Hitachiya Japanese ceramic grill

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  • Type: charcoal
  • Grill size: 21 x 9 x 7.8 inches
  • Cooking surface: 189 sq. inches
  • Adjustable vents: yes
  • Handles: yes
  • Material: diatomaceous earth & metal components
  • Drip tray: no
Hitachiya-BBQ-Charcoal-Konro-Grill-for-binchotan

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If you can’t travel to Japan for real hibachi, then you can bring a piece of it into your home with this large diatomaceous earth hibachi grill.

If you haven’t tried charcoal-grilled foods cooked on this grill, then you’re truly missing out because it’s definitely a unique cooking experience!

Diatomaceous earth bricks are the best natural thermal insulators. This has been a traditional material for making hibachis for centuries. The ceramic material has to be fired at exactly 1,000 degrees to ensure that the grill doesn’t crack.

Not only does this ceramic material offer amazing heat retention, but it’s also very durable and cooks with infrared rays.

In Japan, this particular hibachi grill is used to cook fish, chicken, beef, and vegetables for lunch and dinner. It’s known for bringing out the umami flavor of the meat because of the infrared effect.

The best way to use this charcoal grill is with real Binchotan charcoal. While it’s true that you can use any type, nothing compares to the light wood aroma of Binchotan white charcoal. It’s mostly smokeless and you can safely cook indoors, as long as you have ventilation.

Compared to other grills, this one is a bit heavier (24 lbs), so it’s best to keep it in one place, as it’s not very portable.

The best feature on this grill is probably the adjustable air vent, which sports a handy slider. It allows you to control the temperature.

The cooking grates are pre-seasoned, which means they’re ready to use.

Cleaning the grill is a bit harder than with electric grills because you don’t want to put the ceramic material in water, as that’ll cause it to break. Also, avoid dropping it or it’ll crack.

But if you’re careful, this kind of hibachi can last for many years to come. It’s very durable and made out of ceramic, just like traditional hibachi grills. It can withstand the super high heat of Binchotan charcoal and offers an authentic Japanese hibachi experience.

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Joost Nusselder, the founder of Bite My Bun is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with Japanese food at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.