Pyromid® System Technology Benefits

patented | benefits | comparisons | universal fuel | for preparedness | world solution | market

Some notes on cooking on a grill with charcoal:

When cooking on a grill or stove on which the food comes into direct contact with the gases given off by the burning fuel, the flavor of the food is changed by the flavor of the gases. This is the reason that hickory smoked meats are so popular, and why mesquite wood is used extensively in the Southwest for barbecues. Fruit woods such as apple are a favorite, as well as oak and maple. Most briquettes are made using powdered charcoal for bulk fuel, anthracite for long burning, clays, borax, and starches as binders, limestone to create a white ash, sawdust to assist in getting the briquette lit at a relatively low temperature, sodium nitrate to supply oxygen in the initial lighting phase, and in some cases the briquette is coated or impregnated with a petroleum product for fast lighting. People experienced in the barbecue world tend to be very particular about the taste of their food. For this reason, many have chosen natural charcoal over briquettes. When using the Pyromid® stove, natural charcoal lumps burn well in the Pyromid®, and take advantage of the technology of the Pyromid® stove by concentrating and reflecting the heat back to the grill. By arranging the lumps of charcoal on the Superheat™ grate or low heat grate, the Pyromid® grill temperature can be set in the same way as with standard briquettes.

There is one manufacturer of briquettes that uses only corn starch as an additive. The company is Hickory Specialties, in Tennessee. The brands produced by Hickory Specialties include "Nature Glo", "Wildfire", "Holland", and "Kroger".

There are many brands of lump charcoal. These include:

B & B Oak and Mesquite Lump Charcoal

Barbecues Galore Lump Charcoal (Hickory, maple, and oak)

Basques Hardwood Charcoal (primarily sugar maple)

Big Green Egg Lump Charcoal (hickory and other hardwoods)

Blackwood Canyon Mesquite Lump Charcoal

California Hot Wood Mesquite Charcoal

Cowboy Hardwood Charcoal (Hickory, maple, and oak from scrap lumber)

Everflame Charcoal Logs (possibly bamboo charcoal, from China)

goodwood™ mesquite charcoal

Hasty Bake Hardwood Charcoal

Lazzari 100% Mesquite Charcoal

Maple Leaf Charcoal (beech, maple, and yellow birch; briquettes bound with wheat. Harvested ecologically)

Martha Steward Chunk Charwood (primarily scrap wood charcoal)

Mike's Authentic Mesquite Charcoal

Nature's Own Lump Charcoal (Maple and other hardwoods, appears to be from milling operations)

New Braunfels Genuine Lump Charcoal (Mesquite)

Real Flavor Lump Charcoal (Hickory, maple, oak, and other hardwoods)

Royal Oak Wood Charcoal

Western® Hardwood Lump Charcoal

Whole Foods Charcoal (appears to be from kiln dried hardwoods)