Charcoal

Buy a bag of charcoal, and dump it in the grill. Easy isn't it. Well, err, no it's a little bit more complicated than that.

You are basically faced with two types of charcoal, lumpwood or briquettes. Both have their own uses, but for me lumpwood is the best choice.

Charcoal briquettes are designed to burn for longer, but in order to do that they can include fillers. This can be things like lighter fuel, clay, wax and other products whose sole reason for being there is to lengthen the burn time. It is possible that the smell from these fillers could impregnate your food.

In my opinion it is always better to try and use lumpwood when barbecuing. Natural hardwood charcoal doesn't include such fillers, and whilst it'll burn out sooner than briquettes, there is no chance of the taste of your food being tainted.

Natural charcoal burns much hotter and cleaner, and imparts a slight smoky flavour to your food.

And if you want a little bit of extra flavour, why not try adding some wood to the coals.