Great video. But to play the Devil's advocate I have to say this, being a passionat griller myself: If you don't want the smoky flavour from charcoal smoke but love the flavor of the chicken fat burning, it seems like a meaningless hassle and waste of cash to pay big bucks for binchotan. You can just use a cheap electric grill then, can't you?
Awesome point you got and I love these type of discussions! Especially since I really enjoy using my economic Livart electric grill and recommend Yakigang to start from there for home Yakitori for the same point you bring up. However there’s definitely a reason why Binchotan is prized for Yakitori. At the highest level, I can say that no cheaper $70-$200 home electric grill with large gaps in between coils will reach the temp or provide the heat coverage for drippings to turn into plume of smoke (like you see in my other binchotan videos). There are industrial electric grills that are used at many Yakitori shops in Japan, where it’s tight coils, for full coverage, just like how stacked binchotan provides full coverage. You will find these at many casual Yakitori places and mainly at places serving pork belly wraps (Yasaimaki) skewers as it being flameless prevents flareups with fatty pork belly. A popular Japanese brand is called Hikogriller and it costs $3000-$10000+ depending on size. But you still want a bit of flame to add a hint of flame char though . Back on the micro Binchotan level of discussion. Binchotan is around 95% carbon. So when you tap them together it sounds like two metal pipes hitting. Yes, it’s like cooking on glowing metal/ceramic rods of electric for the infrared heat but that remaining 5% of material is what differentiates even among all the variety of Binchotan charcoal and does add different flavors or flame up characteristics that straight electric grills won’t be able to match. And this is the main reason why the highest end Yakitori chefs in Japan choose to use the most expensive and prized Kishu Binchotan from the Wakayama region. There's something specifically in that 5% of Kishu Binchotan that helps makes the best Yakitori flavors. Many others use the lower cost Binchotan from other regions in Japan or different Southeast Asia countries like I use in my videos and then the more casual places use ogatan compressed charcoal, gas, or electric grills. I'm still a noob in the grand scheme of grilling, but from quick research I think lump charcoals are in the 65%-85% carbon so you get that 35%-15% of other organic material/flavors which is crucial flavor for other type of grilling. For BBQ ribs, brisket , chicken etc, I for sure want that smoker/mesquite grilled one vs one made in an oven or gas grill. I’m working on trying to be more concise with my findings/experiences but I explain more in my 2 part Charblox video series here too. ua-cam.com/video/GaBwqkvhnaQ/v-deo.html Hope you enjoy!
@@Yakitoriguy Thank you for a very elaborate and well written reply. I totally understand what you are saying, and I have deep respect for nuances in flavour profiles but then again ... you all dip your skewers in tare which pretty effectively overpowers those fine nuances. Let us just be honest about it. In the end it's actually all about the emotions. It makes me happy to use quality products, and I will most likely end up buying binchotan myself when I get my hibachi soon. It's the same for me when it comes to Japanese kitchen knives. I have no problems paying 500 bucks for a good gyuto from one of the excellent blacksmiths in Japan. It just makes me very happy to own, use and maintain knives like that. I got seven of them! A 10 dollar knife from Costco will sure do a great job cutting my food but it wont make me literally grin! I am pretty sure I will get the same sense of satisfaction when I lit up my first binchotan stick.
@@muscularibuprofen69 So far I have only used Vietnamese lookalike coal and is pretty happy with it. The real deal is only available online, from abroad and that makes it even more expensive. But I will probably invest in a case sometime soon...
@@Yakitoriguy Forbidden city era they didnt have space heaters. You got a big pot of fire and brought it inside. Benchotan has less smoke and burns longer. Thats probably important bringing fire inside, as well as cramped crowded alley size streets where people will be not pleased getting hit in the eye with smoke. I also suspect benchotan transports better and deals with getting wet and old better. I make my own charcoal and its USA lump grade. Making benchotan would be much much harder. The fact someone figured out how to make charcoal as sturdy as ceramic and dense as graphite seems neat. Propane>lump charcoal>benchotan in my opinion.
I've been obsessing about giving yakitori a try since diving into your videos. You're a good teacher! Thank you for posting this comparison as lump charcoal is much easier to get, even if results vary. I owe you a chicken! 🐔
I just found your TikTok and UA-cam channels today. The are incredible! I’ve been cooking yakitori for 3-4 years and have used Matt’s Chicken and Charcoal book as my primary information source. You videos answer so many questions not addressed in the book and provide a lot of additional information I didn’t know I needed. Thank you. Please keep going.
