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AstrosDad

Hardwood Charcoal Briquettes?

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Rancher is a big name on the competition circuit. The guys with the gravity feeders love 'em as they are uniform in size and don't bridge in the hoppers. I tried some Stubbs charcoal the other week. They were a bit tough to light but did burn hot (if you wanted the heat). Cheap enough at six dollars and change for an 18 pound bag. Lots of ash. I'd use it again in a pinch but definitely prefer good old lump charcoal...

Hey Whiz - I couldn't find Stubbs Charcoal on your site - ever test or use it?

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Hardwood Briquettes

Briquettes have a bad name because of their "extra" ingredients. These include a binding agent (a starch), an ash-whitening agent (usually lime) to let users know when the briquettes are ready to go and accelerants (usually nitrate).

Manufacturers can design them to burn at target temps with unlimited airflow. This is great for open grilling at the beach.

Today many manufacturers make very pure hardwood briquettes without these "extra" ingredients that are very good. As they can control the carbonization much better than with lump charcoal the finished product is more consistent.

Our very own Komodo evangelist Chris Lilly uses only Kingsford Hardwood briquettes and takes home the prizes..

So yes, in the past briquette was a 4 letter word but some have evolved to be more than respectable..

;););)

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I'm 99% sure the stuff you're seeing at Trader Joe's is made by Rancher. If you look at the back of the packaging he claims it's word for word the text on the Rancher bag.

I use it on all my high heat cooks in my ceramic and it works well. ECC for all my low and slow cooks.

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Re: Hardwood Charcoal Briquettes?

I was at the local Trader Joes and noticed that they do not carry the Cowboy Lump charcoal, but instead, they carry Hardwood Lump Charcoal briquettes. It contained no chemicals, just char and inert binder.

Has anyone used these on a KK? Is it safe?

I'm currently working my way through a bag of the Trader Joe's Hardwood briquettes. So far, no complaints. Low ash, high heat, pleasant smoke flavor, no chemical or other off-odors. Good stuff so far. I asked NakedWhiz to review it, but so far he has dodged my request.

This is in a steel barrel grill, though. My kamado's still in storage.

8)

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BBQ smoke lingering in the air is heavenly' date=' but when its on ME, thats where I draw the line :D And a pool wont get it off either, it takes soap to get rid of it![/quote']

It's a definate chick magnet here in SC :D So is a lot of body hair, but if you have both, you can purdy much pick an choose.

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