Hardwood Charcoal

Hardwood Charcoal

Hardwood Charcoal a common occurrence that I’m poised with the question of which form of charcoal—briquette or lump—do I use an why. It’s a fiercely debated topic in the grilling world with die-hard loyalists who will go to all lengths to defend their fire source. It’s much more of a gray area for me, as I see the ups and downs of both and have reasons to pick one or the other based on the application. After receiving a bag of lump charcoal from Cowboy Brand, I decided to take this edition of Meat Tips to go through the different qualities of charcoal and pit briquette against lump and see how each fair within each category.

WHAT IS CHARCOAL

Before we can get into specifics of how each charcoal preforms, it’s good to have a little knowledge of what this stuff is in the first place. Charcoal is made by burning wood in the absence of oxygen. Lump charcoal is the product of the process in its purest form—pieces of wood burned down to be chunks of charcoal.

Briquettes, on the other hand, are kind of like the fast food of charcoal; they’re cheap, reliable, can be found on almost every corner, but you really don’t want to know what’s in them. Unlike the pure lump charcoal, briquettes are manufactured wood by-products compressed with additives that help them light and burn consistently.

COST

The first question you’ll be presented within your charcoal choice is cost. At the store, you’ll likely see that briquettes will come in much less expensive, pound-for-pound, compared to lump. In Queens, NY (where I live), I can pick up two twenty-pound bags of Kingsford briquettes for around $17 at Home Depot. Contrast that to the one twenty-pound bag of lump charcoal (Royal Oak is common in my neighborhood) that sells for $20 and you’ll quickly get an idea of the comparative price difference.

DRY SALTED AND AIR DRIED DONKEY HIDES

Brown Sugar

White/Yellow/Red CORN (MAIZE)