I've tried mangrove lump and like your experience, it burns way fast and inconsistent. I haven't had the pleasure of trying binchotan because I can't stomach the price, but my current go to charcoal for yakitori is ogatan now, it's heat is consistent and also easy on the pocket. Thanks for the great videos, wonderfully edited to help learners like us.
Thank You so much for this video! I have had a lot of success cutting the lighting time of my Binchotan by using a 4" duct fan. The science behind lighting a fire consisting of three elements, heat, fuel, and oxygen. By increasing the amount of oxygen I don't have to use as much butane. Once I have lit the ends of the Binchotan, I place the fan pointed down into the chimney. It really heats up and lights the rest of the Binchotan.
Loved the video! It all depends on what you are cooking, and how you're cooking it! We make BBQ brisket at 250 degrees Fahrenheit but we rip steaks as hot as we can get the grill! Chicken needs a happy-place in the middle! 😊
I like your channel. Learned a lot from you. I would like to share with my experiences with different type of binchotan. I tried several binchotan and found out that the Bincho Grill’s binchotan is not easy to use, rank the least from cost to performance point of view: 1) too slow to lit, average to spend 40-50min on high BTU gas burner with wind shield and chimney to ensure it can run for more than 1.5hrs; 2) too fast to cool down, if you don’t ensure the charcoal is turned 100% orange/red, and maybe only 50%, (say 20-30min on gap burner) the charcoal will start cooling down about 30min to 1hr later. Even it’s fully lit, it can only last 1.5hr, or 2hrs the most. 3) too much while ashes, terrible when you fan. 4)no distinct flavor compared to lower cost of binchtan purchased in supermarket. Good binchotan charcoals definitely don’t have the issues as I described, I purchased some from Japanese Supermarket (I live in North Cal), all of them have better performance and cheaper. Obviously the one I purchased from Amazon import front Kishu has the best result, both burning and flavor I can’t forget, though Price-wise was expensive, 5lb for > $100.
Thanks for sharing your experiences! There's definitely a lot of variance in Ogatan and Binchotan in terms of quality too that I'm learning about. For example I have recently learned from a Binchotan representative in Japan that even among binchotan they can all be 95% carbon, however the remainder few percent within that 5% have so much variance among Binchotan brands/origin/wood type which can affect all the different points you mentioned. I'll continue to post variety of charcoal tests and share these insights as I learn about them too!
Yes definitely. When using smokeless and odor neutral charcoal like Binchotan or Ogatan, there's a specific Yakitori smoke flavor from the white vaporized chicken fat smoke as you see in the video. This is the flavor of Yakitori like you would taste in Japan. When using lump, wood, briquettes you get a woodsy smoke people most associated with the flavors of bbq smoked chicken. It's an easy to smell and taste different flavor profile. I mention the smoke flavor bit in this video, but my future briquette video will show more about that.
I wonder if you tried the lumpwood with a single layer of lava rock used in gas BBQs, it may dissipate some of the direct heat and create a barrier to prevent flare ups
Looks like the lump did pretty darn well as far as I'm concerned. It does need a slightly bit more tending, but it dropping in mass I don't feel is a real problem. As you showed it could prevent some burning of the meat if someone were to step away for a few seconds, but not really a big factor. How would you compare the flavor of it in general tho? Granted it did flare a bit more tho... I have used it for grilling (same for everyone I know.. I don't know anyone that uses bricketts) and it has a good flavor, and very high heat. I think the only downside is it does take a little more work to use, and skill, but it's worth it for sure. Awesome video on a topic I'm just learning about, and interested in. Thank you for the effort! 👍👍
In terms of grilling meat, lump, briquettes, binchotan all do that. However binchotan is nearly carbon, and thus is odorless/smokeless so you don't get the woodsy smoke notes you get with the other charcoal. This makes it really unique in that you only taste the chicken and the smoke flavors from the chicken drippings vaporizing. I'm still learning but will continue to post videos about Japanese charcoal.
Really depends on the charcoal temp and grill being used. Some shops do high heat and really close within 5cm and others do lower heat and further away like 10cm +
@@Yakitoriguy thanks for replying. Yesterday took my family out to a highly rated yakitori restaurant in the SF Bay Area and what a disappointment, they cooked everything inside the kitchen and brought the whole order out to us at the same time... half of the meats were cold or overcooked... might have to just do it at home
any advice for dealing with flare ups from skin skewers on a propane grill? should I just move it to cooler spots more frequently? or could a fan help with that on propane too? Thanks for all the amazing knowledge on your channel, i've made some insane yakitori.
