lump charcoal quality
lump charcoal quality
Recently I bought 2 bags of lump charcoal from AP Fuel Supply in Dingley Village, 1 mangrove and 1 mallee. I presume they get it from the "manufacturer" and pretty much just see the bags. From memory the prices were $23 and $25 respectively. The mallee certainly has a more gnarly look about it.
The top layer of the mallee bag was decent sized chunks of charcoal, as I expected, but after I dug down a few inches, all that was to be seen was tiny lumps:
When what I am used to with Mangrove is below:
Now this might all seem a bit picky, and I don't know whether this bag is the odd one out however with charcoal that small, I find it hard to get a really hot fire going, it seems to smother the draft somewhat. I have also had a few stones in the mallee whereas so far none in the mangrove.
Its one thing to have a few dregs in the bottom of the bag, but this is more like 90% (well maybe there are some big chunks lurking in there).
Is this normal? If it is should I just stick with mangrove? How do I get a hot fire going with these tiny lumps?
Comments would be most welcome.
The top layer of the mallee bag was decent sized chunks of charcoal, as I expected, but after I dug down a few inches, all that was to be seen was tiny lumps:
When what I am used to with Mangrove is below:
Now this might all seem a bit picky, and I don't know whether this bag is the odd one out however with charcoal that small, I find it hard to get a really hot fire going, it seems to smother the draft somewhat. I have also had a few stones in the mallee whereas so far none in the mangrove.
Its one thing to have a few dregs in the bottom of the bag, but this is more like 90% (well maybe there are some big chunks lurking in there).
Is this normal? If it is should I just stick with mangrove? How do I get a hot fire going with these tiny lumps?
Comments would be most welcome.
Last edited by Lovey on Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: removed dead photobucket link
Reason: removed dead photobucket link
Re: lump charcoal quality
Don't get me started.............,both of the 3 kilo bags I've bought from BG have been damp, I have one bag from Bunnings in reserve (Indonesian), I think I'll have to bite the bullet and get a bag of the BGE stuff from BG until Peter Yeomans is available in Newcastle. Local dealer says there still waiting for the Weber charcoal (Peter Yeomans???)
Bodgy
Re: lump charcoal quality
I know it is a bit ghetto, but you could try dividing it between heavily perforated tin cans, e.g. three or four tall 'juice' cans that you see in the supermarket. Or you could use some bits of metal / pipe in with it to ensure air flow... I said ghetto. I am sure there is some purpose made stainless version already commercially available.sosman wrote:How do I get a hot fire going with these tiny lumps?
-
- Posts: 3968
- Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:49 am
- Location: Melbourne
Re: lump charcoal quality
You could put some small square mesh over the grate.Dan wrote:I know it is a bit ghetto, but you could try dividing it between heavily perforated tin cans, e.g. three or four tall 'juice' cans that you see in the supermarket. Or you could use some bits of metal / pipe in with it to ensure air flow... I said ghetto. I am sure there is some purpose made stainless version already commercially available.sosman wrote:How do I get a hot fire going with these tiny lumps?
Cheers
-
- Posts: 9453
- Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:46 pm
- Location: Perth WA
Re: lump charcoal quality
I've got some square mesh, folded kind of crinkly to increase the airflow.
Cheers
Chris
Cheers
Chris
Common Sense is so rare these days it should be a Super Power!
-
- Posts: 155
- Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:47 pm
- Location: ballarat
Re: lump charcoal quality
Davo, You will be waiting a bit longer at the moment for my charcoal. 125mm of rain in a couple of days have flooded my pits ,I'm pissed off, but theres heaps out there worse off than me at the moment.bodgy wrote:Don't get me started.............,both of the 3 kilo bags I've bought from BG have been damp, I have one bag from Bunnings in reserve (Indonesian), I think I'll have to bite the bullet and get a bag of the BGE stuff from BG until Peter Yeomans is available in Newcastle. Local dealer says there still waiting for the Weber charcoal (Peter Yeomans???)
I drove through Rochester in Victoria today which copped a big flood and the mess left around is huge.
Also my charcoal is screened by 1 inch mesh, what we have found is that the bottom bags on a pallet usually break down a bit .We now only stack our pallets to about 1.5m high, this seems to be ok.
Chris recently got one pallet of our 10kg bags we stacked it 8 high (1.7m) which gave us 48 bags, that charcoal travelled around 3,000 kay's on the back of a truck. It would be interesting to see how the bottom layer of bags on the pallet compared to the top layer .
Anyway should have charcoal again in 4-5weeks.
Cheers Peter
-
- Posts: 2474
- Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 8:39 pm
- Location: lost in the ozone
Re: lump charcoal quality
FLOOD TOURIST.
get a life peter....did you stop to help the poor beggers..............
korrrrfff parasite
kevin
get a life peter....did you stop to help the poor beggers..............
korrrrfff parasite
kevin
....up in smoke.....that's where my money goes.....
