Cooking With Charcoal

[Mark H]

A lot of thoughts and ideas. If you were to go to a bbq competition that is not sponsored by a major brickett mfg you will see all use natural charcoal out of the bag or from the fire drum. Yes it takes some time to get used to but for long term smoking the natural can be lite on one side of the heap and it will move slowly thus cooking for a long time. For direct grilling/cooking you will get more temp out of natural. IMHO.

Now....for the hunt camp I buy kings ford for the ease and economy. It works well for,the burgers, chicken, and steaks. For home and the couple of times I have gone to cook for a trophy....I use lump or natural style charcoal.

 

[Dan Farmer]

Charcoal review. A lot of stuff out there

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpindexpage.htm?bag

I discovered and devoured that site a number of years ago, but had forgotten about it. Thanks for reminding me!

It has been my experience that the hardwood charcoal market has been suffering from popularity. My first few bags really impressed me, but more recently I am seeing more chunks that just don't look like good quality hardwood. Also nails and rocks, which don't bother me except as signs of poor QA.

I was very enamored with hardwood charcoal initially but have mostly gone back to briquettes. Most of the additives are bentonite clay (inert), starch binders, and nitrates, which are going to release oxygen under heat. Burning pure hardwood releases plenty of nasty chemicals if you really care to dig into such things. I don't.