Flare ups are more prone to happen on gas grills as naturally there's already a flame vs on a charcoal grill where flames only happen when theres additional fuel like fats or if you were to stick a wood skewer inside. You can try preboiling the skin to get some or most of the fats off the skin as I show in the Skin skewer tutorial video. Fan won't help, but you can either just move the skewers around or turn off the grill as needed.
I am new to grilling and I have a Weber Go Anywhere Grill which seems ideal for Yakitori because it is rectangular. I recently bought some Weber smoking chips (I plan to smoke a whole pork shoulder or whole chicken) What is your opinion regarding putting smoking chips on the charcoal and grilling Yakitori? Would the smoke chips add flavour for the 10-20 minutes you are probably grilling most Yakitori skewers?
As described in this video and then the Kingsford briquete charcoal video, woodsy smoke flavors reminiscent of BBQ chicken is usually not a flavor associated or you want with Yakitori traditionally which is why it's cooked on smokless Binchotan. The flavors all come from the chicken itself, including the vapor smoke created by chicken fat drippings.
Hi, thanks for all the great vids you've made. They helped me a lot in my yakitori adventure. I am using a low-end industrial grade propane grill that I bought from a restaurant supply store in Japan. Is there a way for me to get the white fat smoke and avoid the soot at the same time? To stop the soot, I have to set the tetsuhisa to the highest level, close the air intake and set the fuel gate to just above the level where the flame may go out. Any higher than that and I'll get flare ups on all but the leanest meats. And even a flare up that lasted for half a second leaves soot on meat. Cooking this way I can still get the surface of the meat to brown nicely, and still retain some moisture on the inside for most skewers. But then I don't get that great aroma from the fat vaporizing. If I turn up the heat the aroma comes back but so does the soot. It'd be awesome if you can point me in a direction on how to fix this. Thanks again. :)
Every grill has its pros and cons and it's also slightly different in characteristics and performance. So although I make Yakitori with gas on a portable grill and larger American bbq grill, I don't really have a straight answer I can give you unless I get to play with your grill and see. However from my experience so far, I think the white smoke you're looking for (without soot) is hard to do on a gas grill, because gas is going to be flame based no matter what. With binchotan, white smoke is achieved when the hot flameless charcoal can vaporize the fats. In a gas grill, I the metal or ceramic surface inside acts as this surface to produce that infrared/heat surface. But as soon as fats touches the flames coming underneath/sides it causes flareup/flame, and you get the darker smoke and soot. I know a master who spend 6 years on his gas grill at his shop, basically learning everything to get 100% performance out of it, and then only when he learned everything he can with cutting, skewering, and making Yakitori on that grill, he felt like he was ready to upgrade to grilling on binchotan to step things up. So keep trying different things, and work with what you have and then if you change to another grill whether its electric, gas, or charcoal everything you learned can be transferred over.
@@Yakitoriguy Reporting back with a solution, in case it helps you or other readers: Ceramic briquettes helped. I removed the steel strip that shields the burner from the drippings on my grill; put a steel mesh a bit above the burners, then lined up the briquettes over the mesh. Because of their shape, they naturally leave a bit of space between themselves for the heated air to go thru. I think they are basically ceramic tiles that get heated up by the fire, and then in turn become the heat source to cook the food thru radiation. I noticed the following changes when I use them: 1. Way more white smoke than before. Fat and juice that drip onto the briquettes get vaporized. It happens much more than with my regular setup because the briquettes cover most of the surface of the grill, while with the regular setup a lot of the drippings go right down to the drip tray. This was supposedly what I was looking for, but then I grill in my wintergarten, and depending on the wind direction, the amount of smoke can irritate my eyes quite a bit. 2. Barely any flare up. The dripping fat is almost always vaporized by the briquette. Not more soot. 3. Heat is somewhat more even. With my regular setup, usually one side of the grill is hotter, depending on the wind direction and the throttle of the 2 burners on my grill. I guess now it's a bit more radiation and less convection(?) I didnt really have to flip the skewers along their lengths as much as before to get the ends to cook evenly. 4. Lower energy efficiency. Now I have to turn the throttle higher / lower the iron bars to get the meat to cook as fast as before. I think it's because the briquettes cover much of the surface of the grill, so hot air from the burners can't go up as easily, so more of the heat escaped sideways / downwards. I noticed the sides of the grill being much hotter than before, and the water in the drip tray evaporates at a much higher rate.
For Yakitori you want the infrared radiant heat that helps to penetrate heat inside. Electric and Binchotan Charcoal grilling can achieve that. With gas/flames you get the convection heating which cooks the meat more outside in. When compared side by side the Yakitori cooked on Charcoal has a more fluffier feel, so I prefer charcoal grilling.
