Louisiana Grills
100% Natural Premium
Hardwood Lump Charcoal

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Quick Stats
Date Of Review: July, 2016
Purchased From: Donated by manufacturer
Date Purchased: November, 2015
Price: $24.99
Weight: 20 pounds
Type of Wood: Mexican Oak
Strange Material?: None
Scrap Lumber Pieces?: None
Smell: Strong smokey smell
Country of Origin: Mexico


Key Performance Indicators
Chips and Dust:
Lighting:
Max Temperature:
Burn Time:
Ash Production:


Quick Links
Other Information: Click Here
Statements From The Bag: Click Here
Lighting Instructions: Click Here
Unusual Or Unique Statements: Click Here
Photos of Contents: Click Here
Other Photos: Click Here
Photo of UPC Code: Click Here
Contact Information: Click Here
Rate And Comment On This Charcoal: Click Here


Commentary

The manufacturer of this charcoal gave us a shout and asked if we could review their product. What we have here is charcoal made from a Mexican species of oak. As usual, our first move was to dump the contents out onto the ground to see how it looks. Our first impression was that there were a large number of pieces of useful sizes. As you can see in the following table only 4.6%, or just under a pound, of the bag consisted of small chips and dust. This is very low compared to other charcoals. Considering that the bag contained 20.8 pounds, you are getting virtually the entire advertised weight of charcoal being usable:

Large 5.6 pounds 27.1%
Medium 8.4 pounds 40.4%
Small 5.8 pounds 27.9%
Chips/Dust 1.0 pounds 4.6%



Total 20.8 pounds


In sorting the charcoal into sizes, we found no scrap, no trash, or anything else that didn't belong. We found one small piece of bark which was not carbonized. We also liked that there were no monster sized pieces that one would have bust up with a hammer to make them usable.

Our lighting test required 5 sheets of newspaper to get a good fire going in the chimney starter, which is high compared to other brands of charcoal. During the lighting, there was a small amount of sparking, but no popping. The smoke produced was very very strong, stronger than some people might like. More later...

Next in our maximum temperature test, we were only able to get this charcoal to burn at around 835 degrees which is average compared to other brands. Again, there was a little sparking while the fire was growing, but no popping. We did observe that the fire was very slow to spread and it took quite a while for it to get up to that maximum temperature.

When lighting the charcoal for our burn time test using a MAP-Pro torch, as expected, there were a lot of sparks flying but still no popping. Of course, you should always be careful when using any sort of torch to light charcoal. The burn time was high compared to other brands of charcoal, right in the middle of the high group. And finally, the volume of ash produced by our test burn was low compared to other brands of charcoal.

And then we have that strong smelling smoke. This is about the strongest smoke we have ever come across in all our testing. We wouldn't be exaggerating when we say that when we did our test burn on a fairly calm day, we could smell the charcoal burning all around our house. We also cooked using this charcoal and there was plenty of smoke coming from burning the charcoal to flavor the food. You didn't need to add smoking chips or chunks to augment the charcoal.

So to sum up, this charcoal has excellent size distribution, is somewhat difficult to light, has an average maximum burn temperature, a reasonably long burn time and fairly low ash production. You will need to judge for yourself how well you like the smokiness of this charcoal and take that into account. We were somewhat torn about what rating to give this charcoal due to the strong smoke it gives off. We'll give it our Recommended rating, but be aware that the charcoal does have a very strong smell if this important to you. This charcoal isn't available online at this time, but you will find it at any of the many Louisiana Grills dealers around the country.

To the left is the rating that our readers have given this charcoal. If you have used this charcoal and would like to rate it and leave your comments, Click Here

To view reader ratings of all brands, Click Here.


Other Information

None


Statements From The Bag

"100% Natural Premium Hardwood Lump Charcoal", "Burns longer, hotter, and cleaner", "No additives", "Please Recycle", "Store in a Dry Place", "Product of Mexico"

"Through our unique process, our Louisiana Grills Premium Lump Charcoal is naturally made from pure Hardwood Oak Wood. Unlike other common brands of lump charcoal, no chemical additives or fillers are added to our product. We burn hotter, prove (sic) a longer burn performance and environmentally cleaner, providing consistent flavour, for all your outdoor grilling experiences, saving you time and money."

Louisiana Grills stands behind our products and guarantees your satisfaction. If you have any questions or comments, please visit us at www.louisiana-grills.com


Lighting Instructions

  1. Position barbecue grill on flat surface and open lid and all air vents.
  2. Place Louisiana Grills Premium Lump Charcoal in a pyramid shape in centre of grill.
  3. Add charcoal lighter fluid according to lighter fluid instructions.
  4. Ignite charcoal in several places and leave grill uncovered while charcoal begins to burn.
  5. When flames die down and charcoal pieces are ashed over (greyish colour by daytime or emitting a reddish glow by night), spread the hot lump charcoal to an even layer and begin grilling!


Safety Instructions

  • Do not barbecue indoors or in an enclosed space.
  • Ensure the charcoal and ashes have completely cooled before cleaning your grill.
  • Never move a hot barbecue grill.
  • Only use charcoal lighter fluid made for barbecue purposes. Never use gasoline.
  • Do not add more lighter fluid to an existing fire.
  • Always keep away from children and pets from the barbecue (sic).
  • Keep away from flammable items.
  • For best results, store this bag in a dry storage space.


Unusual or Unique Statements

None


The Ruler Used In The Following Photographs

We use the following ruler in the photographs which follow. The black and white segments are
1 inch long. The upper scale is in inches, while the lower scale is in centimeters. The distance
between the centers of the two targets is precisely 9 inches.


Photos Of Contents

This is the contents of the bag. Those are 1 inch segments on the measuring bar.


Here is a closer view.


Here are the larger pieces we found in the bag.


Here are the contents of the bag sorted into medium, small, and too small/chips/dust.


Other Photos

This is how the bags arrived.


Photo of UPC Code


Contact Information

Dansons Inc.
Louisiana Grills
14608-134 Ave
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5L 4T4

Phone: 1-877-303-3134
Email:
Sales@louisiana-grills.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LouisianaGrills


About This Review

If you are unfamiliar with our testing procedures, you may wish to read How We Review Lump Charcoal before reading this review. Also, you can read How We Score Lump Charcoal to learn about our scoring system.

Prices listed in our reviews are current as of the date of the review. We do not attempt to keep these prices current.

The conclusions and final rating given any charcoal are based upon the opinion of the author. We recommend that you use our rating only as a guide. You should read the entire review and decide what is important to you in making any buying decision.

Performance ratings are designated with stars, 1 star being the worst and 5 stars being the best:

= Performance is Far Below Average
= Performance is Below Average
= Performance is Average
= Performance is Above Average
= Performance is Far Above Average

Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon at the bottom right corner. Click on the icon to display the image in a new larger window. If you wish to ensure that you are seeing photographs the same way that we are seeing them, we recommend that you calibrate your monitor to a PC-normal gamma of 2.2. You should be able to see the difference between blocks A, B and C below, as well as the difference between blocks 3, 4 and 5.

  

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