I was given a several sticks of the Pok Pok Thaan brand charcoal from chef Matt Burton @ the National Restaurant Assoc convention up in Chicago in mid-May. Haven't given it a try yet... he gave the same descriptions as above... a b*tch to get going, and it burns crazy hot for a long time. It's essentially smokeless, also, according to chef. Sounds like a good candidate for a pizza cook...