A charcoal kettle grill plus coarse salt covers a basic picanha cook. The usual mid is the one to get first in each row. The full kit lives on What to buy.
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A kettle grill grate often sits around 10 cm (4 in) from the coals, closer than the 30–40 cm (12–16 in) most Brazilian beef wants, so two zones or a raise-and-lower grill matter. See how far picanha sits from the charcoal.
What to buy
Buy the fire first, then the meter, then the long skewers and a slicer. Tool kits and meters are on What to buy. Skip the sauce kit. Mid and high grills have to let the meat sit at a real distance from the charcoal. A Weber kettle grill is the low option only.
Charcoal
- Low: a named lump bag that lights clean in a chimney.
- Usual mid: Jealous Devil lump.
- High: FOGO Premium lump. Dense pieces that last.
Chimney
- Low: Kingsford Heavy Duty chimney — a smaller-budget starter that lights a full load, enough for an 18-inch kettle grill.
- Usual mid: Weber Rapidfire 7416.
- High: Not a fancier chimney — keep the Weber Rapidfire 7416 and buy better lump.
Grill
- Low: Weber 18-inch Original Kettle — a real Weber, not a no-name bowl; enough fire for two. The grate sits close to the coals.
- Usual mid: Bacana Grills 7-skewer stainless churrasqueira — motorized espetos and a top rack farther from the fire, so chicken and beef can sit at a real distance.
- High: Wildwood Brazilian rotisserie, 7 to 11 skewers — masonry or drop-in. The rest grill can sit at more than one height.
Thermometer
- Low: ThermoWorks ThermoPop 2 — fast enough to pull beef and to know a thigh hit 165°F (74°C).
- Usual mid: CHEF iQ Sense — wireless leave-in probe + hub.
- High: ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE — fast instant-read for spot checks at the fire.
Salt
- Low: Morton Coarse Kosher — the box that always works on the fire.
- Usual mid: Diamond Crystal kosher — lighter crystals, easier to knock off after the cook. A Brazilian-market bag of sal grosso is better when you find it.
- High: Cisne Sal Grosso — the Brazilian rock salt this fire was built around.
Skewers
- Low: Flat stainless supermarket skewers — flat so the meat does not spin; skip the thin round kebab sticks.
- Usual mid: JOWHONK 27 in flat skewers, about 24 to 36 inches — the length that keeps a hand off the coals.
- High: A simple espeto set from a Brazilian shop — plain blades, no sword gimmick.
Knives / picanha slicers
- Low: Mercer Culinary Millennia 12 in wide slicer — wide blade for the whole picanha.
- Usual mid: Victorinox Fibrox Pro 12 in Granton.
- High: Dalstrong Gladiator 12 in Granton slicer.
What you can skip
- Barbecue sauce and spice rubs. Churrasco beef is coarse salt only.
- Pellet grills and generic barbecue kits.
- Gas is a workable fallback if it is what you own, but charcoal is closer to churrasco.
Next cooks
- Two-zone fire on a kettle grill
- Sal grosso vs kosher salt
- Types of Brazilian barbecue grills
- What to buy
Region: Across Brazil.
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