And this is with "softer" SE Asian Binchotan. The more dense stuff can last longer too so less having to refill making it better for restaurants to keep the heat all night.
To save money myself, I've tried many things with lump hoping I can get ideal results for Yakitori without having to use my lower supply of binchotan. However it's just the very different chemical nature/quality differences between the two types of charcoal including smoke/flavor which there really isn't much you can change no matter what you try. While binchotan is 95% carbon lump is around 50-70% depending on brand will always add wood smokey flavors and more prone to flames, which is good for other type of grilling cuisine, just not ideal characteristics specifically for Japanese Yakitori which I wanted to show with these experiments.
You do want smoke flavor. Which in the case of smokeless Binchotan comes from the chicken fats dripping and turning into chicken smoke. Other type of charcoal like lump wood or briquette emits basically the smell of burned woods like campfire. Those flavors are good for BBQ chicken but its not the flavor of Yakitori chicken.
@@mayordoctor3961 I think the whole idea is that charcoal live fire and charcoal has IR radiation which cooks beneath the surface. This is different from cooking in a pan for instance.
Yea, if you take a cube of chicken breast and cook it on a pan vs cooking with binchotan you will notice a texture difference. It's this magical experience when you first bite into Yakitori that was made by a master and mindblown how fluffy it feels. You can even notice a difference between Gas and Charcoal too. Gas one feels flakier.
To make the best yakitori: - grill with good heat insulation - good quality charcoal - good dipping sauce - good chicken - good cutting meat parts - good combination of meat/onion/fat/skin on the skewer - good control of the temperature - your flipping skewer skill *sigh so much to be done to achieve this UwU
Yup it definitely is which is why I always recommend people to stay away from Binchotan. Start with the grill you have at home already or an indoor electric grill and build up some skewering/grilling experience first and level up each time with new equipments.
I'd rather use american made natural charcoal like jealous devil, kamado joe or fogo instead of overpriced "binchotan" from a third world country. Who knows what chemicals they have used during manufacturing. Japan has standards higher than US. But other asian countries have no regard for food/employee safety and child labor. I am hoping american brands start making binchotan and wipe out irresponsible companies from third world countries.
Great video. But to play the Devil's advocate I have to say this, being a passionat griller myself: If you don't want the smoky flavour from charcoal smoke but love the flavor of the chicken fat burning, it seems like a meaningless hassle and waste of cash to pay big bucks for binchotan. You can just use a cheap electric grill then, can't you?
Awesome point you got and I love these type of discussions! Especially since I really enjoy using my economic Livart electric grill and recommend Yakigang to start from there for home Yakitori for the same point you bring up. However there’s definitely a reason why Binchotan is prized for Yakitori. At the highest level, I can say that no cheaper $70-$200 home electric grill with large gaps in between coils will reach the temp or provide the heat coverage for drippings to turn into plume of smoke (like you see in my other binchotan videos).
There are industrial electric grills that are used at many Yakitori shops in Japan, where it’s tight coils, for full coverage, just like how stacked binchotan provides full coverage. You will find these at many casual Yakitori places and mainly at places serving pork belly wraps (Yasaimaki) skewers as it being flameless prevents flareups with fatty pork belly. A popular Japanese brand is called Hikogriller and it costs $3000-$10000+ depending on size. But you still want a bit of flame to add a hint of flame char though .
Back on the micro Binchotan level of discussion. Binchotan is around 95% carbon. So when you tap them together it sounds like two metal pipes hitting. Yes, it’s like cooking on glowing metal/ceramic rods of electric for the infrared heat but that remaining 5% of material is what differentiates even among all the variety of Binchotan charcoal and does add different flavors or flame up characteristics that straight electric grills won’t be able to match. And this is the main reason why the highest end Yakitori chefs in Japan choose to use the most expensive and prized Kishu Binchotan from the Wakayama region. There's something specifically in that 5% of Kishu Binchotan that helps makes the best Yakitori flavors. Many others use the lower cost Binchotan from other regions in Japan or different Southeast Asia countries like I use in my videos and then the more casual places use ogatan compressed charcoal, gas, or electric grills. I'm still a noob in the grand scheme of grilling, but from quick research I think lump charcoals are in the 65%-85% carbon so you get that 35%-15% of other organic material/flavors which is crucial flavor for other type of grilling. For BBQ ribs, brisket , chicken etc, I for sure want that smoker/mesquite grilled one vs one made in an oven or gas grill.
I’m working on trying to be more concise with my findings/experiences but I explain more in my 2 part Charblox video series here too. ua-cam.com/video/GaBwqkvhnaQ/v-deo.html Hope you enjoy!
