From time immemorial, human beings have used good old fashioned wood for cooking. It’s only the past few decades that man created the hottest invention since sliced bread - the charcoal briquette. The charcoal briquette is a composite of sawdust and woods (the crappy kind) that are burned down to a carbon state, after which they’re compressed with a binder (usually starch) to which may be added ground up coal which helps it burn. Some briquettes come with an additive, like petroleum, which helps them ignite faster. Controversy abounds as to whether or not briquettes change the taste of your food, and the jury is still out on whether or not they’re harmful to your health.

A step up from briquettes is hardwood lump-type charcoal. The hardwoods have been compressed into lumps over medium heat, using a special kiln or buried under mounds of soil. Oxygen is limited thus the wood burns more slowly and hotter, releasing the bad stuff (resin, gas, water, etc.) while holding in the good stuff (carbon).

Wood chips are gaining in popularity among grill and barbecue aficionados. They’re relatively inexpensive, and add a nice “flavoring” to the barbecue. Nothing like hickory smoked pork, huh? You see, if you want real barbecue (the food, not the activity) you’ve got to slow cook, and you just can’t get that smoky flavor if a food is on a grill for only 15 or 20 minutes. The addition of hickory or other hardwoods adds that smokiness in a very short time.

Is it a barbecue if you don’t use briquettes? That’s still debatable; the choice is yours.