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Yeah, I've never been very good at subscribing to conventional wisdom. These are hardwood briquettes from the Lazzari warehouse in South San Francisco. They're the same wood as their hardwood lump, same source. I'm not sure what they use for binder but it's unobtrusive. The lump on the other hand varies radically in size with a high proportion of crumbs too small to easily use. The lump burns smokier, and is far more likely to leave a sooty taste on food. The briquettes burn very predictably (their geometry induces a consistent "sphere packing" with nice airflow), which is what I need for high heat cooks such as bread, pizza, or chicken. I use exclusively KK extruded lump from Dennis for low cooks. I've priced better conventional lump charcoal for high cooks, and the conclusion is to either stick with what I'm doing, or to just buy charcoal from Dennis for everything. Even if the top Naked Whiz recommendations did ship to California (will this become an issue for Dennis?), they price out similar to buying from Dennis in quantity. To present my "fussy" credentials, my only low & slow smoke source is a "smoke pot" consisting of a two quart cast iron dutch oven with a few 1/8" holes in the bottom, filled with wood chips and chunks, and the lid sealed on each time with flour paste. I tried the REI stainless steel pot with clamping hardware, and I could taste the difference; I threw it out. Open wood tastes like a house fire to me. So if I claim that I prefer the taste and performance of a certain brand of briquette over their equivalent lump, ask yourself why you believe what you believe? BBQ is a religion, but one doesn't have to take all the scriptures literally. Honestly, I pride myself in always being able to take either side of a debate, but I can't even remember how the other side goes, anymore.