Why Visit Mendoza in Argentina: Enjoy the Wine Country
When most people picture an Argentine grill, one of the first things that comes to mind is the large wheel mounted beside the parrilla. Turn the wheel one way and the cooking grate rises away from the fire. Turn it the other way and the meat moves closer to the embers.
Itโs one of the most recognizable features of an Argentine-style grill, and thereโs a good reason for it. Being able to change the distance between your food and the heat gives you another powerful way to control the cook.
But my own parrilla doesnโt have one.
After more than 23 years living in Argentina and cooking asado on different grills, I personally prefer a fixed-height parrilla. My cooking surface sits approximately 20 cm / 7.9 inches above the hearth, and instead of moving the grill to control temperature, I change the amount and position of the embers underneath it.
Neither system is inherently better. They simply approach the same problem from two different directions.
With an adjustable grill, you move the food relative to the heat.
With a fixed grill, you move and manage the heat relative to the food.
Understanding that distinction is much more useful than simply asking whether your Argentine grill needs a wheel.
An adjustable Argentine grill uses a mechanical system to raise and lower the cooking grate.
The most recognizable version uses a large wheel attached to a chain or cable mechanism. As you turn the wheel, the entire grill surface moves vertically above the hearth.
Itโs essentially a manual temperature-control system.
Instead of turning a gas burner from high to medium, you physically increase the distance between the food and the heat.
Thereโs something beautifully mechanical about it. No electronics, no temperature settings and no complicated controls. Youโre simply changing the relationship between the meat and the embers.
That ability is especially useful because the heat coming from a live ember bed isnโt perfectly constant. Embers gradually lose energy, new embers are introduced and different sections of the hearth can run at different intensities.
An adjustable grate gives you another variable with which to respond.
The adjustable grate fits naturally with the Argentine approach to live-fire cooking.
An asado can last for several hours, and during that time the fire is constantly changing. Being able to alter the cooking height gives the asador considerable flexibility without having to completely rebuild the ember bed every time the heat changes.
Thereโs another practical advantage when the parrilla doesnโt have a separate brasero.
You can raise the cooking grate, establish a fire underneath it and allow your wood or charcoal to burn down. Once youโve developed a suitable bed of embers, you can distribute them across the hearth and lower the grill into the position you want for cooking.
That makes an adjustable system particularly versatile when the fire-producing area and cooking area are the same space.
But having more control doesnโt automatically mean itโs the best system for everyone.
A fixed-height parrilla removes the vertical adjustment mechanism entirely.
The cooking grate remains at a consistent distance from the hearth, which means you canโt respond to excessive heat by simply winding the grill upward.
My own parrilla works this way.
The grill sits around 20 cm / 7.9 inches above the hearth, and that distance remains the same whether Iโm cooking entraรฑa, ribeye, vacรญo, costillar or achuras.
At first, that might sound restrictive.
In practice, it changes where the temperature control happens.
Instead of moving the grill, I control the fire underneath it.
The steel doesnโt move.
The heat does.
This is where personal preference becomes important.
I donโt think a fixed parrilla is universally superior to an adjustable one. If I were recommending a grill to someone else, Iโd first want to understand how they intend to cook, where theyโll make their fire and how involved they want to be in managing the embers.
For my own parrilla, however, I would choose fixed height again.
The reason is consistency.
Every time I cook, one major variable stays exactly the same: the distance between my food and the hearth.
That means Iโve gradually learned how the grill behaves at that distance.
I know what a strong ember bed feels like. I know when the heat is too aggressive for a larger cut. I know how quickly the embers will begin fading and when I need to start producing more in the brasero.
The grill becomes familiar.
Rather than thinking about both grate height and ember intensity, I concentrate primarily on the fire.
Over time, that simplicity has helped me become more consistent.
This is probably the biggest argument in favor of a fixed parrilla for the way I like to cook.
If your steak is cooking too aggressively on an adjustable grill, you have two obvious options.
You can move the embers. Or you can raise the grill. On mine, that second option doesnโt exist.
I have to understand whatโs happening underneath the food.
That means paying attention to how densely the embers are distributed, how mature they are, which sections are beginning to lose intensity and where rendered fat might be creating additional flare-ups.
Eventually, you start seeing the hearth almost like a temperature map.
One section might have a concentrated bed of glowing embers for a quick-cooking steak. Another might have a thinner, more dispersed layer for a whole vacรญo. Somewhere else might have almost no direct heat because I need a temporary resting or holding area.
The grill is fixed.
But the cooking environment certainly isnโt.
Thereโs another reason my setup works particularly well without height adjustment: I have a brasero.
The brasero is the fire cradle alongside my cooking area where I burn wood or charcoal and continuously produce fresh embers.
