Elegant grilling

Top chefs swear by binchōtan charcoal and Japanese tabletop grills.

Anyone who thinks that grilling on charcoal is only for tough men who like heaving giant pieces of meat onto massive metal barbecues and cooking them until they’re charred is wrong. While more environmentally friendly electric grills are enjoying a boost in popularity, many top chefs appreciate the unique flavour that a charcoal grill gives food – but their tool of choice is slightly more refined: traditional “white” binchōtan charcoal and Konro tabletop grills from Japan.

Binchōtan charcoal is a very hard, porous and mineral-rich wood charcoal. Wood from a rare stone linden oak tree that grows in the Japanese province of Kishū is charred very slowly at high temperatures and with a very low oxygen supply in ovens made from stone and clay. Ten kilogrammes of wood are needed to produce just one kilogramme of this type of charcoal. Unlike other types of charcoal, binchōtan is very sustainable. Only a few branches are cut from the trees used to make it, allowing the trees to continue to grow.

Grilling with infra-red radiation

The metallic noise of pieces of charcoal hitting each other is characteristic of binchōtan. This type of charcoal has an extremely high carbon content of up to 99 per cent, it burns much more slowly and at lower temperatures than regular charcoal. It doesn’t smoke, blaze or smell, and it gives food a lighter and slightly sweet, grilled flavour. The charcoal reaches temperatures of up to 1100 degrees Celsius and generates powerful infra-red radiation, ensuring that the meat is nice and crisp on the outside but tender on the inside.

The most unusual thing about binchōtan charcoal is that it can be reused. It can be left to burn for four to six hours, then must be placed in water for a few minutes, left to dry for a few days and can then be used for another few hours. Its relatively high price (around 50 euros per kilo) doesn’t only pay off when it comes to the taste of the grilled food!

Charcoal with no smoke

Professionals often use Konro grills to cook yakitori dishes, vegetables, fish or Wagyu beef. The light, handmade, squareshaped grills are made from diatomite, fossilized rock algae, and they can withstand high temperatures, are well insulated and take up very little space. Bon appétit!