Potatoes low, where the heat is fiercest. The bird on the rack above, where it is gentle. Close the door and the juices fall exactly where you want them, so lunch comes out of one oven together.
Show me howWhy roast in a charcoal oven
In a kitchen oven, or under the lid of a BBQ, the heat is much the same everywhere, so the cook spends the morning juggling tins and timings. Charlie works the other way round. The charcoal glows at the bottom and the heat softens as it rises, which turns each level into its own oven.
So you stack the meal. Potatoes and carrots go low in a deep tray, where the heat is strongest and the edges crisp. The bird sits on the rack above in gentler heat, and as it roasts its juices drip into the tray below. The potatoes baste themselves. Close the door and go back to your guests.
Four simple steps
1Light half a football of lumpwood charcoal with one or two natural firelighters. Close the door and open both vents fully. At 170°C (340°F), set both vents to about a knuckle (2.5 cm) open and the oven settles at 180°C (355°F). New to Charlie? Read how to light a charcoal oven.
2Toss the potatoes and carrots in oil in the Deep Roasting Tray Rack and slide it onto a level below where the bird will go, nearer the charcoal, so the edges crisp.
3Put the chicken straight onto the Charlie Oven Cooking Rack on the level above the tray. As it roasts, its juices drip onto the vegetables below.
4A 1.75 to 2 kg chicken takes 1.5 to 2 hours at 180°C. It is ready at 75°C (165°F) in the thickest part of the thigh. Rest it for at least 15 minutes while the vegetables finish.
Multi-level cooking
The Charlie Charcoal Oven has nine rack levels, and the heat changes with height. Close to the charcoal it is direct and fierce. Higher up it is gentle and even, because what reaches the food is hot air and heat from the walls, not the fire itself. Each level does a different job, and each has an accessory made for it.
At Christmas the same idea feeds a crowd. The turkey shares the top level with its roast vegetables, while sprouts and red cabbage cook on the levels below.
Top levels
Gentle, indirect heat
The place for whole birds and joints that you want cooked evenly without scorching. Bread and pies bake well up here too.
Accessories for this level
Middle levels
Steady heat from below and around
Potatoes, carrots and traybakes sit here, under the bird, catching its juices. While the charcoal burns hard they get heat from below as well as all around.
Accessories for this level
Bottom levels
Direct heat from the charcoal
Right above the fire. Sear a joint before it roasts, char cabbage or leeks, or grill while the roast cooks gently above.
Accessories for this level
At the door
Every time you check the roast
Pull a rack out to baste or check the bird and the juices fall at the door, not down the front of the oven.
Accessories for this level
Roasting temperatures and times
Taken from the recipes our chefs have cooked in the Charlie Oven. Treat the times as a guide and the probe as the answer.
| Roast | Oven temperature | Cooking time | Ready when | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole chicken, 1.75 to 2 kg | 180°C (355°F) | 1.5 to 2 hours | 75°C (165°F) in the thickest part of the thigh | At least 15 minutes |
| Rib of beef | 160 to 180°C (320 to 355°F) | 1.5 to 2 hours | Out at 44°C (110°F) for medium rare after resting | Up to 2 hours, kept warm |
| Hanging leg of lamb | 120°C (250°F) | 4 to 6 hours, basting every hour | See the recipe | 45 minutes to 1 hour |
| Lamb shoulder | 120 to 140°C (250 to 285°F) | About 7 hours, covered | It falls apart with a fork | Briefly |
| Porchetta | 150°C (300°F), hotter for the last 20 to 30 minutes | 4 to 7 hours | At least 75°C (165°F) and tender | At least 20 minutes |
| Roast potatoes | 190 to 200°C (375 to 390°F) | About 1 hour 20 minutes, turned every 20 minutes | Crisp and golden | None, serve straight away |
Temperatures are measured on the oven door thermometer. Bigger joints take longer, so always check with a meat probe.
“Faultless and the chicken was not over smoked and very moist.”Peter, Trustpilot review
“A six kilo turkey, roasted at 180 degrees as per the Charlie recipe.”
Peter, Trustpilot review“It's so easy to use you are ready to go in 20 minutes and nothing tastes better than a charcoal grill”
Jez, Trustpilot review
How it works
Charcoal burns at the base and the hot air rises through the oven. The levels nearest the fire get direct heat, and the ones above get gentler, indirect heat.
The walls do the rest. The Charlie Charcoal Oven is insulated with 96 kg of ceramic wool, so the heat stays inside and the steel gives it back from every side. That is what browns a bird sitting well away from the fire, and it is why the outside of the oven doesn't get hot.
