Stovetop cooking

When choosing the proper stove-top cooking appliances, consider the fuel used to keep the stove hot. Natural gas combustion produces about one-third fewer GHG emissions than coal, the electricity generation fuel of choice in most countries.

The stovetop cooker usually is a stainless steel pot with a triple-ply bottom that works that works well as both a pressure –cooker pot and as a large pot for conventional stovetop cooking.

Ideally, it should have three different sizes of pots: a smaller pot for saucse, a medium sized for soups and single-serving meals, and a large pot for boiling noodles, potatoes and cooking for a group.

The speed of the pressure cooker may be combined with stovetop cooking to get curries and stews with a good texture.

Very tough beef ribs, oxtail, mutton or chickpeas may be first tenderized in a pressure cooker before the stew is finished on the stovetop. With stovetop cooking, the water added at the start of cooking has to take into account evaporation and rate of boiling.
Stovetop cooking

Charcoal for grilling

Most fruit woods and hickory, ash, oak, alder and mesquite make excellent grilling fuel.  The wood use should in dry condition.

Wood chunks won’t burn nearly as hot as charcoal yet will burn more quickly than charcoal, so cooking must be timing accordingly.

Natural lump charcoal is becoming widely available and is an excellent fuel for grilling. It burns hot, clean, and imparts a subtle smoky flavor to food.  Lump charcoal is the preferred charcoal for many serious grillers. It is made up of hunks of hardwood that have been burned in an oxygen-deprived environment, with no additives or fillers.

Charcoal briquettes 

Charcoal briquettes are the most common fuel used in the United States and are available almost everywhere. Briquettes are made of granular charcoal compressed into individual pillow shapes. Each briquettes burns at the same rate, giving off reliable, steady heat.

Some people like to use hardwood charcoal because it is natural and gives a better wood flavor.

Choices for lighting a charcoal fire include using a charcoal chimney, and electric fire starter or lighter fluid. The charcoal chimney is an upright cylindrical metal canister, like a large metal coffee can with handle.
Charcoal for grilling