@@Yakitoriguy
Thank you for a very elaborate and well written reply. I totally understand what you are saying, and I have deep respect for nuances in flavour profiles but then again ... you all dip your skewers in tare which pretty effectively overpowers those fine nuances.
Let us just be honest about it. In the end it's actually all about the emotions. It makes me happy to use quality products, and I will most likely end up buying binchotan myself when I get my hibachi soon. It's the same for me when it comes to Japanese kitchen knives. I have no problems paying 500 bucks for a good gyuto from one of the excellent blacksmiths in Japan. It just makes me very happy to own, use and maintain knives like that. I got seven of them! A 10 dollar knife from Costco will sure do a great job cutting my food but it wont make me literally grin! I am pretty sure I will get the same sense of satisfaction when I lit up my first binchotan stick.
@@keiserkoba9532 Any updates? Would be good to hear what an experience griller thinks about bincho tan
@@muscularibuprofen69
So far I have only used Vietnamese lookalike coal and is pretty happy with it. The real deal is only available online, from abroad and that makes it even more expensive. But I will probably invest in a case sometime soon...
@@Yakitoriguy Forbidden city era they didnt have space heaters. You got a big pot of fire and brought it inside. Benchotan has less smoke and burns longer. Thats probably important bringing fire inside, as well as cramped crowded alley size streets where people will be not pleased getting hit in the eye with smoke. I also suspect benchotan transports better and deals with getting wet and old better. I make my own charcoal and its USA lump grade. Making benchotan would be much much harder. The fact someone figured out how to make charcoal as sturdy as ceramic and dense as graphite seems neat. Propane>lump charcoal>benchotan in my opinion.
I've been obsessing about giving yakitori a try since diving into your videos. You're a good teacher! Thank you for posting this comparison as lump charcoal is much easier to get, even if results vary. I owe you a chicken! 🐔
Glad you're enjoying the tutorials and equipment review videos!
I just found your TikTok and UA-cam channels today. The are incredible! I’ve been cooking yakitori for 3-4 years and have used Matt’s Chicken and Charcoal book as my primary information source. You videos answer so many questions not addressed in the book and provide a lot of additional information I didn’t know I needed. Thank you. Please keep going.
I've tried mangrove lump and like your experience, it burns way fast and inconsistent. I haven't had the pleasure of trying binchotan because I can't stomach the price, but my current go to charcoal for yakitori is ogatan now, it's heat is consistent and also easy on the pocket.
Thanks for the great videos, wonderfully edited to help learners like us.
Yup. I too like using Ogatan as the perfect middle ground. Thanks for watching!
@@Yakitoriguy do you recommend ogatan? For cooking yakitori... like would it be your 2nd option?
Thank You so much for this video!
I have had a lot of success cutting the lighting time of my Binchotan by using a 4" duct fan.
The science behind lighting a fire consisting of three elements, heat, fuel, and oxygen. By increasing the amount
of oxygen I don't have to use as much butane.
Once I have lit the ends of the Binchotan, I place the fan pointed down into the chimney. It really heats up and lights the rest of the Binchotan.
Thanks for the tip! Yup definitely the fanning helps which why I've been doing my fanning temp tests too in the charcoal reviews like this.
Loved the video! It all depends on what you are cooking, and how you're cooking it! We make BBQ brisket at 250 degrees Fahrenheit but we rip steaks as hot as we can get the grill! Chicken needs a happy-place in the middle! 😊
I come across to your video and this is the best tutorial video since Indian Programming Tutorial. Thank you , Sensei 🙏
Thanks for watching!
Will a deeper stack of lump charcoal reduce flare-ups? I too dont want to pay the high cost of binchotan...
what are you spraying it with
What is in the silver shaker you put on at start of cooking ? Is it just salt?
Are you spraying water?
Is that water in the green bottle?
How do you extinguish binchotan for later use?
I like your channel. Learned a lot from you. I would like to share with my experiences with different type of binchotan. I tried several binchotan and found out that the Bincho Grill’s binchotan is not easy to use, rank the least from cost to performance point of view: 1) too slow to lit, average to spend 40-50min on high BTU gas burner with wind shield and chimney to ensure it can run for more than 1.5hrs; 2) too fast to cool down, if you don’t ensure the charcoal is turned 100% orange/red, and maybe only 50%, (say 20-30min on gap burner) the charcoal will start cooling down about 30min to 1hr later. Even it’s fully lit, it can only last 1.5hr, or 2hrs the most. 3) too much while ashes, terrible when you fan. 4)no distinct flavor compared to lower cost of binchtan purchased in supermarket.
