Charcoal

[theysawyoucomin']

Interesting trip to the hardware store last week.

 

They have chunk charcoal there. I know this is how charcoal is supposed to be or was before Henry Ford had to dispose of all those wood boxes that did not become floorboards so he put his relative Kingsford in charge of making pulverized remoulded stuff. (run on sentence)

 

Interesting thing is you can put it out with water and reuse what's left. You cannot do that with briquettes we have all seen them fall apart.

 

Do any of you D.O. maestros use this?

A Scout is thrifty. I am a cheap old buzzard. You could put the stuff out right after

 

The bag braggs about more heat too.

 

 

What say you?

[Stosh]

A metal canister with metal lid will snuff charcoal and briquettes without water, they do not fall apart and can be reused.

 

Briquettes are handy because they measure easily, start quicker and expire at the same rate, meaning if one needs to replenish charcoal on the dutch oven, some charcoal is spent and some is still going strong, briquettes all die at the same pace if they are lit together.

 

If one is guessing measurements, it would definitely be easier and thriftier to just use wood and replenish more often.

 

Briquettes are also uniform in size so they can be transported easier in plastic bags in areas where wood is at a premium. Variable lengths of charcoal often times makes it more difficult to use precise amounts for a meal and is often a bit more wasteful.

 

Stosh

[SSScout]

JB has the answer. When I am finished immolating ground bovine, I close all the vents on the grill/smoker and close the lid. About two hours later, the fire is smothered, the grill is cool. I usually let it sit on the patio anyway, but I check it before rolling it back to it's parking spot. At my convenience, I can scoop the used charcoal into the starter can (no fluid! only some dry newspaper!), add some new charcoal and start over!

Never use water unless we're out in the woods, but there we usually let the fire burn itself out after lots of use.

[packsaddle]

I also agree with JB. Moreover, it takes a very long time for that charcoal to dry after being soaked with water.

One thing I've observed is that the briquettes, on a volumetric basis, seem to last longer. This might also have something to do with the surface area/volume relationships. Regarding reuse, when I prepare charred mammal flesh I always try to be frugal ('cheap', I think was the term used, and I refuse to think of myself as an old buzzard although it might well be true) and use only the quantity that I really need to do the job. And I like my steak NOT to be rare.

 

We do use the briquettes exclusively for Dutch oven cooking because of the consistency of heat and ease of estimation. But we sometimes salvage old charcoal after a local woods fire. It's kind of fun, you never know what the fire will uncover. Hey, I said I'm frugal.

[CalicoPenn]

I prefer natural, hardwood, chunk (or lump) charcoal for most of my grilling needs. It starts faster (chunk charcoal is ready in about 10 to 15 minutes compared to briquettes readiness in 25-30 minutes), it burns hotter, and in open grilling situations, it tends to last longer. More importantly, it burns cleaner (no petroleum or coal derivatives are used to make it) so it can be used under my rendezvous tarp if I have to cook in a rainstorm (less smoke).

 

I don't use briquettes for dutch oven cooking - yes, I know - easier to measure and you can use a handy dandy chart that tells you 7 briquettes on the bottom and 5 on the top will cook a cornbread in 20 minutes - or whatever it is - I prefer wood or natural charcoal.

 

That's not to say that briquettes don't have advantages in certain situations - kettle grills being the most obvious. Natural charcoal needs more air flow than briquettes, thus it tends to lose heat rapidly in the old Weber, while briquettes burn better in low air flow (briquettes lose heat faster in open grilling situations). Had briquettes never been developed, its likely the Weber Kettle would never have been the success that it is.

 

If I'm slow roasting in a kettle grill, I'll use briquettes, and try to use a brand that is more natural hardwood than not (like Royal Oak), or at the very least, avoid the self-starting petroleum soaked briquettes. For open grilling, and dutch oven cooking, I'm going with natural hardwood chunk charcoal.

 

Calico

 

 

[GKlose]

Thanks, CalicoPenn --

 

I've been using lump for over a year (Cowboy brand, but I realize that is relatively low-quality lump) and I just learned something from what you wrote.

 

I've found that it lights fast (in a chimney, of course), and that it burns hot and fast. But I've been using it in a Weber kettle. So that explains the fast part. We do reuse the leftover pieces when there are some.

 

This particular brand leaves a bit of ash, but I've heard that other higher-quality brands leave less ash.

 

Guy

[packsaddle]

Yeah, and I had never heard that bit of trivia about Kingsford. Interesting.