The Big Debate: Lump or Briquette Charcoal

There’s something about outdoor grilling that can turn the most normal people into passionate debaters going toe to toe in battle. And what’s one of the hottest topics up for debate? Lump or briquette. We get it. At Barbecue Country , we’re quite passionate about the topic as well!

Charcoal 101

Lump Charcoal is made up of randomly sized hardwood charcoal from exactly what you think. Wood... and, nothing more.

Wood. And, nothing more. Briquette Charcoal is uniform, pillow-shaped briquettes made from the by-products leftover during the Lump Charcoal making process. The leftovers pieces are ground down to a consistent size using potato, wheat or cornstarch as a binding agent. Again, all natural. (Note that all charcoal briquettes are not created equally. There are some charcoal briquettes on the market that contain chemicals -yuk. Barbecue Country only sells 100% all natural charcoal with no added chemicals.)

So, which is better?

They’re BOTH great. It just depends on what you’re cooking and/or what you’re used to.

Lump Charcoal burns at a higher temperature making it ideal for grilling steaks, chops and burgers.

Briquette Charcoal burns at a lower temperature for a longer period of time, making it ideal for doing ribs, chicken, roast or turkey.

All this said… at the end of the day you can either lump or brequette charcoal for any of your grilling and smoking needs - for many it really comes down to personal preference!

When lighting either type of charcoal, we encourage the use of all-natural products. For your health and safety, please refrain from using gasoline type lighters.

In our opinion, chimney starters are the best device for lighting charcoal. They’re convenient, safe and no chemicals are needed. They also allow the ability to add more lit charcoal to the grill during a longer cook.

When you purchase any charcoal from Barbecue Country, you can rest assured ALL of our charcoal is 100% natural using only hardwoods, no additives or chemicals.

We’re bringing in the finest charcoal products right now for the upcoming grilling season including Blues Hog Premium Natural Hardwood Lump Charcoal; quality charcoal in large pieces, single-sourced, made from Missouri hardwoods, clean burning and a proven winner.

Come see us at our showroom located at 5682 - 75 Street NW Edmonton or Contact us online.

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