Charcoal, Pellets & Smoking

The right charcoal makes all the difference for the evening. Good charcoal glows steadily for over two hours, produces no flare-ups, no smoke, no chemical aftertastes—only the clear infrared heat that can sear a steak perfectly. Cheap barbecue charcoal smokes, smolders, sparks, and distorts the aroma.

And then there's smoking: the second, slower dimension of grilling. A piece of trout or salmon over beech or apple wood chips, eight hours of cold smoke—and a fresh fish becomes a delicacy for which gourmet shops charge twenty euros per pound.

Two Suppliers for the Serious Griller

Big Green Egg provides the entire charcoal and smoking range from a single source: restaurant-quality eucalyptus and hardwood charcoal, smoking woods (hickory, apple, cherry, mesquite), pellets for indirect grilling in a ceramic grill.

Thüros from Thuringia complements with briquettes and charcoal that match their own grill system—cleaning, reduced smoke, with a long glowing time.

The Products

• Charcoal & Briquettes — made from hardwood (beech, oak), without additives.
• Smoking Woods & Chips — apple (mild), beech (neutral), hickory (strong), cherry (fruity).
• Pellets — for pellet smokers and indirect grilling.
• Chimney Starters & Fire Starters — chemical-free alternative to barbecue lighter cubes.
• Smoking Planks — cedar wood, for salmon and fish directly on the grill.

A lighting tip: A chimney starter is by far the best method to get charcoal glowing—with newspaper underneath and charcoal on top, glowing in 15 minutes, without any chemical aftertaste. Once you've used it, you'll throw away your lighter fluid and never light it any other way. This is the quiet quality improvement that enhances grilling even before the first food is placed on the grill.

See also: Grills & Ceramic Grills, Grill Accessories.