There is a lot of charcoal that you can find in the market for grilling purposes but not all of them are good. Getting the perfect charcoal for your grill is very important. It can make or break the taste of good food. There is certain charcoal out there that can impart a lot of flavor to the grilled food while some charcoal will just ruin everything. If you are conflicted about which one to get then no worries. We are here to help you out with the selection process. In this article, we have listed the best charcoal that you can find for grilling. Take a look.
Royal Oak Hardwood Lump Charcoal
This is our favorite charcoal so we have included it in the list at the very top. The Royal Oak Hardwood Lump Charcoal is exceptionally good as a product. It is the best charcoal for an average grilled. When you get them, you will find a fine assortment of charcoal. These pieces are going to be easy to light and they will burn for a very long time.
This is perfect for an average griller. The Royal Oak Hardwood Lump Charcoal will make sure that the fire keeps going for a long time. The Royal Oak Hardwood Lump Charcoal is also useful because it gives off a sweet scent that is neither too overpowering nor too faint. It is the perfect balance of both worlds that will give you a perfect flavor for your food. It should be noted that the charcoal lumps are designed for smokers so it is going to impart a sweet smoky flavor to the food you are cooking. If you are not a fan of that then you should be avoiding this charcoal.
The Royal Oak Hardwood Lump Charcoal can burn for a long time but not more than a few hours. So if you want to go longer then there are better options. However, the overall quality of the Royal Oak Hardwood Lump Charcoal is very good. We are impressed by the pleasant smell and the price of the charcoal. This is used by many people too.
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Kingsford Original Charcoal Briquettes
If you are looking for the best briquettes then the Kingsford Original Charcoal Briquettes might be it. The company Kingsford has been in this business for a century. They know what they are doing pretty well. The company has worked well to create and refine its product. The Kingsford Original Charcoal Briquettes are now smaller and more compact than before. If you have not been using this for some time then you will see a change in its quality.
The Kingsford Original Charcoal Briquettes now burn hotter and longer. This is due to the fact that they made it denser than before. These briquettes give off a campfire aroma when they start to burn. It came as a surprise at first but we all love that beautiful campfire scent. The longevity and heat of the briquettes are something to behold. It comes from a branded company and it functions well. The Kingsford Original Charcoal Briquettes are always in stock and they are also priced very reasonably.
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Rockwood Lump Charcoal
The Rockwood Lump Charcoal is the next one on the list. This charcoal is made out of. Missouri oak, maple, and hickory. They are all eco-friendly in nature. All the wood has been collected from leftover timber. The company does not believe in cutting down healthy trees to make charcoal. The charcoal bits are plank shaped and that helps a lot in cracking it up. The Rockwood Lump Charcoal is good to have during a grilling session but one disadvantage is that it does not light up as easily as the other options on this list.
However, when you do get the charcoal lit up, you will find that beautiful campfire scent with a hint of sweetness in it. The price for the Rockwood Lump Charcoal is also not very high. We will say that it is priced over the average amount but it does work well. The mixture of the different kinds of wood gives it a distinct taste and flavor. You can smell that and even taste that on the food that you cook with this charcoal.
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Jealous Devil Hardwood Lump Charcoal
The Jealous Devil Hardwood Lump Charcoal sounds like a curious name but that does not matter at all. The real stuff is the charcoal. It is said that this is the charcoal of convenience. They come in a zip lock bag that prevents you from making a mess. You can easily get access to the charcoal and not risk messing it up. The bag usually comes with a few uniform chunks and a number of large chunks.
The Jealous Devil Hardwood Lump Charcoal does not have much dust or chips in its bag, which is great because they can be annoying.
The Jealous Devil Hardwood Lump Charcoal was tested to be found to reach a high temperature in a very short amount of time. This charcoal is made out of Quebracho Blanco, a South American tree that is pretty popular because of its hardness. This gives a distinct and unique flavor to the Jealous Devil Hardwood Lump Charcoal. It is almost like a medicinal aroma. However, do not be scared of it. The unusual smell might not be liked by everyone but it does not affect the taste much. This charcoal can help you make a good meal and the charcoal might even take care of your health with its medicinal smell.
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Fogo Super Premium Lump Charcoal
The Fogo Super Premium Lump Charcoal is the next one on the list. This is a very different lump of charcoal than the ones that we have already listed on this list. The Fogo Super Premium Lump Charcoal only comes in big chunks of charcoal. They are difficult to light because of their large size. However, when the charcoal gets lighted, you will get a higher temperature and a long burn time. It does seem to be on the expensive side of the price spectrum.
This charcoal is very versatile for grilling. You can grill almost anything on it. It is good for some hardcore grilling that will take a lot of time and effort. It can also be used to cook marshmallows. The range of the Fogo Super Premium Lump Charcoal is super indeed. We love the charcoal even though it comes with a few disadvantages. We are here for it. You are going to love it too if you are a fan of heavy-duty grilling.