Rather than throwing fresh fuel directly underneath the meat, I can keep an active fire burning separately. As the fuel matures, the embers fall onto the hearth and I distribute them underneath the parrilla wherever theyโre needed.
Iโve explained this entire process in my guide to how a brasero works.
The combination of a fixed cooking height and separate ember production gives me a very simple system.
The grill stays where it is.
The brasero produces heat.
I decide where that heat goes.
Thatโs why Iโd be careful about evaluating fixed versus adjustable grills without considering the rest of the parrilla. A design feature that works brilliantly in one setup might make less sense in another.
Because Iโm not using grill height as my temperature control, I need a consistent way to understand the intensity of the heat coming from the embers.
One simple method I use is the hand test.
I hold my hand safely above the cooking surface and judge how long I can comfortably tolerate the heat. Itโs not a replacement for a thermometer when an exact internal meat temperature matters, nor is it a scientific measurement of the grill surface.
Itโs a practical way of learning the intensity of your fire.
For quicker-cooking cuts such as entraรฑa, ribeye and corazรณn or centro de vacรญo, I generally look for stronger heat where I can hold my hand above the grill for around 8 seconds.
For larger cuts such as a whole vacรญo or costillar, I generally want gentler heat and a slower cook. Here, I might be able to tolerate the heat for approximately 12โ15 seconds.
| Hand Test | General Heat | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Around 8 seconds | Stronger | Entraรฑa, ribeye, corazรณn/centro de vacรญo |
| Around 12โ15 seconds | Gentler | Whole vacรญo, costillar, larger cuts |
These arenโt rigid rules. Wind, fuel, ember depth and your grill configuration all influence how the heat behaves.
The value comes from repeating the same test on the same parrilla until you begin associating what you feel with what happens to the food.
My preference for fixed height shouldnโt be interpreted as an argument against adjustable parrillas.
There are situations where Iโd seriously consider one.
If you donโt have a separate brasero, being able to lift the cooking surface significantly can make managing the fire beneath it much easier.
If youโre regularly cooking a wide variety of foods and want another rapid method of changing heat intensity, the adjustable grate provides useful flexibility.
It can also be reassuring while youโre learning live-fire cooking. If youโve underestimated the intensity of your ember bed, raising the food gives you another immediate way to respond.
And, quite simply, some people enjoy cooking that way.
There is something satisfying about turning that big wheel and physically positioning the meat exactly where you want it above the fire.
The mechanism has become iconic for a reason.
It gives you another form of temperature control, which isnโt quite the same thing.
This distinction matters.
Regardless of whether the grill moves, youโre still cooking over an ember bed that needs to be managed.
Imagine youโve got far too many aggressive embers concentrated underneath a large piece of vacรญo.
You could keep winding the grill higher and higher to compensate.
But the underlying problem is still that your ember distribution isnโt appropriate for the food youโre cooking.
Likewise, a fixed grill doesnโt mean you have less ability to create different temperatures. You can create a very hot section, medium section and gentle section simply by changing the concentration of embers underneath each area.
An adjustable grill changes the distance variable.
Ember management changes the heat-source variable.
A skilled asador can use either, or both.
If youโre deciding what kind of parrilla to buy or build, this is how Iโd think about the differences:
| Feature | Fixed-Height Parrilla | Adjustable Parrilla |
|---|---|---|
| Cooking height | Constant | Variable |
| Main heat control | Ember quantity and distribution | Ember management + grate height |
| Mechanical parts | Minimal | Wheel/crank, chain or cable mechanism |
| Learning curve | Encourages strong ember-management skills | Gives another way to correct heat |
| Fire under grill | Requires planning | Easier to raise grate away from active fire |
| With a brasero | Excellent combination | Also works extremely well |
| Heat zones | Created primarily with embers | Embers + overall grate height |
| Consistency | Same grill-to-hearth distance every cook | More variables available |
| My preference | Yes | Useful, but not necessary for my setup |
The important thing here is that more adjustable doesnโt automatically mean more appropriate.
Think about the entire cooking system.
Grill height isnโt the only design decision that affects how an Argentine parrilla behaves.
The cooking surface matters too.
Many adjustable Argentine grills youโll see commercially use V-shaped channels, which help collect rendered fat and direct it away from the embers.
My fixed grill uses round steel bars approximately 6โ10 mm thick instead.
I prefer the heat retention, straightforward cleaning and grill marks I get from substantial round bar. Because fat can drip directly between those bars, ember management becomes particularly important.
Iโve compared both designs in detail in my guide to Argentine grill grates: V-grate vs. round bar.
Again, this illustrates why I wouldnโt choose grill components individually.
Fixed height, round bars and a separate brasero all complement the way I cook.
Your ideal combination might be completely different.
