Paswesley Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 Forum Family: I have reached total frustration while waiting for the shipping magnates to decide to allow us to receive Dennis' charcoal. I have decided to try Afire brand coconut charcoal. It is pricy to buy just one 27 pound box: $53.00 including around $15.00 shipping and handling. That works out to around $1.44 per pound (just for the charcoal) or $1.96 per pound including shipping. As I said, a little pricy. But- I do not have any other access to coconut charcoal. Has anyone else tried Afire brand coconut charcoal and, if so, what were your findings, recommendations? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNakedWhiz Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 You can read my review of it here: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag93.htm Huge ash production, very low burn time, smell not all that attractive, and the company was shorting their 18 pound boxes by almost 2 pounds. The most expensive charcoal we have ever tested, bar none. Also, I notice one ad says 27 pound box in one place and 24 pound box in another place. I'd be interested to know what the box says, and how much you actually got. It was apparent that aFire was deliberately shorting the weights on their 18 pounds boxes, so I'd be wary of what they say without actually weighing the contents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paswesley Posted October 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 Thanks, Whiz... I feel like saying "Gee, whiz!" I sure did get taken, huh? I have not received it yet. I sure hope that they have improved the product since your review back in January. Man, am I disappointed! If it had not already shipped, I would cancel the sale. Next time, I will check your excellent reviews before ordering. I have checked your site many times before. I don't know why I did not do it last night. Had a dumb attack, I guess. Thanks, again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNakedWhiz Posted October 22, 2010 Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 Well, coconut charcoal isn't exactly lump charcoal, so you might not think to check. I doubt they have changed the product, I just hope that this new bulk box contains what they say it contains. It gets even more expensive if they don't ship you the entire weight. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnt Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 I have tried Afire and I was not happy with the results.. It left a white ash all over the inside of the KK. I can only imagine that it was all over the food.... Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paswesley Posted October 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 I really appreciate the insights guys. I will let you know what happens. I am cooking a couple of fresh picnics for our church. I let them marinate for six hours in a homemade marinade which included apple cider vinegar and brandy, along with my special blend of I won't tell spices. I put them on at 12:15 AM for a twelve hour low and slow. I am using Royal Oak lump for the low and slow. Guess I'll turn in now, it's 1:25 AM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNakedWhiz Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Re: Afire Natural Coconut Charcoal I'll add that almost all coconut charcoal leaves a white ash. The original charcoal from Kamado that was sourced out of the Philippines coated the inside of the cooker with a white powder. I think it is the nature of the beast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnt Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Re: Afire Natural Coconut Charcoal Well maybe I'm just not paying attention but I don't seem to remember the white ash with the coconut charcoal from Dennis... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNakedWhiz Posted October 25, 2010 Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Re: Afire Natural Coconut Charcoal I stand corrected. I burned some KK Sustainable and there was no white powder. However, I've seen it also on some lump charcoals, South American woods, if I recall correctly. I have no evidence to support this, but my theory is that all charcoal produces some sort of fine powder like the white powder we see sometimes from some brands of charcoal. If the powder is white, we see it. If it is gray or darker, we don't. But I don't feel the white powder is an issue to be concerned about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paswesley Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Re: Afire Natural Coconut Charcoal The one positive that I can report about the Afire charcoal is that they were expeditious. I ordered it on a Thursday evening, from Fred's Music and BBQ, and it was delivered less than 36 hours later. (Perhaps that is so you can't back out of the order!) At any rate, the charcoal arrived around noon on Saturday. I was already involved in a low and slow with Mable while she did wonderful things to two picnics (Rave reviews, by the way. I now have a fan club at my church.). So, I weighed the charcoal. It was 26 lbs. and 14 ozs. I won't squawk about the missing two ounces of charcoal. That is only about one briquet. This charcoal was not made in Viet Nam like the original review that Naked Whiz did back in January. This charcoal is made in Thailand.It appears to be of about the same quality, unfortunately. It is clearly very light in weight and it leaves very dark smudges on one's hands when it is handled. It appears to be incompletely carbonized. Also, it seems to be pressed together with only minimal pressure at best, because it is decidedly lacking in density. I lit four pieces in a charcoal chimney to see how they would burn. They were fairly easy to light with my propane torch, but it took a good while, about two minutes. There was a small amount of sparking and popping. Nothing major, but noticeable. My reference was one small piece of extruded that I had sneaked out of a Korean restaurant. This charcoal was in a table top burner that held several unlit pieces. The Korean charcoal was hard as stone and took forever to ignite, but it burned very hot, had a light coconut fragrance, and lasted about 3.5 hours. It left almost no ash. By contrast, the Afire charcoal did not smell very much like coconuts. It smelled more like burning wood, although the odor was rather faint. It produced a hot coal, but fairly quickly, after about twenty minutes, began to burn cooler. The Afire charcoal only burned for about 2.5 hours. It left a lot of taupe colored ashes. I had intended to cook my organic free range turkey using the coconut charcoal, but I will clearly have to alter my plans. Sorry to be so long-winded, but I wanted to give detailed, albeit unscientific feedback. Needless to say, I will NOT be purchasing any more Afire coconut charcoal. I wish that I could get a hold of some of that Korean charcoal, but alas, it is not to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paswesley Posted October 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Re: Afire Natural Coconut Charcoal Correction: The Afire coconut charcoal that I bought is from Taiwan, not Thailand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted November 2, 2010 Report Share Posted November 2, 2010 Re: Afire Natural Coconut Charcoal I have noticed that the ash color of the extruded coconut is a different color when its burned hot than it is when used at lower temps. The hotter fire gives the ash a more orange-tan color I dont recall if the KK charcoal left white residue, but certain lump charcoals definitely do. I remember having that white coating when I was using Lazarri mesquite lump, and I am also getting the same coating right now using B&B Oak lump. But of which produce a fair amount of smoke on their own - not sure if that why or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbower Posted November 2, 2010 Report Share Posted November 2, 2010 Re: Afire Natural Coconut Charcoal I dont recall if the KK charcoal left white residue' date=' but certain lump charcoals definitely do.[/quote'] Not that I've noticed, but I almost exclusively use the extruded to cook indirect so it's feasible my layers of heat deflection block it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
