You might think that the fastest way to cook steak or sausages is to throw them onto the hottest part of the barbecue. That’s bad physics, according to Burke’s Backyard resident scientist, Graeme Quirk.
When you place the meat on the hottest part of the barbecue, the outside will char, but the inside will be raw and uncooked. That’s because charcoal (carbon) is an excellent heat insulator, which actually stops the heat getting to the inside of the steak. Your steak will cook faster if you put it off to the side of the barbecue, where it will cook but not char.
