Buying Charcoal

[Meat P]

Hi All,

just a few questions on buying charcoal, it seems like here in the UK there is a lot of emphasis being placed on buying "good quality" lumpwood charcoal which seems to have coincided with new companies springing up selling this sort of charcoal but it has got me thinking...

I've read all of Meatheads advice and tend to agree that charcoal is for heat, wood is for flavour but does anyone genuinely think differently? Is it worth investing a bit more money in more expensive seemingly "better" natural/ restaurant grade etc charcoal?

I have smoke meat en masse for quite a lot of parties using this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lumpwood-Ch...BMTVQBPNN049BM and never had any mentions of a chemical taste etc?

I think the rule of thumb is don't buy any charcoal that already contains lighterfluid but how can you actually tell as i cant find any makes of charcoal with it actually written on the packaging?

Also if anyone has any recommendation for good affordable charcoal here in the UK I can try this theory out!

Have a great day!

[ComfortablyNumb]

To help the Yanks, that bag of lump is $19.17US. After reading Meathead's articles I went to using the cheapest briquettes I can find, which is at a store here in the States called Walmart. I get a 7.25kg bag for about $5.00US, £3.86. Say hello to David Gilmour for me if you should happen to bump into him!

[Meat P]

wow, there's companies selling bags for £30/$40 over here that are being endorsed by some quite prominent british bbq figures!!!

[HawkerXP]

[jfmorris]

Good point. The charcoal that is impregnated with lighter fluid usually claims to be instant lighting charcoal briquettes.

[Meat P]

I suspected this!

[JeffJ]

I notice a difference in taste between different brands of briquettes and have typically found that you get what you pay for.

[LA Pork Butt]

You might try this website for reviews which include things like ash and lump size. Nakedwhiz.com Thy also have a good free downloadable cookbook.

[Mr. Bones]

Liked their site, never seen no cookbook, though...

[LA Pork Butt]

Mr. Bones thy this link. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/cookbooks.htm

[Mr. Bones]

LA Pork Butt
Hoagy Carmichael!!!!

Many Thanks, Brother!

Looks like shite-tons of new info to pore over, mebbe absorb, which always delights me!

[Dadof3Illinois]

I just cooked 4 slabs of ribs this weekend and switched from KBB to Weber briquettes. The Weber had about 1/2 the amount of ash and a very steady burn. But I like the flavor of KBB better,

[fzxdoc]

Interesting, since this comparison showed that Weber produces more ash than KBB:

http://virtualweberbullet.com/kingsford-long-burning-weber-hardwood-charcoal-burn-test-2017.html

I also find that Weber produces more ash, especially noticeable in my PBC after a long cook.

Kathryn

[Dadof3Illinois]

That’s what I’ve always read too but I did a test and posted about it back on 2/18/18 and commented that it had a little less ash then KBB.
I wish I would have taken pictures of what my charcoal basket looked like after the cook. It had way less ash remaining then KKB ever has had. The only drawback is I really like the flavor KBB gives the meat.

[Polarbear777]

If less ash helps in your particular cooker, look for briquettes with less fillers.

if your setup doesn’t allow for ash to block airflow, then everything seems to be (around here anyway) about the same price per amount of heat- but not the same volume/mass.

The advantage of some fillers is that they hold the briqs together better and you get less broken bits and dust in the bag.

[Meat P]

Also i recently got a big green egg and the guidance is to only use their own brand lumpwood charcoal (of course!) I am guessing any lumpwood (for air flow) that has no chemicals will be fine?

[Santamarina]

Lumpwood typically has less ash than briquettes because there aren’t any fillers added. I don’t have a BGE, but I’m certain any brand of lump would work.