Choosing the right fuel is key to great BBQ. Think of your fuel as another ingredient in your recipe — different woods and charcoals give different heat, burn times and flavours.

Let's start by looking at the main types of fuel and what they're used for.

Wood

• Chunks – These are small chips or chunks of wood that ignite easily and burn quickly. Great for providing clean smoke flavours for short/medium cooks.
  

• Logs – Exactly as you'd expect, logs are larger pieces of wood that need kindling to catch, but burn longer. They're best for live fire and longer cooks.

• Pellets - Wood pellets are made from compressed sawdust or small chips, so they are a great way to use up scraps that would otherwise go to waste. The compression process activates the natural lignin in the wood, so no additional binders are needed. Pellets burn evenly and cleanly, with little ash to remove afterwards. However, pellets can only be used in grills or ovens which have been specifically designed to handle this type of fuel. 

Wood fuels are unique in that different tree types will give different flavours. Hickory wood smoke gives that classic bold BBQ taste, or you can use cherry wood to give a sweet and fruity flavour profile to your food. 

Flavour is subjective: for example, we find oak quite strong, but many love it. We recommend experimenting with different wood types or combinations to find what works for you.

When buying wood fuels, always go local, pure, chemical-free — avoid imported or treated wood. Choosing wood from local, sustainable sources with plastic-free packaging also helps minimise the environmental impact of wood fuels. 

Charcoal 

Charcoal comes in two main forms, lumpwood and briquette. Both start life as wood, which is burned slowly without oxygen. This removes any moisture or impurities in the wood, leaving pure carbon charcoal. 

• Lumpwood Charcoal – This is basic natural charcoal created from the carbonisation process without further processing. It still resembles wood in appearance and can produce slightly flavoured smoke. Lumpwood burns hot and fast and is easy to light. Great for grilling.
  

• Briquettes – Briquettes are made from finely powdered lumpwood charcoal, which is then bound with natural starches and shaped into regular bricks. They give a longer, steadier burn, but can be harder to light. They're ideal for long smokes where consistency is key. 

Again, look for sustainable sourcing policies and no chemical additives or treatments to ensure a clean, even burn with no acrid smoke and minimal environmental impact.

Short or Long Cook?

Combining fuels means you can create different effects and styles of cooking. We love using charcoal to provide the heat, and add wood for flavour. 

• Short cooks (steaks, wings, kebabs): lumpwood + wood chunks.
  

• Long cooks (brisket, pork shoulder, whole joints): briquettes or logs + chunks for flavour.

Buy clean. Buy local. Let the fuel do the work.

We stock a range of high-quality wood and charcoal, most of which are produced in the UK from sustainable sources.