Question re: Japanese indoor grills

[nrkelly]

I have a question about the small indoor japanese grills. I don't understand how they work, having never used one. It looks as though they're using charcoal, but here in the states, all you see are warnings NOT to use it inside.
How do they safely do it? Is it safe to use on a wooden table? Where can I buy one?

I'd love to buy one to use for our dinner sometimes. strips of beef, pork, chicken, lamb, veggies marinated and grilled at the table. YUM.

I'm talking about ones that look like these:

 

[Andy M.]

Burning charcoal indoors is a really bad idea. A bi-product of burning charcoal is carbon monoxide, which is poisonous.

I almost lost my mother, aunt and uncle to CO poisoning when they brought a charcoal hibachi into a home in Florida to keep warm during a cool spell.

 

[nrkelly]

That's why I'm trying to figure out how the Japanese do it safely. Is it not charcoal that they use???

 

[Andy M.]

Maybe their homes have the ventilation necessary to make it work safely.

 

[Home chef]

As a firefighter, I've learned that the hotter the fire burns the less CO and other noxious gasses are let out. In the end, no matter how hot the fire is, the by-product of CO still remains. The fire in that picture looks pretty hot. With a fire that hot there will be little carbon build-up or smoke. With no smoke, there's no real advantage of a wood burning grill.

 

[GB]

I think the advantage, Home chef, is the amount of fule it used. It does not take a lot and is relatively inexpensive.

 

[nrkelly]

Thank you guys for the responses. I don't have the necessary ventilation, and I can't figure out how to get it to burn that hot. So I'll have to settle for eating it out. man.