Shichirin Starter Pack Binchotan

The charcoal used in Japan is called Binchotan. One of the main reasons why most people like to use Binchotan charcoal is because of its efficiency and the heat it produces. One notable thing about Binchotan is that it can burn for about 4 to 6 hours, and once extinguished, it can be reused for up to 3 hours. However, this depends on how it is used. Binchotan is a type of charcoal with an incredibly high carbon percentage, making the composition almost pure. And this is what you taste. Binchotan is made in a wonderful traditional way, in stone and clay ovens. Burning this coal requires such great skill that there is a separate profession for it: the Binchotan burner. Unfortunately, this trade is disappearing. Few young people of the new generation are interested in it, which is very disappointing, because it is truly one of the most precious things in traditional Japanese culture. Making Binchotan according to Japanese quality standards is therefore very difficult, but certainly not impossible. Above all, it takes a long time. A manufacturing cycle of approximately four hundred kilos of Binchotan takes fifteen days. This cycle obviously begins with the harvesting of the wood and ends with the packing of the boxes. Here's a little overview of what happens in between. First, the harvested wood is carefully placed in the kiln and heated to around 200°C for around ten days with minimal oxygen supply. This minimal supply of oxygen means that the wood does not burn but decomposes. Because so little oxygen is supplied, an almost completely pure carbon composition is formed. When the smoke coming out of the kiln is the right color, the wood has decomposed and the oxygen supply has increased. The oven reaches a temperature of no less than 1000 °C. This stops when the charcoal turns red. The final step is to roll the charcoal in ash and sand, which gives it its distinctive gray glow. After all, it's not called White Binchotan for nothing.