Charcoal Buying Guide

When choosing what type of charcoal is right for you it is hard to know your briquettes from your lumpwood and to decide what you should buy. So to help you we’ll go through the most common charcoal options available and the advantages and disadvantages each one presents.

Lumpwood Charcoal

Lumpwood charcoal is made from short cut pieces of hardwood that has been burned for a long period of time in an environment where it has been deprived of oxygen. This process makes a charcoal that is very easy to light and burns at a high temperature, but does not normally last as long as a charcoal briquette.

It’s high burning temperature and shorter burn time, tend to make this charcoal ideal for cooking dishes and food that don’t require a long burn time or a low heat. Its shorter burn time also leads to the user having to add charcoal more often to the BBQ. Our lumpwood charcoal can be found here.

Charcoal Briquettes

Charcoal Briquettes are made from charcoal that has been reformed into a specific shape, either for ease of use or to help it light easier. These briquettes can be made out of hardwood charcoal or softwood charcoal and some have additives to help them burn while others do not. This makes it important to check the information on the packaging to ensure you understand what you are buying.

These Briquettes are made from charcoal that has been heavily compacted under pressure and they are often sold at a price cheaper than either lumpwood charcoal or restaurant grade charcoal. Making it a great cost effective option.

Although generally charcoal briquettes will last for longer than lumpwood charcoal but will burn at a lower temperature, this isn’t the case for cheaper briquettes including softwood briquettes and instant light briquettes. These will last a shorter amount of time but users will find them easier to light. The long burn time and low heat makes this charcoal ideal for slow cooked meals, such as stews or slow cooked beef. Our charcoal briquettes can be found here.

Restaurant Grade Charcoal

Restaurant Grade Charcoal is Lumpwood Charcoal but only the biggest pieces, this means that restaurant grade charcoal lasts longer than lumpwood charcoal and can rival briquettes. While still providing an intensely high heat when burning, these factors make it perfect for commercial cooking and long BBQ sessions.

Users can have trouble with restaurant grade charcoal, because of its size and the amount of heat it puts out. People can often not fit the chunks into their BBQ, or struggle to manage the heat the charcoal puts out. Making this charcoal great for more experienced users but difficult for amateur BBQers to use properly. Our restaurant grade charcoal can be found here.

Hopefully this guide has helped you to understand the main differences between the most popular types of charcoal and has given you all the information you need to make an informed purchase.