Good binchotan charcoals definitely don’t have the issues as I described, I purchased some from Japanese Supermarket (I live in North Cal), all of them have better performance and cheaper. Obviously the one I purchased from Amazon import front Kishu has the best result, both burning and flavor I can’t forget, though Price-wise was expensive, 5lb for > $100.
Thanks for sharing your experiences! There's definitely a lot of variance in Ogatan and Binchotan in terms of quality too that I'm learning about. For example I have recently learned from a Binchotan representative in Japan that even among binchotan they can all be 95% carbon, however the remainder few percent within that 5% have so much variance among Binchotan brands/origin/wood type which can affect all the different points you mentioned. I'll continue to post variety of charcoal tests and share these insights as I learn about them too!
I said I would post pics of my yakitori, but unfortunately it was too damn good to wait for pics Your recipe is amazing! Thanks again for the videos!
Guess you have to keep making more!
Thanks for putting this comparison together! Great work! Any difference in actual flavor between using the two charcoals?
Yes definitely. When using smokeless and odor neutral charcoal like Binchotan or Ogatan, there's a specific Yakitori smoke flavor from the white vaporized chicken fat smoke as you see in the video. This is the flavor of Yakitori like you would taste in Japan. When using lump, wood, briquettes you get a woodsy smoke people most associated with the flavors of bbq smoked chicken. It's an easy to smell and taste different flavor profile. I mention the smoke flavor bit in this video, but my future briquette video will show more about that.
Great channel! Just discovered you today. Is that just water in the bottle that you're spraying?
It's sake
I may have missed it, but what are using for dipping?
Thanks
It's Yakitori Tare. How to make here: ua-cam.com/video/rTsPPgpRcnk/v-deo.html
Awesome stuff. Just subbed. Gonna give it a try with my fire sense Grill. Just using lump charcoal for now. Cheers
Thanks for watching!
Can i check what do u spray onto the skewers whilst cooking? Is it mirin?
It's drinking sake. Check out my other grilling videos or top questions video for more details on the techniques and items I use for making Yakitori.
Great experiment, thank you for conducting.
Thanks for watching!
I wonder if you tried the lumpwood with a single layer of lava rock used in gas BBQs, it may dissipate some of the direct heat and create a barrier to prevent flare ups
Looks like the lump did pretty darn well as far as I'm concerned. It does need a slightly bit more tending, but it dropping in mass I don't feel is a real problem. As you showed it could prevent some burning of the meat if someone were to step away for a few seconds, but not really a big factor. How would you compare the flavor of it in general tho? Granted it did flare a bit more tho... I have used it for grilling (same for everyone I know.. I don't know anyone that uses bricketts) and it has a good flavor, and very high heat. I think the only downside is it does take a little more work to use, and skill, but it's worth it for sure. Awesome video on a topic I'm just learning about, and interested in. Thank you for the effort! 👍👍
In terms of grilling meat, lump, briquettes, binchotan all do that. However binchotan is nearly carbon, and thus is odorless/smokeless so you don't get the woodsy smoke notes you get with the other charcoal. This makes it really unique in that you only taste the chicken and the smoke flavors from the chicken drippings vaporizing. I'm still learning but will continue to post videos about Japanese charcoal.
What would you say is the optimal distance of meat away from the charcoal?
Really depends on the charcoal temp and grill being used. Some shops do high heat and really close within 5cm and others do lower heat and further away like 10cm +
@@Yakitoriguy thanks for replying. Yesterday took my family out to a highly rated yakitori restaurant in the SF Bay Area and what a disappointment, they cooked everything inside the kitchen and brought the whole order out to us at the same time... half of the meats were cold or overcooked... might have to just do it at home
May I ask where to get those metal bars on the grill where you rest your skewers on?
You can get them from Binchogrill's website.
@@Yakitoriguy thank you!!
Charcoal comparison aside there’s some valuable insights about direct charcoal grilling in general here. Thanks for the content!
Yea. There's definitely so much to learn. Even parts that I probably missed and you noticed. Thanks for watching!
any advice for dealing with flare ups from skin skewers on a propane grill? should I just move it to cooler spots more frequently? or could a fan help with that on propane too? Thanks for all the amazing knowledge on your channel, i've made some insane yakitori.
Flare ups are more prone to happen on gas grills as naturally there's already a flame vs on a charcoal grill where flames only happen when theres additional fuel like fats or if you were to stick a wood skewer inside. You can try preboiling the skin to get some or most of the fats off the skin as I show in the Skin skewer tutorial video. Fan won't help, but you can either just move the skewers around or turn off the grill as needed.
I am new to grilling and I have a Weber Go Anywhere Grill which seems ideal for Yakitori because it is rectangular.
