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On a single load, dense briquettes burn longer than lumpwood: 5–8 hours for hexagonal briquettes against 3–4 hours for birch lumpwood on an open grill. But lumpwood lights in 10–15 minutes and runs hotter at the start, and in a closed kamado with the vents nearly shut, good lumpwood can last up to 8 hours too. How you cook matters as much as what you burn.

The case for cutting UK hospitality VAT from 20% to 10%: the margins, the closures, the £11bn objection and how to answer it before the Budget on 28 October.

Josper's own figures put daily charcoal use at 6–8kg for the HJX-20, 10–12kg for the HJX-25 and 16–20kg for the HJX-50. Over a six-day week, an HJX-25 burns 60–72kg, which is four to five 15kg bags of holm oak lumpwood. At our public retail price that's about £136–£163 a week, or roughly 28–34p per diner at the oven's recommended capacity. Trade prices bring that down.

Lumpwood gives you fast heat and flavour, but in a long service it burns down quickly and needs topping up. Dense hexagonal briquettes hold steady heat for hours. Kitchens that light the two together get the best of both: the briquettes carry the service and the lumpwood adds heat and flavour on top. On our own fuels, a 10kg bag of HazelHex cooks around 60 restaurant steaks against around 40 for a bag of lumpwood.

Pallet tiers, indicative trade prices, retail margins, lead times and how to open a Globaltic trade account.

A working UK method for restaurant charcoal: portions per bag, weekly bags, cost per steak at trade prices, and how to size a pallet.

Which charcoal suits a Kamado Joe: lumpwood by cook, how much to load, how to light it cleanly, and where briquettes fit.

There's no secret brand. Here's the fuel system the UK's Michelin-starred and live-fire kitchens actually run, and the kitchens we supply.

"Restaurant grade" has no legal definition in the UK. Here are the five measurable checks that separate real kitchen fuel from a label: fixed carbon, moisture, ash, fines and burn data with the conditions stated.