8 Argentinian asado tips every griller in Portugal should steal

Argentina didn’t invent fire, but nobody has spent more time perfecting what happens once it’s lit. Asado isn’t a cooking method there, it’s closer to a discipline, passed down from parrillero to parrillero with almost no written rules, just decades of watching embers and knowing exactly when meat is ready by smell alone. A good number of Argentinians have settled in the Algarve over the last decade, and quite a few have opened restaurants or simply started grilling for neighbours on weekends. What follows are 8 habits we’ve picked up from them, all of which work on the gas or charcoal grill you already own, and none of which require Argentinian equipment to pull off.

8 Argentinian asado tips you should steal

1. Burn whole onions in the embers before anything else touches the fire

This is the first thing most Argentinian grillers do, and it looks strange until you understand why. An unpeeled onion placed directly in the coals or over the flame for 15 to 20 minutes chars on the outside and starts releasing its natural sugars as smoke. That smoke settles into the grate and the metal itself, so the very first cut of meat you place down picks up a faint sweetness before it’s even seasoned. In Portugal this works with any onion variety sold locally, and it costs nothing beyond 20 minutes of patience before your guests arrive.

2. Cook over embers, never over open flame

Asado is built on brasa, glowing coals with no visible fire, not the orange flames most people associate with a barbecue. Argentinians burn their wood or charcoal down in a separate fire basket first, then rake the glowing embers under the grate only once the flames have died out completely. Open flame burns the outside of meat before the inside has a chance to cook, and it deposits soot rather than flavour. If your grill has a side firebox or a charcoal chimney, use it to build embers away from the cooking surface, then transfer them once they’ve stopped smoking and turned grey at the edges. Want to learn more? Read our Direct vs. Indirect heat methos guide.

3. Choose a dense hardwood, not whatever’s cheapest

In Buenos Aires, quebracho colorado is the wood of choice, dense, slow-burning and almost smokeless once it’s down to embers. It’s not sold in Portugal, but holm oak, known locally as azinho, and dry olive wood burn in a similar way, producing long-lasting heat without the resinous smoke you get from pine or eucalyptus offcuts. Avoid anything treated or painted, and season your own wood for at least six months if you’re cutting it yourself, green wood smokes heavily and burns unevenly.

4. Season with coarse salt, and only right before the meat hits the grate

Sal parrillera, a coarse rock salt, goes on seconds before the cut touches the fire, never hours in advance. Salting early draws moisture out through osmosis, which means a drier surface and less of the crust you’re after. Fine table salt also behaves differently, it dissolves and penetrates too fast, seasoning unevenly. Coarse sea salt, widely available in any Portuguese supermarket, gives you the same texture and control Argentinians rely on.

5. Turn meat with tongs, never a fork

Piercing meat with a fork releases the juices you spent hours cooking to keep inside. Every Argentinian parrillero uses long tongs or a wide spatula to turn cuts. They treat a fork as a plating tool only, never something that touches meat before it’s rested and sliced. This is the cheapest tip on this list to adopt, it costs the price of a decent pair of tongs and a change of habit.

6. Control heat by adjusting grill height, not by smothering the fire

A traditional Argentinian parrilla uses a crank or chain system to raise and lower the entire grate over the coals. This gives precise heat control without closing vents or piling on more fuel. Most home grills in Portugal don’t have this built in, but a V-shaped grate insert or an adjustable multi-level grill grate achieves a similar result, letting you move a cut further from the heat the moment it starts to render fat too fast. If you’re working with a fixed-height grill, our guide on how to smoke on a gas grill covers building the same kind of indirect heat zone using burner control instead.

7. Grill the achuras first, while the main cuts render slowly

Chorizo, morcilla and other quick-cooking cuts go on first in Argentina, both as a starter course for waiting guests and as a way to test the fire’s temperature before committing the expensive cuts. In Portugal, chouriço and morcela work exactly the same way, and they’re sold at every local talho. By the time the smaller cuts are done and eaten, usually 15 to 20 minutes in, the fire has settled into the steady, lower heat that thick cuts like picanha or entrecosto need to render properly without burning on the outside first.

8. Rest every cut before it’s cut

No Argentinian asador slices meat straight off the grill. Thick cuts rest for a minimum of 5 to 10 minutes under foil or a simple upturned tray. This gives the juices time to redistribute rather than running straight onto the board. Skipping this step is the single most common reason home-cooked steak turns out drier than a restaurant’s, regardless of how good the cut or the fire was. Thinner cuts like skirt steak need less, 3 to 4 minutes is enough before the internal temperature starts dropping and the meat cools past its best.

None of these habits require Argentinian equipment specifically. They require the same fire discipline applied to whatever grill is already in your garden or on your terrace. If you’re building a setup that can handle both a slow ember-based cook and quick direct grilling in the same session, our comparison on using charcoal in a gas grill breaks down which fuel setup gives you that flexibility without buying two separate grills.

Try one of these on your next cook rather than all eight at once. Start with the onion in the embers. It’s the easiest to notice a difference from, and build the rest of the habits in from there over the following weekends.

FAQ

What is asado, and how is it different from a normal barbecue?

Asado is the Argentinian tradition of slow-grilling meat over wood embers rather than open flame. This is obviously built around patience and heat control rather than speed. It typically includes a course of achuras (offal and sausages) before the main cuts. Also, every step from fire-building to resting follows set habits passed down through generations.

Can I do asado-style grilling on a standard gas grill?

Yes, the core habits (ember-based heat, late salting, resting meat, tongs instead of forks) all transfer directly to gas. The main difference is building true embers, which on gas means using indirect heat zones and burner control rather than a wood fire, since gas doesn’t produce embers in the traditional sense.

What wood should I use in Portugal instead of quebracho?

Holm oak (azinho) and dry olive wood are the closest local equivalents, both dense and slow-burning with minimal resinous smoke. Avoid eucalyptus offcuts, or any treated wood, which burn hot and fast rather than producing the steady embers asado depends on.

Why do Argentinians grill sausages and offal before the steak?

Achuras cook fast and double as a starter course while guests wait. They also let the parrillero judge the fire’s real temperature before risking an expensive cut. By the time the achuras are eaten, the fire has usually settled into the steady heat that thicker cuts need.

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