I recently bought some Weber smoking chips (I plan to smoke a whole pork shoulder or whole chicken)
What is your opinion regarding putting smoking chips on the charcoal and grilling Yakitori?
Would the smoke chips add flavour for the 10-20 minutes you are probably grilling most Yakitori skewers?
As described in this video and then the Kingsford briquete charcoal video, woodsy smoke flavors reminiscent of BBQ chicken is usually not a flavor associated or you want with Yakitori traditionally which is why it's cooked on smokless Binchotan. The flavors all come from the chicken itself, including the vapor smoke created by chicken fat drippings.
@@Yakitoriguy Thanks!
I cooked Yakitori for my family and they loved it!
What are you spraying on the yakitori?
It's a sake spray. I talk more about it in my grilling tutorial videos.
What size grill are you using
This is a 24 inch Binchogrill
Hi, thanks for all the great vids you've made. They helped me a lot in my yakitori adventure.
I am using a low-end industrial grade propane grill that I bought from a restaurant supply store in Japan.
Is there a way for me to get the white fat smoke and avoid the soot at the same time?
To stop the soot, I have to set the tetsuhisa to the highest level, close the air intake and set the fuel gate to just above the level where the flame may go out. Any higher than that and I'll get flare ups on all but the leanest meats. And even a flare up that lasted for half a second leaves soot on meat.
Cooking this way I can still get the surface of the meat to brown nicely, and still retain some moisture on the inside for most skewers. But then I don't get that great aroma from the fat vaporizing. If I turn up the heat the aroma comes back but so does the soot.
It'd be awesome if you can point me in a direction on how to fix this.
Thanks again. :)
Every grill has its pros and cons and it's also slightly different in characteristics and performance. So although I make Yakitori with gas on a portable grill and larger American bbq grill, I don't really have a straight answer I can give you unless I get to play with your grill and see. However from my experience so far, I think the white smoke you're looking for (without soot) is hard to do on a gas grill, because gas is going to be flame based no matter what. With binchotan, white smoke is achieved when the hot flameless charcoal can vaporize the fats. In a gas grill, I the metal or ceramic surface inside acts as this surface to produce that infrared/heat surface. But as soon as fats touches the flames coming underneath/sides it causes flareup/flame, and you get the darker smoke and soot.
I know a master who spend 6 years on his gas grill at his shop, basically learning everything to get 100% performance out of it, and then only when he learned everything he can with cutting, skewering, and making Yakitori on that grill, he felt like he was ready to upgrade to grilling on binchotan to step things up. So keep trying different things, and work with what you have and then if you change to another grill whether its electric, gas, or charcoal everything you learned can be transferred over.
@@Yakitoriguy Thanks man. Really appreciate the detailed advice. I'll keep trying :D
@@Yakitoriguy Reporting back with a solution, in case it helps you or other readers:
Ceramic briquettes helped.
I removed the steel strip that shields the burner from the drippings on my grill; put a steel mesh a bit above the burners, then lined up the briquettes over the mesh. Because of their shape, they naturally leave a bit of space between themselves for the heated air to go thru.
I think they are basically ceramic tiles that get heated up by the fire, and then in turn become the heat source to cook the food thru radiation. I noticed the following changes when I use them:
1. Way more white smoke than before. Fat and juice that drip onto the briquettes get vaporized. It happens much more than with my regular setup because the briquettes cover most of the surface of the grill, while with the regular setup a lot of the drippings go right down to the drip tray.
This was supposedly what I was looking for, but then I grill in my wintergarten, and depending on the wind direction, the amount of smoke can irritate my eyes quite a bit.
2. Barely any flare up. The dripping fat is almost always vaporized by the briquette. Not more soot.
3. Heat is somewhat more even. With my regular setup, usually one side of the grill is hotter, depending on the wind direction and the throttle of the 2 burners on my grill. I guess now it's a bit more radiation and less convection(?) I didnt really have to flip the skewers along their lengths as much as before to get the ends to cook evenly.
4. Lower energy efficiency. Now I have to turn the throttle higher / lower the iron bars to get the meat to cook as fast as before. I think it's because the briquettes cover much of the surface of the grill, so hot air from the burners can't go up as easily, so more of the heat escaped sideways / downwards. I noticed the sides of the grill being much hotter than before, and the water in the drip tray evaporates at a much higher rate.
What do spray with? Many thanks
It's sake spray. More info here: ua-cam.com/video/NWf7JfpEqso/v-deo.html
What's the yakitori science behind the squirter bottle?
Sake adds moisture and umami. Check out my top 5 questions video for more info about the sake I use.
