Does anybody use the B&B Competition Char-Logs? I just bought a bag and I plan on using it tomorrow on some pork bellies.
I gave it a trial run today and found it hard to light. I did not see any white smoke or any smoke at all. I a cooking on a Hasty Bake Ranger. It is small and fire size is critical. I got the fire size right.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
I have used several bags of them over the last couple of years. They are very dense and burn VERY long. They are great for low and slow cooks, and produce very low ash for a briquette type product. However, they DO take some lighting. I typically use a few regular briquettes to get the fire going, or a little lump, with the "bed" being built up with the char-logs. I am not sure I have ever used JUST the char-logs for my fire. If that is all you have, I advice busting one up into smaller chunks, put your tumbleweed or fire starter under or on those, then pile the rest of the char logs around that once it gets lit.
Personally, I found them too big and unwieldy to fit well when using the SNS insert in my kettle, so think they are not a great match for a cooker with a small firebox. There are just too many big hunks (logs) in the bag. They are good to extend cooking time, filing in the gaps with lump or briquettes, but to me, the size and inability to pile them evenly in the firebox make them inefficient as the only fuel in the cook.
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I also have some experience using B&B Competition Char-Logs. I agree they are a harder to light. I have had good luck standing them on end in a Weber charcoal chimney and using a couple of fire starters (as opposed to just 1 for lump or briquettes) to get them lit. They definitely take longer to get lit.
As far as use, I typically use them to create a nice coal bed in my offset, but seeing that I just purchased a Hasty Bake myself, I was checking out all the resources I could find while I was waiting for it to be delivered. I found this video on setting up the Hasty Bake firebox for a long burn. It uses lump charcoal in conjunction with the char logs. I hope you find it useful.
You've inspired me to try adding them into my offset to help maintain a longer cook with less reloading...just don't tell anyone that I'm getting lazy, I need to keep up a good image.
Huskee they do make a good base for the fire in the offset firebox, and just toss the wood on top of them. A good bed of the char logs will burn for hours.
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I use as a supplement to their briquettes for long cooks on the Pit Barrel. Maybe 1 in the chimney and a couple in the basket unlit with the unlit briquettes. Works for me. I wouldn't consider using them standalone.
Does anybody use the B&B Competition Char-Logs? I just bought a bag and I plan on using it tomorrow on some pork bellies.
I gave it a trial run today and found it hard to light. I did not see any white smoke or any smoke at all. I a cooking on a Hasty Bake Ranger. It is small and fire size is critical. I got the fire size right.
I would love to hear your comments and opinions.
Grits
I tried these and didn't like them. Yes, hard to light for the beginning of the cook and really hard if you try to add these to a cook in progress. They do have a long burn time however.
When using my Bronco for low and slow, I always mix my briquettes with a number of B&B Char Logs. I also use 2 or 3 of the smaller/broken Char Logs mixed in with briquettes in my SnS when smoking in my Weber Kettle. Hot and fast or using my Vortex or Rotisserie in the Kettle, I only use 100% briquettes. I have never tried 100% Char Logs. One bag of the B&B Char Logs will last me for a long while.
As Always, YMMV
I've used them as a supplement to briqs for long cooks in my PBC and Bronco Pro.
I put a half dozen or so in the basket and then fill with briqs until I get the load size I want for that cook.
Last edited by Finster; November 7, 2025, 06:53 AM.
I use them all the time in combo with some lump in my WSCG and El Patron. Use 10 or 20 Kingsford Briquettes lit in a weber chimney and dump those on top of the char log/lump to get things going. Have fun!
We had a post not long ago about how the B&B briquettes may have changed following the company being purchased. Any indication that the char logs will be safe?
As you can see, I had a whole lot of charcoal left. I believe I could have smoked another pork belly with what was not used. I did use too much charcoal; however, the temperature was controllable with the two vents on my Hasty Bake.
The Char-Logs worked great. I got them started with some lump charcoal. Igniting them was not that hard. Temperature was easier to control than lump charcoal. I will use them in all my long cooks as long as they are available. I left the vents open to see how long it will take to burnout.
Thank y'all for your input. You saved me a lot of steps.
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Grits Have you ever tried Jealous Devil's Blox firelogs? Not charcoal, slightly different uses, but I'm going to try them opposite of these as a comparison for stickburner fire longevity. In the interest of science.
I'm going to have to check those out. Home Depot delivers for free and their price is very attractive. Have some coming along with the starter bombs. MCS strikes again...
Alan Brice from what I can tell on the limited info on them & how they're made, they're hyper-compressed virgin white oak logs. I assume this means essentially giant pellets, but I don't know precisely. The box says a 12-piece, 28 lb box replaces 50 lbs of firewood. bep35 I have 2 boxes of them and a bag of B&B Char-logs being delivered today from Home Depot! Their free shipping is the bomb, and fast.
I like adding them to my wood in a wood fired pizza oven. They burn hot and stretch out the hot time in the oven. I have learned that pizza cooks so fast it doesn't really pick up any wood or smoke flavor. Maintaining heat at 600 to 800 degrees is the key to pizza.
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