Spark Grills Smart Charcoal Grill Review

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For the first ten years of my “adult” life (if we can call the post-college years adult) I was a die-hard charcoal grill devotee, even if I view gas grills with a bit of judgment I have to admit. However, the advent of the children changed things because I just didn’t have the 15 or 20 minutes to sit around and wait for the coals to reach cooking temperature before I could even start cooking, nor did I have the luxury of slow and slow to grill more.

With the ever-increasing need for more efficiency in our lives, I took the proverbial leap in 2016 and bought a gas grill. And I loved it. The food still tasted great, I was able to light this thing up in seconds and heat it up in just a few minutes, so I’ve really never looked back. My gas grill had solved charcoal grill problem #1: heat-up time.

The second big problem with charcoal vs. gas? Maintaining a consistent cooking temperature with a charcoal grill is a challenge for even the most experienced outdoor cook, and I consider myself only a moderately experienced griller. (Or whatever sounds a notch better… but I digress.)

I don’t think I’ve cooked more than two or three meals over charcoal in all those years between 2016 and 2022, other than a couple of times helping a mate, and I know I never really paid attention. But I’ve always loved the taste of charcoal grilled food, so I was immediately intrigued when I heard about a grill that claimed to eliminate these two biggest problems with charcoal grills. And when I tested a Spark Grill, I was thrilled to see that the company isn’t just blowing smoke.

Spark Grill Essentials Pack

This is a charcoal grill that lights up instantly, heats up quickly and allows for precise temperature control. As? Because they somehow thought of everything.

A Spark Grill doesn’t use traditional charcoal – it uses a large square sheet of charcoal that’s about 1 inch thick and comes in a vacuum-sealed bag. That’s to protect the ethanol poured into the plate, which helps the whole thing light up in under a minute, resulting in an abundance of even heat being produced quickly.

Spark Grills temperature control is achieved thanks to airflow, which can be increased or decreased as needed (less air, less heat, more air, more heat, etc.) via a regulator on the grill itself or via a connected smartphone app. Yes, this is a smart charcoal grill – it was only a matter of time. Also smart? The real-time temperature updates that the app gives you, plus lots of extras like recipe ideas.

And how is the actual cooking experience? Damn good, thanks to two large, evenly hot, cast-iron grids that have enough room to cook a dozen burgers at once or, in my family’s case, reserve half the grill for meat and the other half for veggie-friendly foods. The built-in side table also does not harm the cooking process.

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