Why you Should use Restaurant-Grade Barbecue Charcoal at Home

For many families in the UK, warm summer evenings mean the chance to get the barbecue out and enjoy some al fresco dining.

If you’re one of those hoping to recreate at home the flavours you’ve enjoyed at your favourite grillhouse or barbecue restaurant, but generally failing to do so, you might need to think more carefully about the charcoal you’re using.

You might think all charcoal is the same and just pick up what you need from your local supermarket or DIY store as and when you need it. But by doing this, you may be doing yourself a disservice. That’s because there are a number of significant differences between the charcoal sold for home and that sold for restaurant use.

Here are just some of the benefits you can enjoy when you start using restaurant-grade cooking charcoal for your home barbecue.

Better quality charcoal

Quite simply, the charcoal sold to most restaurants is of a much higher quality than that generally sold for domestic use. Most domestic barbecue charcoal contains additives that make it easier to light – unfortunately, those same additives are also likely to leave a chemical taste on your food. 

Restaurant-grade charcoal is also larger than that sold for home use, which means you’ll get a hotter, longer and more even burn than the smaller pieces are capable of.

Better quality food

Using better quality charcoal means that you will cook better food. And while you may not possess the same culinary skills or experience as a professional barbecue chef, you’ll stand a far better chance of getting closer to the flavours that they can achieve if you’re using the same grade of cooking charcoal.

Make better use of your equipment

The barbecues being sold for home use are getting better and better all the time, as people want to be able to achieve a higher standard of outside cooking. But what’s the point of spending all that money on the latest model if you’re not backing it up by fueling it with the best charcoal?

Without switching to restaurant-grade charcoal, you probably won’t see the improvements you were hoping for when you decided to upgrade your grill.

Less spit, less smoke

As well as those additives we mentioned earlier, a lot of the cooking charcoal sold for home use will also have a higher water content. So when you burn it, you’re likely to get a lot more smoke and spit that you’d get from the charcoal provided to most restaurants.

You’ll particularly enjoy the significantly reduced levels of smoke, especially if you’re the person it always drifts towards!

Bigger bags + bigger charcoal = better value

Because they tend to use a lot more charcoal, the bags sold to restaurants are usually bigger than those sold in supermarkets and other outlets aimed at domestic customers. That will usually mean 12kg bags as opposed to 5kg bags.

And, as we mentioned earlier, the pieces of charcoal in those bags also tend to be bigger, which means that they’ll burn longer and hotter than the charcoal generally sold for home use. In fact, you can usually count on restaurant-grade charcoal burning for at least three hours.

So if a barbecue is something you’re going to be enjoying several times over the course of the summer, then you’ll find that you’ll get much better value by investing in those bigger bags of bigger charcoal.

 

For top-quality restaurant-grade BBQ charcoal that you can also use to create great barbecue food at home, KG Smith & Son offers the perfect combination of quality, value and exceptional service. We’ve been supplying restaurants and chefs with their cooking charcoal for over 70 years, so why not find out for yourself why so many of them trust us with this most vital element of their professional success?

Order your charcoal online now, send us an email, or give us a call if you need any further help or advice.