How-to

The Hand Test: Reading Your Fire

Thermometers break. Batteries die. You forget them in the kitchen drawer while standing at your Somerset Grill with hungry people waiting.

Here’s the method that’s worked for centuries: hold your hand 30cm above the embers and count how long you can keep it there before the heat drives you back. That’s it. The number of seconds tells you the temperature. After a few fires, you’ll read heat instinctively.

How to do it

1. Find the hottest part

Usually the centre of the fire bed, where you’ve concentrated the embers.

2. Hold your hand 30cm above

Palm down, roughly elbow-to-fingertips above the embers.

3. Start counting

The moment the heat becomes uncomfortable, pull your hand away. Don’t be daft about it – the point is to gauge heat, not prove toughness.

4. Read the range

The number of seconds you managed tells you the temperature range. Test different areas of the fire bed to build a mental map of hot zones and gentle zones.

What the seconds mean

1. 3–5 seconds: high heat

A thick bed of glowing orange embers beneath fine white ash, freshly raked from your Ember Maker. This is where you get that world-class crust on steaks, lamb chops, sausages, burgers, whole fish and vegetables. Fast enough for colour, gentle enough not to burn. The V-Grill’s channels prevent flare-ups, so you get consistent heat even with fatty cuts.

2. 5–10 seconds: medium-high heat

Ochre embers beneath grey-white ash that have settled into a steady glow. Perfect for whole chickens, ribs, large joints, root vegetables and pot cooking – the transition from grilling to roasting. Punchy, but it won’t scorch the outside before the inside is done. Pizzas at the upper end, delicate fish at the lower end.

3. 10–12 seconds: medium heat

A mellow bed of amber flames or deep, cooled embers. Low-and-slow territory: smoking, delicate fish, keeping food warm, finishing thick cuts after searing. The heat wraps around your food gently – no rush, just controlled cooking.

Quick cooking reference

High heat (3–5 sec): steaks, chops, sausages, burgers, fish, most veg

Medium-high (5–10 sec): whole birds, ribs, joints, root veg, pizzas, pots

Medium (10–12 sec): smoking, delicate fish, finishing

Control the heat, don’t wait for it

Your Somerset Grill’s height adjustment lets you reach all of these temperatures from a single fire. Same embers, different intensity – you’re not waiting on the fire, you’re directing it.

Two ways to change the heat

Need more? Rake a fresh pile of glowing coals from the Ember Maker to the centre of the fire bed.

Dropping? Use the wheel to lower the grill closer to the embers. Instant boost, no more fuel.

The first few times you’ll count carefully. After a handful of cooks your hand will just know: two seconds, five seconds, eight. Next time you light your grill, hold your hand above the embers and count. There’s your temperature – and your confidence building.