Charcoal is for more than grilling — Dutch oven is just the start.

Yes, you can do way more with charcoal than just grilling. A Dutch oven is the obvious next step, but there’s a whole world of charcoal cooking that most people skip.

The trick is indirect heat. Once you stop thinking of charcoal as direct flames and start thinking of it as a heat source you can manage, everything opens up. With a Dutch oven, you stack coals underneath and on top of the lid — roughly three times as many on top as below — and you get a steady 350°F oven. Bake bread. Braise short ribs. Make chili that tastes like you tended it all day.

But don’t stop there. A charcoal chimney can work as a mini oven if you rig a grate above it. Wrap a potato in foil, set it on the chimney opening, and let it roast while you’re lighting the main fire. Or use a terracotta pot as a DIY tandoor — line it with foil, load it with charcoal, and cook naan against the hot walls.

For smoking, you don’t need a fancy offset smoker. Pile charcoal on one side of the kettle, add wood chunks, put the meat on the other side, and close the lid. Manage the vents. That’s how you get brisket or salmon without standing over it.

Don’t let your charcoal be a one-trick pony. A bag of lump is just heat — you decide what to do with it.