mistakes.

Preparing a barbecue has its secrets that should be known to make it healthy, clean and friendly to the environment.

1. Prepare it without meat

Yes, without meat. Roasted meat is not healthy because carcinogenic compounds are concentrated in the most burned areas. But a meatless barbecue can be much better: there are vegetable burgers and sausages, and the flavors of the roasted vegetables are incomparable.

In the following articles you will find a lot of ideas for a different barbecue that will amaze your friends.

2. Do not use charcoal from tropical wood

If you don’t use a gas grill, you must purchase charcoal before you start grilling. What many people don’t know is that charcoal and briquettes are too often of tropical origin, so they may be related to the deforestation of the jungle.

Tips for buying charcoal:

buy charcoal with FSC or PEFC seal.Try more sustainable alternatives like briquettes of olive bone, coconut, vine or corn.

Most consumers use charcoal or briquettes when purchasing products to prepare their barbecue. There are two differences to note:

Charcoal burns faster. You can use it to get meat, cheese or vegetables on the grill faster. On the other hand, charcoal burns faster, so the potatoes may not finish roasting well.Unlike charcoal, briquettes take longer to burn, but also last longer. Therefore, a mixture of charcoal and briquettes may be a good option.

3. Avoid smoke

For food to cook over coals, the charcoal must remain glowing and generate a lot of heat. However, it is better to avoid the formation of dense smoke, especially when lighting the fire.

Smoke from the charcoal grill contains particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. Also there is a risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) being formed.

With a lighter or charcoal fireplace, this lights up quickly and without smoke. The lighter is a metal tube where the coal is stacked, which is heated by the chimney effect. The coals are then spread under the grill.

On the other hand, whether more or less smoke is produced also depends on the type of coal. They are recommendeds holm oak, scorpionfish and coconut coals.

If your choice is to prepare the wood barbecue, This has to be as dry as possible.

The gas or electric grills emit virtually no harmful substances into the air and are therefore better for the environment and health.

4. Don’t let leftovers dry on the rack

Even the most beautiful barbecue party ends at some point. No matter how difficult it is, you should not sit with a full stomach and leave the cleaning until the next day.

Soak the grill in water that same night. This makes it easier to clean the dirty screen the next day.

You do not need any special cleaning product. Household products like coffee grounds, ash, baking soda, and cleaning vinegar can help make it look like new.