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How long can Lump Charcoal last (Shelf
Life)
Lump Charcoal is
perhaps good for life. Unless it has been exposed to moisture and variable
temperature, natural lump charcoal will last.
Charcoal Silhouettes
For cooking purposes charcoal comes in two different
shapes: lump charcoal and briquettes. Lump charcoal is charcoal which has
not been formed into briquettes. Briquettes are the pillow shaped little
pieces of compressed ground charcoal.
Should you use Lump
Charcoal or Briquettes?
If
you are going to use our Primo Grill and Smoker, the answer is Lump
Charcoal. The low ash production of lump charcoal is very important.
Primo Grills and Smokers have a fire bowl holding the charcoal. As the
charcoal burns, the ash falls down into the bottom of the bowl. There
isn't room for a whole lot of ash. Lump charcoal tends to burns hotter
and faster than briquettes. Lump charcoal will also burn at whatever
rate and temperature that you allow it to. Using briquettes in your
Primo Grill and Smoker can cause frustration when needing to regulate
the temperature. Briquettes tend to burn slower as they were designed
to be used in an uncontrolled environment. Briquettes weren't designed
for professional use.
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Where can I purchase Lump Charcoal
You
may be able to purchase lump charcoal locally. You local hardware, BBQ
store, mass merchant, grocery store and other related retail outlet may
carry lump charcoal. You may purchase also your charcoal from Primo®
Direct . Review this web site and take advantage of getting our Cowboy
Charcoal brand at a good price.
Types of Lump
Charcoal
There are 2 types of charcoals:
the first type comes from natural wood which has been cut and made into
charcoal. This is as natural as you can get. The wood comes from trees,
branches and scrap pieces from saw mills. The second type comes from using
processed scrap wood and tuning it into charcoal. Processed scrap wood
tend to burn faster since its density is lesser than natural. This is
mainly because there is less moisture into the wood at the time it is
transformed into charcoals. This wood comes from wood flooring scraps,
building material scrap and furniture scraps and others.
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Quality Lump Charcoal usually comes in a
multi layer paper bag to absorb moisture. Commonly, lump charcoal is
sold in a 20 lbs bag.
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Lighting Lump
Charcoal
Never
use any starter fluid. It will give a undesirable flavor to your food
and impregnate into the ceramic of your Primo Grill and Smoker. There
are many other ways to light up lump charcoal. You can use paraffin
fireplace starter blocks (Primo recommended), electric starters,
propane sticks, weed burners, propane torches, MAP gas torches and
Chimney starters. The Chimney starter is the most economical since it
uses paper (usually newspaper) to light the charcoal.
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You should never use lighting fluid
for your ceramic charcoal grill and
smoker. |
More on
Briquettes
In
a nutshell, charcoal briquettes were developed to be user friendly when
using an open-top charcoal grill. Briquettes are able to burn at a
consistent rate regardless of the amount of air flow within the grill. Since an open-top
grill isn't able to precisely regulate air flow, the briquettes are
adequate for that application. When using your PrimoTM
Grill & Smoker, you must be able to regulate the
temperature (HI and LO) quickly. Lump Charcoal has the quality to offer
you temperature control through air flow restriction. |