-
- Posts: 155
- Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:47 pm
- Location: ballarat
Re: lump charcoal quality
I aint no flood tourist ,It was on my way home from Oxley in NSW to Ballarat in Victoria.I brought my excavator home to work with the Hepburn shire flood recovery. Hepburn shire have Clunes and Creswick which have been flooded twice in the last four months leaving a huge cleanup program.I will be there for approximately 4 weeks helping the "poor beggars".Commander Cody wrote:FLOOD TOURIST.
get a life peter....did you stop to help the poor beggers..............
korrrrfff parasite
kevin
Kev ,if you like come and help over in this shire there's plenty of work and hopefully no flood tourists,,or people that jump to conclusions.
Re: lump charcoal quality
peter yeoman wrote:I aint no flood tourist ,It was on my way home from Oxley in NSW to Ballarat in Victoria.I brought my excavator home to work with the Hepburn shire flood recovery. Hepburn shire have Clunes and Creswick which have been flooded twice in the last four months leaving a huge cleanup program.I will be there for approximately 4 weeks helping the "poor beggars".Commander Cody wrote:FLOOD TOURIST.
get a life peter....did you stop to help the poor beggers..............
korrrrfff parasite
kevin
Kev ,if you like come and help over in this shire there's plenty of work and hopefully no flood tourists,,or people that jump to conclusions.
I lift my hat to those that help others.
Good job Peter.
Cheers Titch
Cheers
Titch
Titch
-
- Posts: 2474
- Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 8:39 pm
- Location: lost in the ozone
Re: lump charcoal quality
Peter,
sorry for jumping to conclusions me old, it' just that up here we are trying to get peoples lives back up to a bearable standard and those things that i accused you of being keep getting in our way.......and yes it was thrown as an insult, for that i am truley remoresfull...
so Peter, unfortunatley i cannot go and help you down there, but please beleive when i write, you are a good person. and the people you assist will appreaciate every thing, no matter how insignificant you feel it is, that you do for them. onya Peter.......
kevin
sorry for jumping to conclusions me old, it' just that up here we are trying to get peoples lives back up to a bearable standard and those things that i accused you of being keep getting in our way.......and yes it was thrown as an insult, for that i am truley remoresfull...
so Peter, unfortunatley i cannot go and help you down there, but please beleive when i write, you are a good person. and the people you assist will appreaciate every thing, no matter how insignificant you feel it is, that you do for them. onya Peter.......
kevin
....up in smoke.....that's where my money goes.....
-
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:47 am
- Location: Bali, Indonesia
- Contact:
Re: lump charcoal quality
There are two only basic factors involved with getting high temps.. Fuel and airflow.sosman wrote: Now this might all seem a bit picky, and I don't know whether this bag is the odd one out however with charcoal that small, I find it hard to get a really hot fire going, it seems to smother the draft somewhat.
Its one thing to have a few dregs in the bottom of the bag, but this is more like 90% (well maybe there are some big chunks lurking in there).
Is this normal? If it is should I just stick with mangrove? How do I get a hot fire going with these tiny lumps?
Comments would be most welcome.
If your fuel is dry, the other variable is airflow. This is where the smalls kill you..
Most grills have paths for air to travel without going thru the charcoal, so the air takes the path of least resistance.
If you have too many smalls there is just not enough airflow to supply the needed oxygen and your burn gets restricted.
Save the smalls for your low and slow cooks and use those medium to large pieces for your high temp cooks..
You can also sprinkle the smalls around the outside of your bowl leaving good airflow up the middle.
Once the entire bowl is raging they will all ignite also..
Just my 2 cents..
Your only young once but you can be immature forever! www.KOmodoKamado.com
Re: lump charcoal quality
Thanks for the tip, I have been using the smalls around the bigger chunks but so far have mostly been cooking lower temps.
AP Fuel haven't confirmed yet but look like they will replace the bag if I like. They said the mallee root supplier was patchy, this batch had come from Sydney and had done extra time on the back of a truck.
AP Fuel haven't confirmed yet but look like they will replace the bag if I like. They said the mallee root supplier was patchy, this batch had come from Sydney and had done extra time on the back of a truck.
-
- Posts: 155
- Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:47 pm
- Location: ballarat
Re: lump charcoal quality
A tip for buying charcoal. I have seen people simply pick up a bag of charcoal off me and throw it in the back of a ute like it's a bag of rags........ sends me crazy . Be gentle with your charcoal.
Re: lump charcoal quality
AP happily replaced my partly used bag of "crushed" charcoal with a new bag. They didn't have any mallee and I said I would be happy with the mangrove.
-
- Posts: 1240
- Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:10 pm
- Location: Gold Coast, QLD
- Contact:
Re: lump charcoal quality
Hello all,
First post here. Recently returned to the Gold Coast after 8 years in the US. As a result am now firmly a disciple of the BGE and Kamado style cooking. Would appreciate any leads for recommended local charcoal flavour to experiment with. The following site was a favourite discussing charcoal in the states. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm . Could somebody recommend something else beyond red gum and mangrove here, and the supplier?
Cheers CS.
First post here. Recently returned to the Gold Coast after 8 years in the US. As a result am now firmly a disciple of the BGE and Kamado style cooking. Would appreciate any leads for recommended local charcoal flavour to experiment with. The following site was a favourite discussing charcoal in the states. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm . Could somebody recommend something else beyond red gum and mangrove here, and the supplier?
Cheers CS.