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Fire Temperature and the Hand Test
Appears in
By Derek Wolf
Published 2021
One of the biggest keys to cooking is understanding the temperature of the fire. Whether doing a hot sear or a slow smoke, understanding the heat will help you make better decisions when cooking. You can rely on the temperature gauge on the outside of your grill . . . but a campfire does not have a temperature gauge—so, how do you check the heat?
You can get a good idea of how hot a fire is with your hand. Be careful: fire can be hotter than you think—even at a distance. Proceed slowly and only do this if you can keep your hand safe from the fire you are trying to gauge. Starting farther away, slowly move in until you are holding your hand about 4 inches (10 cm) from the fire. Once at this target distance, use a stopwatch to measure, in seconds, how long you can hold your hand there without needing to pull it away because it is uncomfortable (not painful). The time you measure will give you a good sense on how hot the fire is. Again, respect that fire and understand it can be very hot (speaking from experience).