The racks and trays inside add their own weight of steel, which helps hold the temperature steady while the door is shut.
New to cooking this way? Start with what is a charcoal oven?.
Small things that make a big difference
Set the vegetables directly under the bird. Every drop that falls flavours the potatoes, and what is left in the tray is the start of your gravy.
When the chicken comes out to rest, open the vents a little to lift the heat and give the potatoes a final burst of colour.
A flattened bird cooks more evenly and crisps all over. Two spatchcocked chickens fit side by side on one rack.
For a two hour chicken, vegetables close to the charcoal crisp nicely. For a roast of four hours or more, move the tray a level or two higher, or it can burn before the meat is ready.
The rods on the Charlie Oven Cooking Rack take butcher's hooks, so a leg of lamb can hang from the top while potatoes roast in a tray beneath it. Try our roast leg of lamb.
Lumpwood charcoal gives a clean roast. For a hint of smoke, add one small chunk of dry wood. Wood is only ever for flavour, never for heat.
Start with recipes we know work
A whole roast dinner from one oven, with the potatoes and carrots cooking beside the bird.
The lamb hangs from the top rack and bastes the potatoes below.
A slower roast and a long rest, for beef that is rosy from edge to edge.
Rolled pork with crackling that shatters, filled with nduja and black garlic.
Slow roasting at its most forgiving. In after breakfast, ready for dinner.
Glassy outside and fluffy within. The potatoes people ask about afterwards.
Roasting in pictures
Christmas dinner in a charcoal oven
Christmas is when cooking on every level earns its keep. The turkey goes outside, which leaves the kitchen oven free and the cook free to open presents.
The turkey roasts on top with its vegetables and pigs in blankets, while sprouts and red cabbage cook on the levels below. Everything comes out hot, together.
Choose your Charlie and add the Deep Roasting Tray Rack. The whole roast comes out together.
Good to know
Roast a whole chicken at 180°C (355°F). For slow roasts and braises, 130 to 180°C (265 to 355°F) works well. The Charlie Oven runs from 80 to 400°C (180 to 750°F), but never let it go above 400°C.
Yes. The Charlie Charcoal Oven has nine rack levels and each one cooks at a different heat. Put the potatoes and carrots in the Deep Roasting Tray Rack on a lower level and the bird on the rack above, and the whole roast cooks together.
On an open BBQ a roast is hard work, because most of the heat comes from below and it is difficult to hold steady for hours. The Charlie Oven is a closed charcoal oven: the door shuts, heat surrounds the joint and holds at 180°C (355°F) for as long as the roast needs, while the potatoes cook on a level below.
Roast whole birds and joints on the upper levels, where the heat is gentle and indirect. Use the middle levels for trays of vegetables and the bottom levels, just above the charcoal, for searing and charring.
A 1.75 to 2 kg chicken takes 1.5 to 2 hours at 180°C (355°F). It is ready when the thickest part of the thigh reaches 75°C (165°F). Rest it for at least 15 minutes before carving. See the full roast chicken recipe.
About half a football of lumpwood charcoal, which holds a Charlie Oven at 200°C (390°F) for 4 to 6 hours. For a long, slow roast, a full grate holds 100 to 130°C (210 to 265°F) for up to 16 hours. Our guide to choosing the best charcoal explains what to buy.
With the two vents. Open both fully to heat the Charlie Oven, then set both to about a knuckle (2.5 cm) open when the thermometer is 10°C short of your target. It will hold that temperature for hours.
Roast the bird on the Charlie Oven Cooking Rack directly above the Deep Roasting Tray Rack. The juices drip into the tray with the vegetables and its deep sides hold them for gravy. The Oven Detachable Drip Tray catches anything that falls at the door when you pull a rack out.
Yes. In a Charlie Oven the bottom levels sit just above the charcoal, so you can grill sausages or chops on the Argentine Parrilla V Grill Rack while the roast cooks gently above.
Two stainless steel cooking racks come with every Charlie Oven, so you can roast from the first day. The Deep Roasting Tray Rack adds a deep tray for vegetables and gravy, and a meat probe takes out the guesswork.
Only if you want it to. Lumpwood charcoal gives the Charlie Oven a clean, savoury roast. Smoke comes from wood, so add a single small chunk for a hint of it, or leave it out.
Shut both vents and the temperature comes down gradually. To cool it faster, take out a rack or put a deep metal tray of cold water in the oven. The oven heats much faster than it cools, so cook the slow dish first where you can.
Yes. The Charlie Oven cooks with the door shut, so wind and cold don't affect the cooking chamber. You only need to step outside to put the roast in and take it out.
