Aroma, Taste, and the Mythology of Charcoal Grilling

One of the most underrated Buffalo food exports, in my opinion, is the Sahlen’s hot dog. It’s not just whatever they use to make the dog (I don’t want to know), but the way they’re cooked. Ideally, these are grilled over charcoal, the way they do it at Ted’s Hotdogs. 

But unlike at Ted’s, where only the line of customers stands between you and your perfectly made hot dog or hamburger, the wait to cook with charcoal at home takes much longer.

I can’t be the only person who grew up being fed the idea that charcoal was the superior grilling style to gas. But if I smell charcoal grilling, I’m instantly transported back to those meals at Ted’s, to summer nights at dusk when backyard grills finally got up to cooking temperature. 

Now that I’m far-ish from Buffalo, I want to know whether charcoal was the secret ingredient that made my childhood taste so delicious. Or is this another case of food memories heightened by nostalgia?

The answer? Yes. And no.

Taste + Aroma = Flavor 

Eating, when done right, is a full-sensory experience. You can take your time and take in the sight, smells, and texture of the meal in front of you. In the age of foodstagram and foodtok, aesthetically pleasing food might be something that we’re more aware of enhancing the experience of eating. But nothing compares to the impact smell (and touch) has on taste. 

Dana Small, a neuroscientist at the John B. Pierce Laboratory and the Yale School of Medicine, explains for Scientific American that the one-two punch of smell and texture is what our bodies understand taste to be. 

“Once an odor is experienced along with a flavor,” she writes, “the two become associated; thus smell influences taste, and taste influences smell.” The way our brains our wired, there is no decoupling of the two; they register as the same. 

That’s because not only does food have a scent when it’s sitting on your plate, but more aroma is released once you start eating. So, yes, when you bite into something grilled over charcoal, you do get a special flavor; it’s just not necessarily coming from where you’d expect. Depending on the type of charcoal you use, it’s not always good for you, either. 

So What Does Charcoal Bring to the (Grilling) Table?

As Modernist Cuisine explains, part of what makes grilled food so uniquely flavored is how the drippings of what you’re cooking interact with your heat source. When things like oils, sugars, and protein catch fire, new complex aroma compounds are released in the smoke, coating the food you’re grilling. 

But when food is grilled over a charcoal flame, a special compound is also released: guaiacol.

Guaiacol is produced when you use heat to break down lignin, the resin responsible for holding cellulose strands together to form wood. “It has a smoky, spicy, bacony aroma,” Gavin Sacks, a food science researcher at Cornell University, tells Wired. “In fact, the flavor that most people associate with bacon is largely degraded lignin.”

So when you smell or eat food being cooked over charcoal, your tongue believes you’re eating something that is, if not bacon, something equally as delicious. 

How to Have the Best Charcoal Grilling Experience 

To have the best charcoal grilling experience, you will want to start by choosing the right type of charcoal for what you want to cook. 

Binchotan: The best quality charcoal you can find to cook with will be Binchotan. This white charcoal burns cleanly at high temperatures for hours, making it safe to use indoors. Cooking with Binchotan will also bring out your food’s natural flavors rather than imparting any of its own. The downside to this premium charcoal is that it’s not as affordable as other options on the market. 

Lump Charcoal: Most grill masters recommend lump charcoal for having the best backyard barbeque experience. While you can find restaurant-grade lump charcoal, like FOGO Premium Oak All-Natural Hardwood Charcoal, generic lump charcoal from any kind of wood will work just as well. 

Briquette Charcoal: The complete opposite end of the spectrum from Binchotan, briquette charcoal is widely available and incredibly cheap. But, it’s made from wood byproducts, compressed with additives. It’s often why when briquettes first start burning, they smell closer to nail polish than wood. Though many brands, like Billy Buckskin Co. and Kingsford, have all-natural options.

However, most cooking experts recommend that if you’re grilling with briquettes, make sure you add food after your charcoal has burned for a few minutes. This ensures your food won’t end up tasting like any additives there might be. You’ll also need to remember to add more briquettes while you’re cooking, especially if you’re planning a low-and-slow grilling session.

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