Charcoal grill and stone oven
Ravintola Buka cooks with both a charcoal grill and a stone oven. Both are old methods and both take more work than a pan and an electric oven. The difference is not a matter of taste but of physics: temperature and moisture decide what happens to the meat.
The charcoal grill
Buka's charcoal grill runs at roughly 800°C close to the meat. A normal restaurant pan reaches 200–300°C. As a number the gap sounds small, but it changes the whole result.
At 200°C the surface browns slowly. In that time the heat travels into the meat and dries it out before the crust is ready. At 800°C the surface caramelises in seconds. The inside never has time to dry, so the meat stays juicy.
Charcoal also brings smoke. Not an aroma from a bottle, but real smoke created when fat drips from the meat onto the coals and rises back up. A pan cannot imitate that.
At Buka the steaks and burger patties go on the charcoal grill. Beef cheek and pork neck are braised in the stone oven.
- about 800 °C
- 200–300 °C
- seconds, not minutes
The stone oven
The stone oven is the opposite of the grill. Where the grill gives hard, fast heat, the oven gives low, long heat. Beef cheek and pork neck braise in it for 16 hours, overnight.
The decisive difference from an electric oven is moisture. Electric heat is dry and keeps drying the meat throughout cooking. In a stone oven the heat is stored in the stone and released evenly, and the air stays moist. The meat does not dry out; it relaxes.
Over sixteen hours the connective tissue breaks down and the fat melts into the meat instead of running out of it. That is why beef cheek can be eaten with a fork, without a knife.
The stone oven also demands work at night. Wood is added and the temperature checked mid-braise, because a stone oven has no dial to turn.
- 16 hours
- wood, not electricity
- beef cheek, pork neck
What the methods demand
A stone oven and a charcoal grill need their own ventilation, fire protection and purpose-built structures. The oven is fired with wood and the grill with charcoal, so the fire is tended all day — and the stone oven also at night, during the overnight braise.
What is cooked where
The method is chosen to suit the cut. Quick, tender cuts go on the grill; tough, fatty ones go in the oven.
The charcoal grill
- Entrecôte
- Sirloin steak
- Grilled pork steak
- Marinated chicken steak
- Burger patties
The stone oven
- Beef cheek, 16 hours
- Pork neck, 16 hours
- Pulled pork, from pork neck
- Pulled beef
Steaks and beef cheek at lunch
Lunch prices on weekdays, 10:30–15:00. The price includes a side, sauce, the salad buffet, bread and coffee or tea. Saturday à la carte prices are on the menu.
- Entrecôte steak · The charcoal grill €19.90
- Sirloin steak · The charcoal grill €19.90
- Grilled pork steak · The charcoal grill €15.00
- Beef cheek · The stone oven €19.90
Taste the difference
The easiest way to notice it is at lunch, weekdays 10:30–15:00. Turuntie 205, Espoo.