Do you prefer charcoal or gas? Looking to up my grilling game and would love to hear from you!
For Yakitori you want the infrared radiant heat that helps to penetrate heat inside. Electric and Binchotan Charcoal grilling can achieve that. With gas/flames you get the convection heating which cooks the meat more outside in. When compared side by side the Yakitori cooked on Charcoal has a more fluffier feel, so I prefer charcoal grilling.
Very important! I really appreciate your work♡♡♡
🤜🏻👍🤛🏻
Thanks for watching!
Great vid
I'm surprised how long the binchotan lasts. Like you said, not as hot but overall more consistent. I guess sometimes you get what you pay for.
And this is with "softer" SE Asian Binchotan. The more dense stuff can last longer too so less having to refill making it better for restaurants to keep the heat all night.
Peter Baracan with Japanology explains that white charcoal gives of infared heat...try moving yakatori more often...
Thanks! Yea with Yakitori it's definitely about flipping and rotating.
I think your usage is optimized binchotan. I hypothesis is that if set up to be used optimally, you should get as good results with lump charcoal.
To save money myself, I've tried many things with lump hoping I can get ideal results for Yakitori without having to use my lower supply of binchotan. However it's just the very different chemical nature/quality differences between the two types of charcoal including smoke/flavor which there really isn't much you can change no matter what you try. While binchotan is 95% carbon lump is around 50-70% depending on brand will always add wood smokey flavors and more prone to flames, which is good for other type of grilling cuisine, just not ideal characteristics specifically for Japanese Yakitori which I wanted to show with these experiments.
great video! live the science
Thanks for watching!
If you don't like charcoal smoke, why not just use elctric grill?
You do want smoke flavor. Which in the case of smokeless Binchotan comes from the chicken fats dripping and turning into chicken smoke. Other type of charcoal like lump wood or briquette emits basically the smell of burned woods like campfire. Those flavors are good for BBQ chicken but its not the flavor of Yakitori chicken.
@@Yakitoriguy Good explanation!
Can you make yakitori without tare. I don't like soy sauce.
Yup just salt only is the other common Yakitori serving method besides with Tare.
@@Yakitoriguy Good. Thanks.
You get what you pay for definitely the Japanese white oak is the best
Watching Chicken Cooking Ninja practicing refined ninja chicken cooking makes me hangry. Sensei YakitoriGuy teaches Blackbelt Chickenjutsu!
Thanks for watching!
love your content, been learning a lot from your stuff. However, as a chef, I'm pretty confused on this whole cooking your food inside out thing haha
Infrared radiation(780-1400 nm wavelength) can penetrate up to 5 mm into flesh. The penetration depth increases as the wavelength decreases.
@@guitarfreak1711 but that doesn't mean its cooking the inside first. To the best of my knowledge the surface will still cook faster using ir heat.
@@mayordoctor3961 I think the whole idea is that charcoal live fire and charcoal has IR radiation which cooks beneath the surface. This is different from cooking in a pan for instance.
Yea, if you take a cube of chicken breast and cook it on a pan vs cooking with binchotan you will notice a texture difference. It's this magical experience when you first bite into Yakitori that was made by a master and mindblown how fluffy it feels. You can even notice a difference between Gas and Charcoal too. Gas one feels flakier.
Thats a J dilla beat in the beginning...
Sub’d!!
Secret ending! Do campfire cooking
Have done some in past and it's fun. Will have to find an excuse to go out camping next and film.
@@Yakitoriguy let me know!! Last time I went all Francis Mallmann & 3 bears showed up... 🐻 🐻 🐻😳 🔥
🔥🔥👌
To make the best yakitori:
- grill with good heat insulation
- good quality charcoal
- good dipping sauce
- good chicken
- good cutting meat parts
- good combination of meat/onion/fat/skin on the skewer
- good control of the temperature
- your flipping skewer skill
*sigh so much to be done to achieve this UwU
Those binchotan is so expensive!
Yup it definitely is which is why I always recommend people to stay away from Binchotan. Start with the grill you have at home already or an indoor electric grill and build up some skewering/grilling experience first and level up each time with new equipments.
Taste test needs to be blind folded - otherwise there's bias.
I don't think it's safe to eat rare chicken meat.
Depends on how it's raised, sourced butchered etc. Chicken sashimi is a thing in Japan.
I'd rather use american made natural charcoal like jealous devil, kamado joe or fogo instead of overpriced "binchotan" from a third world country. Who knows what chemicals they have used during manufacturing. Japan has standards higher than US. But other asian countries have no regard for food/employee safety and child labor. I am hoping american brands start making binchotan and wipe out irresponsible companies from third world countries.