What does charbroiling mean?
Charbroiling is a method of cooking food—most often meats such as steak, burgers, and chicken—directly over intense dry heat produced by charcoal briquettes or by gas flames striking ceramic 'lava rock' or steel plates designed to mimic them. The technique sears the outside quickly, creating the characteristic dark grill marks, caramelized crust, and subtle smoky flavor associated with backyard barbecue, while allowing restaurants to reproduce that flavor reliably indoors. In American English the term appears constantly on menus ('charbroiled chicken'), where it signals hearty, flame-kissed cooking; British English generally prefers 'chargrilled' instead. As a gerund, charbroiling names the process itself, as in 'charbroiling locks in the juices.' The word blends 'char' (as in charcoal) with 'broil,' underscoring its dual heritage of burning fuel and high radiant heat. It belongs to informal, food-centered registers rather than technical culinary writing.
Present participle of charbroil: to cook over direct high heat on a charcoal or char-lined grill.
"They were charbroiling ribs out back when we arrived."
The act or process of cooking food by this method.
"Charbroiling imparts a smokiness that ordinary frying cannot."
Used mainly as a gerund; the bare noun sense is uncommon compared with 'grilling' or 'barbecue.'
That unmistakable smoky crust on your steak isn't just grilling — charbroiling means the food was cooked directly over glowing coals, a technique restaurants use to fake the flavor of a backyard barbecue year-round.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does charbroiling come from?
Charbroiling combines two older elements: 'broil,' which entered English via Middle French 'bruire' (ultimately from Latin 'ustulare,' to scorch), and 'char,' a shortened form of 'charcoal,' itself from Old English 'col' meaning coal. The compound emerged in American English, apparently in the mid-20th century, as restaurants sought a term conveying both charcoal's smoky flavor and broiling's intense direct heat. Its British cousin 'chargrill' shares the same 'char' element but pairs it with a different cooking verb.
Related word forms
How charbroiling is actually used
The word is chiefly American English; British speakers typically say 'chargrilling' for the same technique. It carries a casual, appetite-appealing connotation common in menus and advertising. The past-participle form 'charbroiled' is far more frequent than the gerund itself.
Easily confused with charbroiling
Grilling refers broadly to cooking over a heat source on a grate, while charbroiling specifically implies the use of charcoal or a char-lined grill that imparts a distinctive smoky, charred flavor.
Broiling cooks food under direct radiant heat (typically in an oven's top element), whereas charbroiling cooks it above hot coals or gas-fired ceramic briquettes.