It is said that time is money. They should also mention that lumpwood charcoal costs money, and no one wants to squander it either. Let’s go one step further and argue that if you’re a serious griller, food equals money. And if you’re reading this, you’re either a serious griller or planning to become one. Now that we’ve established that time, charcoal, and food are all valuable commodities, we’ll show you how to save all four. This article demonstrates how to measure charcoal and how much to use for various grilling and smoking applications to help you save both time and money.
How to Measure Lumpwood Charcoal?
You can’t measure charcoal in a measuring cup or just add a pinch as you do with spices or sauces. You might go by weight, but who among us has a scale on hand when we’re barbecuing? Fragments of a bag, such as half a bag, quarter of a bag, and so on, are suggested by some grillers. That’s not terrible, assuming we know the bag’s size, but it could be a little more exact. Others will count out the bits one by one. That’s not a terrible approach, but given the wide range of sizes, it might not be accurate enough for our broad criteria.
Our recommendation is to utilise a charcoal chimney and divide it into quarters, half-full chimneys, full chimneys, and so on. Because most chimneys are of comparable size, this is sufficient for your purposes.
Does the Type of Lumpwood Charcoal Matter?
We need to think about what kind of charcoal we’re burning now that we’ve developed our measuring system. Briquettes and natural lumpwood charcoal are the two most common types of charcoal for cooking. They burn differently, thus the amount of charcoal you’ll need for your barbeque or smoke session may vary.
In summary, lumpwood is organically produced and resembles the bits of wood they once were, whereas briquettes are uniformly shaped manufactured items. Lumpwood charcoal burns extremely hot and quickly. Briquettes burn a little slower and a little cooler than lumps. Keep in mind that these are the temperatures immediately on the surface of the charcoal, not the temps you’ll find at the grate.
However, this means that while the lumpwood becomes hotter faster, briquettes survive longer. As a result, less chunk is required to maintain the same high temperatures, but more is required for longer cooking. More information regarding lumpwood charcoal vs. briquettes can be found here.
Smoking Vs Grilling
High temperatures and quick cooking times are the hallmarks of grilling. Smoking, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. Surprisingly, however, it does not affect the amount of charcoal you’ll require.
For example, at a backyard picnic, you might need a full chimney of briquettes to generate the strong heat required to sear burgers for an hour. However, you’ll spend the entire day smoking in a complete chimney at 250 ℉. It’s all about how much you fire at once, how you disperse it throughout your grill or smoker, and how you control the airflow. The fuel for a fire is oxygen, and the more of it there is, the hotter it burns.
We provide a variety of natural charcoal, including lumpwood charcoal and briquettes, that are created from ethically sourced and sustainable wood products at The Green Olive Firewood Company. Our natural West Sussex Lumpwood Charcoal is made on our farm in West Sussex using British Hardwoods harvested from managed woodlands. All of the products we use originate from farms or woodlands with well-defined forest management plans. To ensure that our customers receive the best possible charcoal, we take pride in guaranteeing high quality and accountability across our entire supply chain. Check out our selection of natural charcoal. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter to stay up to speed on all we do!
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