Let there be fire
Barbecuing invokes a primal instinct deep in our souls that lifts our dopamine levels when the sights, sounds and aromas of meat roasting over fire fill our senses. Our evolution as humans took off with our ability to master fire. Cooking meat over fire not only made it delicious, it unlocked nutrients that helped feed our hungry brains.
After our early ancestors spent nearly 2 million years experimenting with fire, they invented charcoal around 30,000 years ago.
The refining of this revolutionary fuel has given us a guideline for what superior barbecue charcoal should be:
- burn consistently long
- burn predictably (hot & fast and low & slow)
- give a light, yet distinct, barbecue flavour
El Asador meets and exceeds all of these requirements.
Simply the best
There is little debate on which fuel is the best for barbecue: pure wood charcoal is king. And among the different woods that charcoal is made from, hardwoods are the best. And among commercially available hardwoods, Quebracho Blanco arguably makes the best charcoal for barbecuing.
From the Beginning
Izzy Ko and Nikki Cramer are longtime friends from Paraguay who love barbecues and beers where most of their get-togethers often involved copious amounts of each.
Izzy and Nikki grew up in Paraguay where every occasion is reason enough to fire up the grill for some slow cooked beef ribs, hunks of meat and sausages while downing ice-cold lagers.
In 2017, these brothers from other mothers were separated when Izzy was lured away to The Netherlands by the muse of love. Around early 2020, after many trans-continental chats and phone calls, an idea popped up: How about bringing that amazing Quebracho Blanco charcoal form Paraguay to The Netherlands? The idea got Nikki researching in Paraguay for the best source and Izzy taking a deep dive into the barbecue scene in The Netherlands.
After almost two years of hard work and a tricky pandemic, the perfect source for our Quebracho Blanco charcoal was found. Our unique source is able to provide the highest quality and award-winning Quebracho Blanco charcoal that met the demands and expectations of pit masters in The Netherlands and around the world. The result of this effort is El Asador 100% premium Quebracho Blanco charcoal .
Artisanal and traditional
El Asador is artisanally hand-made in traditional, giant red brick ovens through a slow, oxygen-starved pyrolytic process.
Our charcoal is then hand-selected and hand-bagged by dedicated experts to ensure quality and size.
After size selection and bagging, it is carefully placed in an ocean-bound container to minimize breakage. As a matter of fact, we are so careful, we actually pack less bags than a normal shipment to make sure our charcoal remains fairly intact until it arrives to you.
During this entire process, Nikki is present on-site at the selection and packaging facilities in Paraguay to ensure that each bag of El Asador meets our quality standards. Nikki also conducts random inspections of the bags to check for quality and size. This is what you will find in each bag:
We worked very hard so El Asador will provide you with solid barbecue & grill sessions for the delight of your hungry friends and loved ones.