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Kamado Joe Natural Lump Charcoal
The Kamado Joe Natural Lump Charcoal is the best charcoal that you can get for a ceramic grill. Kamado Joe is a company that is well known for its grills. They are based in China and the main focus of the company is to create good kamado grills. The Kamado Joe Natural Lump Charcoal is 100% hardwood charcoal that comes from three hardwood trees in Argentina. The locals call this wood an ax breaker. That does show how hard the wood can be. They traditionally roast the wood in outdoor ovens.
The Kamado Joe Natural Lump Charcoal comes in big lumps of coal. They are large and can burn for a long amount of time. The lump is uniform in size so you can get consistent cooking with the Kamado Joe Natural Lump Charcoal. It also can reach high temperatures and produce little ash. The excellent airflow is also making the charcoal a good contender on the list. This charcoal is specially designed to be made for ceramic grills. Several grilling enthusiasts have taken on the ceramic grills over the charcoal of gas grills. This is a change that we are seeing in the grilling community and the Kamado Joe Natural Lump Charcoal is perfect for going along with it.
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Royal Oak Classic Charcoal Briquets
The Royal Oak Classic Charcoal Briquets is a good option but it is not the best. The entire thing about this charcoal is that it is somewhere in the middle. The Royal Oak Classic Charcoal Briquets have been advertised as a fast starting charcoal but this is not the case. This is a case of false advertising. You can not start this charcoal on the first try and we did have some trouble while lighting this charcoal on fire.
The charcoal performs well and once you do manage to light it, you are going to be able to cook enough food in a matter of minutes. This sets it a bit under the average cooking time of the general briquettes that we have here on this list. The charcoal does have a sweet aroma to it that is not too overpowering. You will get that flavor in the food too. This is one of the most affordable charcoal that you will find on the market. We can not complain too much about it because of its low price.
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Weber Briquettes
The Weber Briquettes are made out of hardwood trees. You can see the difference between the Weber Briquettes and the other briquettes in the list. It comes from a trusted brand and you are going to get the guarantee of a good company with the charcoal. These briquettes can give you a huge amount of heat. They can also compare with the expensive lumps of coal.
The Weber Briquettes are not that easy to light. This can be one disadvantage of the Weber Briquettes.
If you are an experienced griller then you are going to like it. If you are not that experienced then you are going to find this is a bit difficult to handle. We recommend that you go with the other options in that case. In no terms are we saying that the Weber Briquettes are not good? They are more of a professional-grade than for an average or beginner user.
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Coco-BBQ Coconut Charcoal Briquets
Coco-BBQ Coconut Charcoal Briquets are the most unique charcoal briquettes that we have ever seen in our life. It is made out of sustainable coconut shells. It does seem to do a good job at caring for the environment but the Coco-BBQ Coconut Charcoal Briquets are cylindrical shaped. This shape reminded us of the Thai-style binchō-tan, which is used by vendors. The Coco-BBQ Coconut Charcoal Briquets come in big chunks so you can expect a long cooking time from these briquettes.
They did not disappoint us on that matter. The Coco-BBQ Coconut Charcoal Briquets lasted a long time. It also gave a high temperature that cooked the food at a very fast rate. This is good charcoal but we could not give it the top so because it has a few drawbacks that may make a break a deal. The Coco-BBQ Coconut Charcoal Briquets have a strange smell and it is expensive too. The charcoal does not smell like burnt coconut, which many people will expect given the name.
The Coco-BBQ Coconut Charcoal Briquets give off a smell like incense. We are not saying that it is bad to smell but it can be a little strange for charcoal to smell like incense. The charcoal is also very expensive. You don't need to check the price tag for that. Take our word for it. However, it is a sustainable method of getting charcoal. No deforestation is done to get this charcoal so it saves the environment too. We think that's what makes it so expensive. If you have the means then you can spend extra bucks to save the planet.
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Cowboy Hardwood Lump Charcoal
The next one on the list is Cowboy Hardwood Lump Charcoal. That's a cool name if you ask us, makes us think of the wild west. However, the name of the charcoal does not match the function because it seems to be a bit inconsistent with the heat that it is giving. In the bag, you can find bits of wood that are not properly charred. The quality can not be said to be high class. The people online have also reviewed that they have found wood, plastic, and rocks in the bag which is a real shame.
The Cowboy Hardwood Lump Charcoal does have a lot of faults and the biggest one is finding undercooked charcoal in the bag that you paid for with your hard-earned money thinking that you will now be able to cook good food with the charcoal. This charcoal gives off a smoke that is neither good nor bad. It is kind of neutral and unremarkable. You will not be remembering the wood later on. This is pretty cheap so a lot of people do go for this charcoal.
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Kingsford Match Light Charcoal Briquettes
The Kingsford Match Light Charcoal Briquettes is the last one on the list. It is good charcoal but the only thing is that it smells terrible. We are not even exaggerating when we say that. This charcoal is supposed to be doused in lighter fluid. It can be dangerous to work with. We do not highly recommend this charcoal but a lot of people have given good reviews on it.
We can see how it can light up the day of the event with high flames that are unforgettable. Let us also not forget about the chemical smell that ruins the food. The smell could not go away from our noses, it was just stuck there and we did not like that experience. It can work as proper cooking charcoal if you follow the instructions but we did not. We paid the price for it. Do not be stupid like us. Follow the instructions and you might just get decent food.
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