Mr. Mc Brikett’s Secrets and Projects
If you attended a KCBS competition, especially outside our national boundaries, you can not have missed to come across Mc Brikett. He is a very active German coal producer, both in terms of promotion and product innovation. Coal Mc Brikett is excellent, with temperatures much higher than ordinary briquettes and lasts longer than 25%. But also bamboo charcoal with 1000° C heat tips, great for pizza, XL ignition cubes that can last up to a full combustion of a chimney or lighter plates that blended with coal can ignite it just by approaching a flame. All using 100% natural materials as a mission.
If you’ve known Mc Brikett at a competition, you may have known Kasper Damkier, his founder. Kasper is a nice guy, kind to anyone and always smiling. The idea of starting Mc Brikett came in 2013 after a past of event managers and a host of foreign experiences including Australia, New Zealand and the Fiji Islands. After six months of research into the Asian market for the best coals, at the end of the same year, Mc Brikett products come into the market and immediately find a great success.
In view of their upcoming commercialization in Italy, I have been thinking of chatting with Kasper to know him better and to understand the philosophy behind their creation.
In the relatively recent history of European Barbecue I’ve never seen a proponent of the producer side, active and participating as you are in Barbecue system. Who is Kasper Damkier for barbecue and what is barbecue for Kasper Damkier?
I am the guy with good charcoal briquettes, some say the best charcoal they have ever had in their grill. BBQ for me is a lifestyle where likeminded people come together and have a good time with good food.
How would you describe your personal relationship with barbecue? Business or Passion?
Funnily enough I barbecue less every since I started working in this field. As a business owner I am simply lacking the time and also I am at BBQ events almost every weekend where they cook up the most delicious food. So my need for BBQ food is satisfied quiet well without having to be the Pitmaster myself.
I met you several times in competition alongside the team supported by McBrikett and for barbecue people like us, a competition means mainly lots of fun. There is a particular anecdote that you remember and you can tell us tied to these experiences?
The KCBS teams are like a big family. One time Miss Piggy’s flew into Switzerland and had a friend bringing in their meat from England. Problem was that the friends car broke down in England so Miss Piggy’s had no meat to compete with. But that didn’t last long as all other teams helped the out with ribs, pork butt and even a brisket. I went to the stores to buy them chicken. They didn’t win that contest, but it shows how this community keeps together despite the competition. Going to a contest at weekend is like going to a summer camp.
Move to the opposite side of the table: what kind of cooking do Kasper prefer when eating barbecue?
I love ribs. I KCBS terms I prefer them slightly over cooked.
Born on briquettes business, McBrikett is more and more evolving towards distinctive and innovative products. How much of its overall efforts McBrikett invest on innovation?
It is hard to reinvent the wheel. But we always keep our eyes and ears open and we try to put ourselves in our customers shoes to see the game from their perspective. When we come up with new ideas it usually takes a year or two to get them ready for the market.
In addition to the consistency of its performance, one of the most striking features of Mc Brikett’s products is the pleasant natural scent. Do you consider this as a priority in the formulation of the products?
The scent has nothing to do with how it is formulated but more with how well it is manufactured/carbonized.
Coconut, bamboo, all unconventional materials. Is there a type of coal that you’d like to have in your assortment, but you’re still not able to market?
No, I am pretty happy with those two. It is still pretty new to the market and there is still a lot of ground to cover in Germany and in Europe. So the work doesn’t get less with more different raw materials.
All McBrikett products belong to the branch of compressed carbon and the range covers virtually all possible uses on the grid, from very low to very high temperatures. Do you consider the hardwood charcoal concept superfluous?
No, not all. They suit a different purpose. Regular lump wood charcoal is needed when you quickly need some heat. Our products KOKOKO and BUMBUKO are designed to burn as long and as hot as possible which means that that there is a lot of energy packed per unit. And that requires some time to get started. It sheer physics. And if you just want to grill some sausages it would be a waste of time and material to fire the grill up with our briquettes. But if you need consistent heat for many hours that is where we come into the picture.
Reveal us a little secret for us consumers: there is a way to evaluate the quality of a briquette before you even turn it on, just holding it in your hand or watching it?
The weight can tell you how dense the briquettes are pressed. You can find out the same by banging two briquettes against each other. If the clearer the sound the higher the density. You can also check how small the particles are the briquettes are made of. The smaller the better usually.
Disposable packaging, folding chimney starters, squared cardboard boxes, the McBrikett products are strongly oriented to the handling and consumption outside home, and this results particularly convenient for those facing a barbecue competition. Did the needs of competitive world affect this choice in any way?
No, but we do make sure to make our products as convenient as possible for our clients. If we want to stick out in the charcoal market we have do things better than our market participants. And that good and practical products come in handy for competitions is more a side effect than intention.
Can you unveil a preview of one of McBrikett plans for next future?
We do have some new products in stock but I can’t reveal any of them now. Sorry.
Thank you Kasper. We can’t wait to see them and try them out. Good Luck and see you on the competition field 😉
