Bro BBQ Grilling Temperature and Time

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After all that’s being said and observed about grilling, there is the obvious fact about temperatures that cannot be ignored in this process.

Paying a good worth of attention to the grill temperature and cooking time during this activity will either turn your food into scrumptious or run it down as unenjoyable.

For this reason, as BBQ enthusiasts, we share this BBQ grill temperature chart to guide you as you cook. Be it beef, fish, seafood, veggies, or lamb, the guide gives you options to achieve varying levels of doneness.

Meanwhile, it is important to note that this chart is built on approximate estimations to serve as a grilling aid. The technique of grilling comes with experience and skill, so, don’t be surprised when you see a Pitmaster alter grilling times and temperatures and still turns out a whopping good dish.

Feel free to do a few adjustments as you desire but ensure that you know what you are about.

As the basics require to put this guide into full effect, equip yourself with a good grill, the choice of fueling that you prefer to use, not forgetting some wood chips (use the perfect type for the perfect cook), your meat of choice, a digital thermometer, and then most importantly, your abling Pitmaster hands.

We can’t wait for the amazing results that you are yet to pull out!

Wings

No one ever goes wrong with a good spicing of chicken wings. Although with a chemistry still yet to be understood for its heavy bone structure and why it is loved, these have been the best accompaniments for football watching and appetizers.

Now, to get your wings piping hot with flavor and taste, splurge them with a good dose of rub or an overnight marination. Then, barbecue them to a grill temperature for chicken wings at 165 °F – 180 °F over direct heat for 8 to 12 minutes on each side.

They cook very fast so an eye throughout the BBQ will prevent them from burning as they do easily.

Grilling time and temperature for turkey

A quick run through this thicker portion to chicken just so we have you prepped up for Thanksgiving already. Plan for a longer turkey grilling time than chicken but the same internal grill temperature.

Aim for a range of 165 °F to 175 °F with a time range of 60 – 110 minutes over direct heat.

This approach serves as a basis for other birds like duck, ostrich etc due to their thick-skinned nature.

Grilling time and temperature for vegetables

Vegetable grilling times take very few minutes to attain a perfect cook at a standard temperature of 350 °F .

Greens, leaves, fruits and stems alike will often work between 3 to 10 minutes on each side because of their lighter, easy heat penetrating textures.

However, tubers like potatoes tend to take a longer time to barbecue due to their tougher textures. Baked potatoes on a gas grill will require a surface temperature of 325 °F to 350 °F but cooked to an internal temperature of 200 °F in the center which is about 90 minutes over indirect heat.

Average temperatures for other types of food

Burgers:

They are often compacted soft meat and require very less time to cook. The best temperature for grilling hamburgers is 160 °F over direct heat of 400 °F .

Sausages:

Sausage and hot dogs should be grilled to an internal temperature of 150 °F to 160 °F over direct heat of 200 °F to 225 °F

Fish & Seafood:

These work across very similar times and temperature. For example, the salmon and swordfish grill temperature is 140 °F over direct heat of 400 °F which works the same for many other types of fish.

The temperature to grill shrimp works at 145 °F over direct heat of 450 °F and works alike for other seafood.

Controlling temperature on different grills

The level of heat produced by the grill in combination to the management of fire aids with the skill in controlling temperature.

Charcoal grills

These kinds are usually the hardest to control because of their very natural state. Charcoal burns faster and could create too much heat if you let them loose.

How then do you control temperature on a charcoal grill? The charcoal grill temperature control is simple. Just take note of these three (3): the amount of coals being used per time, the mode of layering the coals and the vents/dampers.

Amount of coals used: Although grilling is a faster form of grilling than smoking, this does not mean a dump of plenty of charcoal lumps in the firebox for a good cook.

Work with a minimal amount of lumps based on the quantity of food you are hoping to cook. Larger lumps of charcoal burn slower than chippings so you will want to consider having more of this kind in your selection.

The mode of layering: After the charcoal has been placed in the firebox and lighted, spread them out in the fire box for heat distribution as you will prefer. Some options are:

Even distribution: Here, you want to spread out the pieces across the firebox to allow for an even and direct distribution of heat to the food. This approach will require you to use as little fire as possible so as to not burn the food.

Left and right positioning: Arrange the fiery coals on the left and right side of the firebox leaving the middle blank. This way you can move the food from the left to middle or right to the middle as you cook signifying heating to cooling levels.

