Wheat straw Pellet Smoker Fuel 100% natural

01 · HOW TO LIGHT IT

Tinder below, pellets on top, no rush

This is where it goes wrong the first time. Light a handful of jute, card or kindling in the bottom of the firebox first and let it make real embers: throw pellets onto a new-born flame and you smother it. With the embers going, add the pellets in two goes, working the bellows gently in between, and fill the firebox to the top. From there the smoker draws by itself and the smoke comes out white and cool, which is the kind that calms.

02 · WHY STRAW AND NOT SOMETHING ELSE

Plenty of smoke, no chemistry, no dust

These are pellets of pressed wheat straw, with no chemical additives and without the dust that comes with loose fuels — dust is what makes the beekeeper cough and what clogs the grid. Straw gives a lot of smoke for little ember, and that white smoke is what masks the alarm pheromones. The size is deliberately large: it does not slip through the smoker's inner grid or drop to the bottom unburnt.

03 · HOW LONG IT LASTS

Hours, if the firebox is full

A smoker filled to the top with pellets sees out a round of visits without a refill, which is exactly what you ask of a fuel. If it does go out, it is nearly always one of two things: it was left half empty — the firebox needs mass to hold the embers — or the bellows were worked at the wrong moment. When you finish, block the spout to smother it and keep the tub dry: a damp pellet falls apart and will not light.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Supplied in a 1 kg format. It does not include the tinder to get it going, which is what you need to hand in the first minute.