If youโre designing a parrilla from scratch, Iโd start with your cooking habits rather than with what looks most traditionally Argentine.
Ask yourself how youโre going to produce your embers.
Think about whether youโll have a separate brasero, how much space you have, what cuts you cook most frequently and whether you want the additional mechanical complexity of an adjustable grill.
If youโre new to live-fire cooking, an adjustable system can provide useful flexibility while you learn.
If you like the idea of simplifying the grill and becoming extremely familiar with one cooking height, a fixed parrilla is worth serious consideration.
If you want to see how Iโve approached the entire setup, Iโve broken my grill down piece by piece in my Argentine outdoor grill station guide.
If youโre deciding between a fixed or adjustable parrilla because youโre planning your own build, the grill height is only one part of the overall design. Youโll also need to think about the hearth, refractory materials, grill dimensions, brasero placement and how you want to manage your embers. I cover those decisions in much more detail in my guide to building your own Argentine asado grill, where you can see how the different components come together before deciding which features make the most sense for your own parrilla.
Choosing between a fixed or adjustable grill is only one part of designing your parrilla. My Build & Grill Blueprint takes you through the complete setup, including dimensions, grill height, brasero, cooking surfaces, materials and the practical details behind building an Argentine-style grill at home.
Youโll get access to the plans, step-by-step videos and the Argentine Asado community to help you move from planning your grill to cooking your first asado.
Get the Build & Grill Blueprint โFor my parrilla, fixed height.
But not because I believe adjustable Argentine grills are inferior.
I prefer fixed height because Iโve learned to cook around that constant 20 cm / 7.9-inch distance between my grill and hearth. I produce my embers separately in the brasero and control cooking intensity by deciding where those embers go.
That approach suits the way I cook.
More importantly, Iโve used it enough that I understand it.
And thatโs probably the most useful advice I can give anyone choosing between a fixed and adjustable Argentine grill.
Donโt become too obsessed with having every feature youโve seen on Instagram or every component marketed as essential to an โauthenticโ parrilla.
Choose a system. Cook on it repeatedly.
Learn where it runs hot, how quickly its embers fade and how different cuts respond to the distance between the steel and the fire.
Eventually, you stop thinking about whether the grill is fixed or adjustable.
You simply know how to cook on your parrilla.
Neither is inherently better. An adjustable Argentine grill lets you control cooking intensity by raising or lowering the food relative to the embers, while a fixed-height grill relies more heavily on controlling the quantity and position of the embers. I personally prefer a fixed parrilla because the consistent cooking height removes one variable and lets me focus on managing the fire.
My fixed parrilla sits approximately 20 cm / 7.9 inches above the hearth, which works extremely well for the way I cook. I wouldnโt treat that as a universal measurement, however. The ideal height depends on your grill design, ember bed and cooking style. Whatโs most important is learning how your chosen height behaves and adjusting the embers accordingly.
I control temperature primarily through ember management. More concentrated embers create a hotter cooking zone, while fewer or more widely distributed embers provide gentler heat. I also use the hand test as a practical guide, generally looking for around 8 seconds for quicker-cooking cuts and approximately 12โ15 seconds for larger cuts such as vacรญo or costillar.
The wheel operates a mechanism that raises and lowers the cooking grate above the fire. Increasing the distance reduces the intensity of the heat reaching the food, while lowering the grate brings the meat closer to the embers. Itโs essentially a simple mechanical form of temperature control without burners or a thermostat.
Not necessarily. A brasero continuously produces fresh embers, which can then be distributed beneath the cooking surface to control heat. This is one reason my fixed-height parrilla works so well for me. I produce embers separately and control cooking intensity by moving the heat rather than moving the grill.
Discover the first-ever English-speaking Argentine Asado DIY Building Guide, a digital experience designed to help you build your own authentic Asado grill, master the craft of Argentine grilling, and join our community that lives and breathes fire, food, and tradition.
Key Takeaways One of the questions I get asked surprisingly often is whether you should use wood or charcoal for Argentine asado. If youโve watched enough videos of asado in Argentina, youโve probably seen both. One parrilla might have large pieces of hardwood burning alongside the meat, while another has a bag of charcoal sitting [โฆ]
When most people think about Argentine asado, they picture meat sitting over an open parrilla with glowing embers underneath. Thatโs certainly at the heart of how I cook, but it isnโt the only cooking surface I use. One of the most useful components of my Argentine grill is actually a solid steel griddle, or plancha, [โฆ]
If you look closely at a traditional Argentine parrilla, youโll often notice that the cooking grate is only part of the setup. Sitting alongside it, sometimes built directly into the brickwork and sometimes constructed as a separate steel basket, is another piece of equipment that plays an important role in how we cook asado: the [โฆ]
