From starter to dessert using direct, indirect and mixed heat 🔥
If you’ve been following the blog, you’re already halfway to becoming a barbecue master:
- You know how to light a charcoal barbecue without any drama.
- You can distinguish between direct, indirect and mixed heat.
Now it’s time for the next logical step:
‘Okay, so with all this knowledge, what menu can I put together to look like a real barbecue boss?’
The idea of this post is to show you that you can put together a complete menu (starter, main course, side dishes and dessert) Using only these three fire settings, whether you cook with Weber, Napoleon, Kamado Joe, Imor, Masterbuilt, Ofyr… any of the brands you find at barbecueworld.es.
How we organise the barbecue
Before the menu, let’s set the stage.
On a round charcoal barbecue (Weber, Napoleon, Imor, Char-Griller, etc.)
- Set up a mixed fire:
- Embers on one side → direct heat.
- The other side without embers → indirect heat.
On a kamado (Kamado Joe, etc.)
- Use the deflector system:
- A half-moon with a deflector → indirect.
- Another without a deflector → direct.
On a gas barbecue (Napoleon, Weber, etc.)
Light only the burners on one side.
Side lit → direct.
Side unlit → indirect.
With this set up, the rest of the day is just a matter of moving the food from one side to the other.
Starter: grilled vegetables and melted cheese
Technique: direct + indirect.
What we are going to serve
- Grilled vegetables (peppers, courgettes, aubergines, asparagus, etc.).
- Provolone or Camembert cheese in a small casserole dish.
Step by step
- Vegetables
- Cut into thick strips or slices.
- Oil, salt and you’re ready to go.
- Cheese
- In a small casserole dish or tray suitable for barbecuing.
- You can add oil, herbs, pepper, nuts, etc.
- Direct searing
- Vegetables on the direct side until they are well seared.
- Finish indirectly
- Move the vegetables to the indirect area to soften them.
- Put the cheese on the indirect side too, cover and wait for it to bubble.
While the cheese is finishing melting, you’ll already have half the table with bread in hand waiting around the barbecue 😏
Main course: slow-cooked ribs + quick grilled meat
A) Indirect ribs (the ones that take longer)
- Preparation
- Remove the membrane from the back, if there is one.
- Cover with a rub (salt, brown sugar, paprika, garlic, etc.).
- Indirect cooking
- Place the ribs on the side without coals / with a deflector.
- Temperature around 120–140 ºC.
- If you like, add a little wood for smoking at the beginning.
- Patience
- Leave them for 2–3 hours, depending on their thickness.
- Optional: wrap them in aluminium foil for part of the time to make them more tender.
- Final touch
- In the last few minutes, move them to the direct side for a moment to caramelise the barbecue sauce if you like.
B) Quick meat on the direct side
While the ribs are cooking at their own pace, on the direct side you can cook:
- Entrecôte or T-bone steaks.
- Secreto, pluma, presa, chops.
- Homemade burgers, skewers…
Just remember the trick:
- Sear over direct heat.
- If it browns too quickly, move it to indirect heat so that it finishes cooking inside without burning on the outside.
This combo works wonders on charcoal barbecues.
Side dishes: potatoes, corn and garlic bread
Roasted potatoes (indirect)
- Whole or halved potatoes, wrapped in aluminium foil with oil, salt and, if desired, garlic and rosemary.
- Place in the indirect zone almost from the start.
- They will be soft in 45–60 minutes.
- Optional: remove them from the foil and give them a quick final touch on the direct side to brown them.
Corn on the cob (mixed)
- Brush the corn cobs with butter or oil and salt.
- Start on indirect heat so that they cook on the inside.
- Finish on direct heat to get those delicious toasted spots.
Garlic bread / toasted bread (direct express)
- Do this near the end so that it comes out hot.
- Direct zone, 1–2 minutes per side and keep a close eye on it.
- On Ofyr-type barbecues or griddles, it turns out amazing.
