When firing up your BBQ the most basic fuel you can use is natural charcoal. Basically its the bunt petrified wood not the condensed kind like the brickets. Most, not all, natural charcoal companies will package their product as-is. This means you’ll find that the charcoal you’re using, does in fact look like, you guess it, wood.
Natural charcoal burns very clean and pure. This is especially beneficial for smoking meats because it promotes a more pure flavor and lets the woodchips inject more smoke flavor into your meat. It also burns much more evenly so you can maintain the temperature inside of your smoker easily. It has become more and more mainstream versus treated charcoal, it can still be hard to find in some grocery stores where people mainly find themselves shopping for ingredients to have a backyard BBQ. Think about making your own beef jerky over natural charcoal.