The History
Australians have been cooking with Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes since the early 1970s. While the design of the packet has changed several times over the years, the instantly recognisable wheel logo representing our quality product remains an integral part of our brand story.
Originally owned by Willow Ware, Australian Char purchased the iconic brand in April 1988. The Heat Beads® brand is proudly Australian owned and operated.
Aber Living is proud to distribute this iconic Australian brand in New Zealand.
Product
HEAT BEADS® BBQ BRIQUETTES
Cooking over Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes is a popular choice to enhance the barbecue experience. Australia’s market leader, Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes are used by hundreds of professional chefs and home chefs all over the world who choose them (instead of gas or charcoal) for many reasons, including enhanced taste, healthy cooking and quality. Top of the list however is: nothing beats the flavour of food cooked over Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes!
Here are the top 10 reasons why Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes are number one when it comes to traditional barbecue cooking.
Succulent flavour – Slow, even cooking over a longer period of time using Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes, seals in the flavours and juices of the meat, enhancing the flavour of the food.
A healthy option – Cooking with Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes is actually healthier for you. The excess fat runs off the meat, falling into the bottom tray, so there’s no more cooking in fat!
More economical – Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes are more economical because they burn longer than other solid barbecue fuels and can even be extinguished and used again.
Longer burn time – In a covered kettle under normal cooking conditions, usable cooking heat (i.e. greater than 150°C) is available for more than four hours. This means that (unlike other charcoal fuels) there’s no need to top up with extra fuel when cooking turkeys or large joints of meat such as legs of pork.
Cooking perfection – An even, high cooking temperature means that your char-grilled food is thoroughly and evenly cooked every time.
Long shelf life – Stored in a cool, dry place, Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes have an indefinite shelf life.
Easy to light – Add a few firelighters to the Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes, set alight, and you will have a glowing barbecue ready for cooking your favourite foods in around 30 minutes. Heat Beads® Firelighters are safe, non-toxic and leave no trace of food-tainting kerosene odour. They are even quicker to ash over and easier to light with a Heat Beads® BBQ Chimney.
Reusable – After cooking, any Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes remaining in the barbecue, are reusable. Close the vents of the kettle or barbecue to cut off the air supply and the briquettes extinguish naturally. Then at your next barbecue simply top them up.
Variety of cooking – The great Aussie barbecue is no longer just a snag, steak or chop on the hot plate. Today Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes are used for souvlakis, spit roasts, desserts, gourmet vegetables, Middle Eastern breads and much more, right alongside the good old Aussie favourites.
Better tasting than gas – The results of blind taste tests speak for themselves. At Melbourne radio station Triple R’s Barbecue Day in November 2004, participants compared chicken wings and steak cooked over Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes with those cooked over gas. 100% of participants preferred food char-grilled over Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes to gas cooked offerings. The decision was unanimous – char-grilled rules! “Melts in my mouth”, “That unique smoky flavour can’t be replicated” and “Why choose second best when you can have the real thing?” were just some of the responses.
HEAT BEADS® LUMPWOOD CHARCOAL
Charcoal is produced when wood is heated up in an oxygen-poor environment to very high temperatures. This process is called carbonisation, as all the non-carbon material is removed from the wood, leaving a high carbon product perfect for BBQs. If you are looking to venture into cooking your next BBQ with lump charcoal, we have some pointers for you to consider:
Temperature and burn time: lump charcoal burns hotter, for less time than briquettes, however the performance of different lump charcoal products varies greatly, and there are a few factors that will mean you’ll get a red hot burn for longer.
Sizing: for best performance in a BBQ, you’ll want large pieces of charcoal and consistent sizing. The more smaller pieces and dust in the bag, the more you pay for the useable charcoal! It is a much more economical product when the fine material is screened out and not included in the bag.
Timber: the density of materials used in charcoal production vary widely. The denser the hardwood used, the longer the burn.
Smell and smokiness: this is an indicator of the quality of wood used (for example mangrove charcoal can smell ‘swampy’), as well as the sophistication of the carbonisation process. A highly refined, industrial grade carbonisation will give a higher purity carbon, and a less smokey burn.