Barbecue dessert: s’mores your way
Let’s make a very easy and impressive dessert that can be made at any barbecue:
s’mores, or, translated into our language, ‘biscuit, chocolate and toasted marshmallow sandwich’.
What you need
- Maria or digestive biscuits.
- Chocolate bars (dark, milk or whichever you prefer).
- Marshmallows.
How to make it
- Assemble the base
- Place a chocolate bar on a biscuit.
- Have another biscuit ready to close the “sandwich”.
- Toast the marshmallow (directly with care)
- Skewer the marshmallow on a metal skewer or kebab stick.
- Hold it for a few seconds directly over the flame, but not too close: you want it to brown, not catch fire (we’ve all been there 😅).
- Final assembly
- When the marshmallow is golden brown and soft, place it on top of the chocolate and close with the other biscuit.
- Wait a few seconds: the heat from the marshmallow will melt the chocolate.
Done: an easy dessert that’s fun to make with children and perfect for barbecues.
Optional: how to add a smoky touch to your menu
If you read the post about smoking, you’ll know that with very little effort you can take the flavour of your entire menu up a notch.
How do we do it?
At barbecueworld.es you’ll find:
- Chips made from woods such as apple, cherry, whisky, wine…
- Chunks (larger pieces) for low & slow cooking.
- Pellets and other formats for different barbecues.
Quick ideas for adding extra smoke to this menu
- Starter
- Add a small amount of mild chips (apple, for example) at the beginning of cooking the vegetables and cheese.
- This will give a light aroma without overpowering the dish.
- Ribs
- Here you can use chunks or a slightly more intense mixture (whisky, oak, wine, etc.).
- Add them at the beginning and let them work their magic for the first few hours.
- Quick meat
- A small handful of aromatic chips on the coals just before adding the entrecôte or hamburgers will give you a smoky touch without any drama.
- Dessert
- If you want to go a little crazy, you can toast marshmallows with a light touch of fruit wood.
- Don’t overdo it: just a little so it smells like a ‘country home,’ not an industrial chimney.
Golden rule:
less is more. It’s better for people to think ‘it smells so good’ than ‘ugh, it just tastes like smoke.’
How to fit all this in (without getting overwhelmed)
A possible order:
- Light the barbecue with a chimney starter, electric lighter or firelighters (as covered in the previous post).
- Set up a mixed fire.
- Place the potatoes and ribs in the indirect area.
- After 30 minutes, start with the vegetables and cheese from the starter.
- While the starter is finishing, the ribs continue to cook.
- After the starter, cook the quick meat on the barbecue.
- Next, it’s time for the corn and garlic bread.
- Then it’s time for s’mores with the remaining embers.
There’s no need to time it down to the second; it’s about understanding what goes on the barbecue and what goes in the indirect zone, and enjoying the process.
What barbecues and accessories can I use to do this?
With practically all the barbecues we work with at Barbecue World:
- Charcoal: Weber, Napoleon, Imor, Masterbuilt, Char-Griller…
- Kamados: Kamado Joe (Classic, Big Joe, Jr.).
- Gas: Napoleon, Weber and others, using side burners.
And with the help of:
- Chimney starters, electric lighters and briquettes.
- Charcoal baskets and deflectors.
- Grill plates, pizza stones and smoker boxes.
- Our range of smoking woods for those who want ‘smoke mode activated’.
The idea behind this post is in line with the whole blog:
it’s not just about having a good barbecue, but about knowing how to play with fire to put together a complete plan around it.
With direct, indirect and mixed heat, a little organisation and a desire to enjoy yourself, you can put together an entire menu from start to finish… and, if you feel like it, with that smoky touch that makes everyone ask ‘how did you do that?’.
And as always, if you want to adapt this menu to your specific barbecue, we’ll be waiting for you at our shop in Estepona or on the other side of barbecueworld.es to fine-tune it together 🔥😄
