Recommend me some charcoal.

[anonymous-user]

So, BBQ season is upon us but unfortunately the usual supermarket offering, which has previously been pretty good for something which literally goes up in smoke, this year is shoite.
Bloody piddley little wood chips that just clog up the grill and smother themselves to extinction, or the alternative is those stupid "briquette" things which seem to burn about as well as a bucket of damp sand.
What's the preferred brand of PH?

[shimmey69]

Big K restaurant charcoal.

Get chunks the size of beer cans!

[Honey Badger]

I've just treated myself to a Weber One Touch and had the same issue. I had some old charcoal in the garage that lasted about an hour before dying. Invested in some Weber premium coals and chimney full lasted around 4 hours (also picked up 5kg of normal coals from Aldi for £2.50 which, after one use, are well up to 'normal' grilling.

[anonymous-user]

shimmey69 said:

Big K restaurant charcoal.

Get chunks the size of beer cans!

That sounds like just the job. Seems only Ocado or vague interweb shops do it though?

[Bill]

Waitrose do Big K (or did last year...)

[shimmey69]

Crossflow Kid said:

That sounds like just the job. Seems only Ocado or vague interweb shops do it though?

I also use bookers cash and carry restaurant charcoal
Get nice huge chunks and is about £10 for 12.5kg

[shimmey69]

Or try a local garden centre for big k

[omniflow]

What you want are briquettes made from Coconut shells. They burn the hottest and the longest of anything.

[MyM2006]

For charcoal
Big K best grade restaurant 15Kg boxes which I get from our local Loon Fung Chinese supermarket, amazingly large pieces and well packed!
or Makros 12.5Kg blue bags which are cheaper but the charcoal is slightly smaller, usually buy these when on offer for around £10.

[RC1]

i bit the bullet and bought a job lot from big k directly sharing the postage with a mate. well worth it. get the 15kg of lumpwood.

[anonymous-user]

Went for a 7kg sack of organic homegrown charcoal in the end. Can't remember the brand but I couldn't get BigK at short notice.
It dawned on me it's the size of sack that matters (as the actress said to the wood cutter). Stupid supermarket self lighting crap comes in little bags, which equates to little chunks of charcoal.
Big sack = big machinery to fill it = big chunks of charcoal.
Couple of bits were the length and diameter of my forearm!

[dmitsi]

The aldi stuff is good. 2.90 for a 5kg bag of charcoal briquettes, decent size and burns well.

[Mobile Chicane]

Big K all the way.

However in Surrey, the stuff from The Surrey Hills Charcoal Company is very good and quite widely sold in petrol stations and convenience stores. Look out for it.

It's a sustainable product and supports a local business. Most BBQ charcoal is produced from tropical hardwoods and imported.

[Craikeybaby]

I use the Weber briquettes and have found them mcuh better than the supermarket stuff.

[illmonkey]

An other PH member and I discussed the quality of Big K declining last summer. I had to purchase some non branded stuff at the weekend, it took a while to light, but was fine. I'll try Big K again, if people still sugest it.