It is a good method to give you much control over the amount of heat that gets to the food. A trick to this is to mount one side of the fire box with more charcoal than the other for a higher to lower levels of direct heat. Then, the middle section can serve as an indirect heating zone.

One-sided positioning: Arrange the fiery coals on just one section of the firebox. Move food from the hot side to the cold side as and when there is a need for it.

Vents/ Dampers: These are responsible for the flow of air into the fire hence closing completely, partially closing and completely opening allows for equal quantity of oxygen to get to the fire. Hence, more oxygen leads to more fire and less oxygen leads to less fire.

Working with the above chart which also serves as the charcoal grilling temperature chart, a control of temperature by the above will get you cooking right.

Gas and Electric Grills:

These are pretty much easier to control temperature with as they come with burners and knobs to aid control the level of fire being produced. Turn it high or low to give you the amount of fire desired.

Natural gas versus propane gas grill cooking temperatures often give off the same levels of temperature reach as the chart above but are often quickly attained than a charcoal grill. For example, the highest temperature a gas grill gives ranges between 450 °F – 500 °F which implies the fast cook.

In inclusion with electric grills, these come with vents also that allow you release heat from the grill as you cook rather than take in air.

Kamado and Infrared Grills:

These grills take up a slightly different design and cooking time as compared to the other types of grills.

Kamados are heavily ceramic built meaning they hold up more heat and for longer than many other grills, however using charcoal for fueling mostly.

To control temperature on a kamado grill, simply set up the lumps in the grill, light them up and allow the grill to heat up to the surface temperature required for the food. At that temperature, place your food on the grates, close the lid and keep the vent opened quarterly.

Keep cooking and control temperature using the vents.

On the other hand, infrared grills are one of the fastest cooking grills you can find, cooking food in very few minutes.

Infrared grilling times often last about 5 minutes on the average because of the technology used. Preheat the grill for 1 minute to medium-high heat, then cook your food, about 2 minutes on each side.

Due to the fastness of this grill, it is wise to stick to the grill throughout the cooking process so as to not burn the food.

A few questions and answers on the right temperature

• What temperature is low on a grill?
  Answer: 250 °F – 270 °F .
• What temperature is medium-low on a grill?
  Answer: 300 °F
• What temperature is medium on a grill?
  Answer: 350 °F
• What temperature is medium-high on a grill?
  Answer: 400 °F – 450 °F
• What temperature kills mold on the grill?
  Answer: 140 °F

A further look at grill temperature controllers

Basing this section on how some known grills work on temperatures, we do a quick summary on what to expect on some brands and their likes.

Control temperature on Traegar grill

This grill works solely by wood pellets and is designed to feed the grilling system with wood pellets as the barbecue is on. The Traeger does not hold accurate temperature often starting at 250 °F , drops to about 215 °F and rises again.

However, a good thing about this make is its grill temperature control that monitors the levels of heat attained by the grill while hot. It has the ability to turn off the feeding system and set off an alarm to notify the user of high levels of heat being attained.

Control temperature on Weber Grill

Weber on the hand has varying fueling designed units. For the gas grill, temperature control is simply done using the control knobs while the charcoal grill controls temperatures by two dampers located at the bottom and the top of the grill.

It is good to keep the lower damper opened through the cook while you use the upper damper to control the airflow to the fire.

Weber grill temperatures span from 225 °F  to 500 °F giving you enough room to work at different levels of heat at different grilling times. The Weber grill temperature chart follows the same pattern as ours to keep you on the safe side.

Control temperature on George Foreman

George Foreman grills are very unique in design, very portable to fit into any kind of space. It offers a temperature chart or range of 350 °F to 400 °F and shorter grilling times due to its ability to cook food on both sides at a go.

Hence, with our chart, you will only need to stick to the time of cook as given without the need to flip the food.

Preheat the grill for 5 minutes before placing the food in it and then simply use the grill temperature control situated on the lid to increase or decrease the heat levels.

Control temperature on Green Mountain

Also a wood pellet grill, the Green Mountain simply works by feeding the firebox with wood pellets by a motor. A grill temperature control is located on the grill or a WIFI enabled feature to control the amount of pellets that are being fed into the fire to increase or decrease heat.

Its grill temperature problems are mainly known to be slower to preheat as compared to other grills which take up to 45 minutes to do so.