Temperature control is one of the hardest things to wrap your head around as a baby charcoal griller. There are no dials to turn, no knobs to adjust, and the only numbers you’ll find are on a likely wildly inaccurate thermometer. (Depending on where you place your thermometer in relation to the coils, it could be off by as much as 200 degrees!)

Controlling the temperature of your charcoal grill is all about controlling the airflow. The more air moving through your grill, the more oxygen the combustion reaction will see and the hotter your coals will burn. Opening the intake vents (under the coals) and exhaust vents (above the coals, usually in the lid of your grill) is the easiest way to increase oxygen flow, but there are other factors that can prevent your grill from getting as hot as you need it to.

If you’re cooking hot dogs or something else quick and easy, it’s okay to mix a little partially used, leftover charcoal in with the fresh charcoal. However, half-burned briquettes will only last half as long. So start with fresh, whole charcoal if you want to maintain a moderately long or hot cooking time. Make sure the charcoal is dry and fairly new. (It doesn’t have to be brand new, but charcoal that’s been sitting in the garage since last summer may have absorbed moisture from the environment, making it difficult to ignite.)

There are three things I think every baby griller should have: an external thermometer, a charcoal chimney, and firelighters. Using the latter two is the easiest and fastest way to get your coals super hot and ashy without having to use lighter fluid. The chimney maximizes airflow around the coals, and the cubes provide the fast-lighting fuel you need to get things going without leaving behind any ash (like you would if you used newspaper or something similar). You can make your own firelighters with paraffin wax and an egg carton, or buy 24 of them for five bucks.