Blues Hog Premium Lump Charcoal nakedwhiz.com       Home       Lump Review Index       Quick Stats Date Of Review: November, 2019 Purchased From: Ace Hardware Date Purchased: April, 2018 Price: $27.99 Advertised Weight: 20 pounds Type of Wood: Oak, Hickory, Maple Strange Material: None Scrap Lumber: None Smell: Moderate US hardwoods smoke Country of Origin: USA 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 Safety 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 Most of use are familiar with the famous Blues Hog BBQ Sauce, but we discovered a couple of years ago that they also sell lump charcoal. So, it's about time that we review this charcoal and see what it's all about! There isn't a whole lot of information available on this charcoal except that it is made from Missouri hardwoods, Oak, Hickory and Maple. (For your convenience, we include a map of the US at right showing the location of Missouri.) It is almost certainly made by one of the few remaining companies in Missouri still making lump charcoal, but nonetheless, let's see how it did. We purchased this charcoal from Ace Hardware, so it was rather pricey, about $4.00 more per bag on the Ace web site than is listed on the Blues Hog web site. Our local Ace Hardware carries this charcoal in the store, and is $2.00 cheaper than is listed on the Ace Hardware national web site. So, your mileage may vary when it comes to price. So let's open the bag and take a look. The first thing we noticed was the lack of very many large pieces and quite a large amount of small pieces. Upon sorting the bag, we found the following mix of sizes: Large 1.0 pounds 4.8% Medium 3.7 pounds 17.1% Small 14.2 pounds 66.1% Chips/Dust 2.6 pounds 12.0% Total 21.5 pounds As you can see, the mix of sizes was pretty disappointing. The quantity of chips and dust at 12% was only Average, and the 66.1% of small pieces was enormous. Only 22% of the bag consisted of large or medium size pieces. The manufacturer should really be screening this charcoal better and ensuring a better distribution of sizes. The good news from our inspection is that the bag contained no scrap or any other odd materials. We did find three pieces of uncarbonized bark, but there is nothing wrong with that. So, on to our lighting test. This charcoal was very easy to light taking only 2.5 sheets of newspapar to get a fire going in our chimney starter. There was no popping and very little sparking while the charcoal was being lit. The charcoal has the familiar smell when burning of the US hardwoods that go into this charcoal. The smoke was moderately strong. Next, in our maximum temperature test, Blues Hog charcoal reached a searing 990°F which is Very High compared to all other brands of charcoal we have tested. While coming up to temperature, again there was no popping and very little sparking. The fire spread relatively quickly. In our burntime time test, Blues Hog charcoal burned a very long time—in the top 15% of all the brands we have tested. Needless to say this is Very High compared to all brands we have tested. We light the charcoal for our burntime test with a MAP-Pro™ torch. Using a torch almost always produces a lot of sparking and popping but in this case, the amount was moderate. Regardless, always take appropriate precautions when using a torch to light charcoal. Finally, in our ash test, the amount of ash produced by Blues Hog was Low compared to all other brands. So in summary, we have a charcoal that does very well in many areas, scoring five stars in lighting, maximum temperature, and burntime, and four stars in ash production. Even the amount of chips and dust was no worse than average, but the overall distribution of sizes was very disappointing with two-thirds of the bag being small pieces. It's hard to give a top grade to a product that calls itself premium and charges a premium price, when it could be better if the manufacturer just screened the charcoal better. As a result, we can only give Blues Hog charcoal our Recommended rating. 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 "Premium 100% Natural Hardwood Lump Charcoal", "Made in USA", "100% Natural", "The Award Winning Choice of Champions" "Created by legendary pitmaster Bill Arnold, Blues Hog Barbecue began in the rolling hills of Tennessee with pork shoulders and whole hogs cooked over open hickory coals for family and community. Bringing you that same great taste, Blues Hog Premium Lump Charcoal is made from 100% natural hardwood and offers true barbecue flavor." "All Blues Hog products are made with the highest quality ingredients, which is why they are used by competition teams and top chefs around the world! Pair with Blues Hog BBQ Sauces and experience why Blues Hog is the "Choice of Champions"!" Lighting Instructions None Safety Instructions None 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 photo is an overall view of the contents of the bag. Here is a closer view. Here are the larger pieces we found in the bag. Here is a closeup of a some pieces of uncarbonized bark that we found. Here are the contents of the bag sorted into large, medium, small, and too small/chips/dust. Other Photos None Photo of UPC Code Contact Information 477 WW Industrial Park Drive Washington, MO  63090 Phone: (844)-239-9898 Email: www.blueshog.com/pages/contact-us Web: www.blueshog.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/blueshognation/