Fraldinha short cook on the grill — full method

The session that worked. Skirt steak (fraldinha), garlic and thyme stuffed in the middle, cooked over a two-pyramid charcoal setup. Sweet potato sides going at the same time.

What I did

Fire setup

• Two pyramids of briquettes side by side
• One lit with a pink firestarter, the other with the wood firestarter that comes with the briquettes
• Pink firestarter caught significantly faster. Wood one took longer to take hold.
• Waited ~50 minutes before putting anything on, until both pyramids were fully grey/ashed.

Sides

• Sweet potato cut smaller than usual (so it cooks in the available window).
• 1 hour total on the grill:
  • First 30 minutes: direct over the heat
  • Second 30 minutes: turned over and raised to the second brick level up

Fraldinha prep

• Olive oil, salt, pepper all over.
• Pricked the meat and inserted garlic cloves along the inside.
• Big bunch of thyme laid in the middle, folded the meat over the thyme (like a sandwich).

Fraldinha cook — 40 minutes total

1. 20 min — fat side up, second brick level (raised, indirect-ish).
2. 5 min — fat side down, directly over the heat (render the fat, get crust on that side).
3. 15 min — back at second brick level (finish).

Result

Very good. Probably the best fraldinha cook so far.

Next time

• 40 min might be 5 minutes too long — check at 35 min. Trade-off depends on size of piece.
• Stick with the pink firestarter for predictable timing.
• The thyme-in-the-middle, fold-over technique is a keeper.
• Two-pyramid setup gives you a clear “direct heat” zone and a “raised second brick” zone without rearranging coals mid-cook — replicate this.