A full configuration of charcoal briquettes is ignited with a propane torch.

An indirect configuration of charcoal in a grill, with the charcoal all on one side, creates hot and cool zones in the grill.

The snake configuration of charcoal in a grill provides enough heat for 10 hours as it burns from one end to the other. The pan inside can collect fat drippings or, when filled with water, provide moisture.

The cold smoke configuration requires a tray of ice cubes sitting beside exactly eight briquettes with oak wood chunks on top. This configuration keeps everything cool and is used for smoking fish or cheese.

Chuck Blount pours water into the pan in the center of a snake configuration of charcoal in a grill at Chuck's Food Shack.

Chuck Blount lights a full configuration of charcoal briquettes with a propane torch at Chuck's Food Shack.

When I didn’t know any better, I thought there was only one way to cook on a charcoal grill.

I would build a pyramid of briquettes, splash it with lighter fluid, light the towering inferno and give the grill a shake like I was making a batch of popcorn to distribute the charcoal evenly once it started to turn hot.

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There are some merits to that style, but your charcoal grill can do so much more. Properly configuring the charcoal can transform your grill, whether it’s a classic Weber kettle model or a standard squared-off backyard grill, and make it more versatile.

Here in the Food Shack, four configurations are used most often, and those are the ones we are going to share.

We’re focusing on charcoal briquettes instead of hardwood lump charcoal. Their uniform shape means they can be counted, which allows for more consistency when describing how to set up the grill. A full chimney of charcoal holds about 100 briquettes, which will get your grill to about 550 to 600 degrees based on your setup.

One more thing before we start: No lighter fluid. It’s horrible and will ruin your cook as soon as it’s applied to the charcoal, giving your food a gaseous taste that won’t go away. Instead, start your charcoal with either a chimney or, better yet, set it to the flames with a torch.

Let’s first address the 800-pound gorilla and not immediately dismiss even distribution of the charcoal. The style is by far the most dangerous because food can get very charred or scalded within seconds if your timing is off or the game is on TV and your team scores a touchdown, getting you so emotional that you take your eyes off the flames.

What evenly distributed charcoal does provide is expedience with by far the hottest temperatures. You can plow through dozens of hot dogs, hamburgers and steaks in half the time of other configurations. But this is an all eyes and hands on deck experience, so keep the lid off.

Best method: Go ahead and blow it out with anywhere from 100 to 120 briquettes and prepare to sweat with uniform temperatures that will sit at about 600 degrees and feel like the sun in the summer heat.

This should be the configuration that you use the most because of the versatility it provides. You can do it one of two ways — either straddle the grill with charcoal on the edges of both sides, creating a cool zone in the middle, or shove all the briquettes to one side. I prefer the latter because it creates a larger cool zone.

The hot zone will sear anything you put over it, getting you those coveted charred grill marks. The cool zone allows you to pull the food off the heat when things get out of control. However, I prefer to start all my cooks on the cool zone and finish items such as chicken (all cuts), pork chops and beef over the hot zone for the final few minutes.

Best method: Count out about 50 briquettes and put them to one side of the grill. The high-heat zone will register about 500 degrees, and the cool zone will cook at around 350 degrees with the lid closed.

On ExpressNews.com: Testing the snake method, turning grills into low-and-slow cookers

The snake method has been addressed before in the Food Shack, but it’s always worthy of a refresher. It involves arranging the coals around the perimeter of the grill in an incomplete circle or “C” shape — making sure the ends of the snake are separated by a few inches so they do not touch. The bottom layer of the snake consists of two briquettes side by side; a single briquette is centered on top of those all the way around the snake. Place a metal pan filled with water in the middle of the grill, so the charcoal surrounds it.

Once one end of the snake is ignited using orange-hot coals from a chimney, it burns slowly for about 10 hours with the lid on and the vents fully open. Sprinkling wood chips over the top adds enough smoky flavor to the meat to make it taste like it came out of a classic pit.

This method is perfect for pulled pork and other large pieces of meat. Heck, give it a shot with brisket and you won’t be disappointed.

Best method: The number of briquettes will vary based on the size of your grill. Larger grills will require about 140 to 150, and smaller grills will need about 100 and may have to be reloaded to finish the cook. In any case, trust the slow-burning design to keep a consistent temperature around 250 degrees since only a few briquettes are lit at any given time. This configuration allows you to get some sleep during those 10-hour or more cooks.

On ExpressNews.com: How to make cold-smoked cheese at home

From salmon to cheese to dips and anything else that doesn’t need a scorching, the grill can be converted into a cold smoker with ease. Once you do it, you’ll want to continue to experiment. Like the snake method, but using a fraction of the charcoal, it involves just enough briquettes to ignite the wood chips scattered on top of them. Whatever is being smoked should be sitting over a large pan of ice, with the grill lid should be closed.

Best method: This hasn’t been tested scientifically, but trust me — eight briquettes with wood chunks resting on top of them will keep the temperature about 175 to 200 degrees over the ice. It’s often recommended to soak the wood in water, and you can do that, but the water evaporates within a few minutes, so it doesn’t have the flame retardant effect that you would think.

cblount@express-news.net | Twitter: @chuck_blount | Instagram: @bbqdiver

Chuck Blount is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience at the San Antonio Express-News, and a tenure split between writing and editing about food, drinks, poker and sports, where he was part of the team that covered four of the five Spurs' NBA championships. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa.