Big Green Egg Canadian
Maple Lump Charcoal

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Quick Stats
Date Of Review: October, 2021
Purchased From: Donated by BGE
Date Purchased: September, 2021
Price: 32.95
Advertised Weight: 17.65 pounds
Type of Wood: Canadian Maple
Strange Material: None
Scrap Lumber: None
Smell: Very mild and pleasant
Country of Origin: Canada


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

Big Green Egg has, in the past year, brought out two new types of lump charcoal. The first was the Brazilian
hardwood lump charcoal made from the wood of the Eucalyptus tree. More recently they have begun selling lump charcoal made in Canada from Canadian maple. So, as usual, we have provided a map to the right showing the location of Canada.

Now, you will be forgiven if you haven't seen this lump charcoal for sale yet. According to Big Green Egg, the maple charcoal is available in Canada and select markets in the US at the moment, but distribution will be expanded this year within the US. Unfortunately there were supply chain issues in 2020 and early 2021. We hope that we won't be spoiling any surprises if we say that a supply of Big Green Egg Canadian Maple charcoal can't come too soon. So, let's get started on this review and see how this charcoal performs.

As usual, the first thing we do is dump the charcoal out onto the ground and examine it for any signs of scrap wood or other things that don't belong in a bag of charcoal. We found nothing but maple charcoal. Next, we sort the charcoal by size and record the weight of each size. You can see the results of this sorting in the following table:

Large 4.4 pounds 24.3%
Medium 10.3 pounds 56.8%
Small 2.5 pounds 13.4%
Chips/Dust 1.0 pounds 5.5%



Total 18.2 pounds

As you can see, the size distribution is excellent. Only 20% of the bag is small pieces or chips and dust. The other 80% of the bag consists of medium and large pieces. No logs, a goodly number of pieces around the size of a softball. The 5.5% by weight of chips and dust is Low compared to all other brands.

Next comes the test where we look at how hard the charcoal is to light. BGE Canadian Maple is insanely easy to light taking only 2 sheets of newspaper in our chimney starter test. This is Very Low compared to other brands. While the charcoal was starting, there was a moderate amount of sparking (sort of like a sparkler) and no significant popping. The smell of the burning charcoal is mild and pleasant.

In our maximum temperature test, this charcoal burned at a scorching 1209°F which is Very High compared to other brands. While the fire was burning, there was very little sparking and popping, and the fire spread with a moderate speed.

The next test is our burn time test and BGE Canadian Maple lump charcoal burned an extremely long time. In fact, as of this writing, it tied for sixth place all time on our list of lump charcoals that we have done burn tests for. Needless to say, this is Very High, compared to other brands. While lighting with a MAP/Pro torch, there were lots of sparks and a few mild pops. As always, when using a torch of any kind to light lump charcoal, take appropriate precautions so as to avoid injury.

Finally, the ash produced by this charcoal is Low compared to other brands.

Before we render out rating, we'll mention that we did try cooking with this charcoal to see what the flavor was like. Using only this charcoal and no smoking wood chunks or chips, we cooked a chicken breast and tasted the results. The smoke flavor was very mild and we can imagine that this charcoal would be a good one for cooks with family members who don't like smoke.

So, it turns out the Big Green Egg has a real winner with this Canadian Maple lump charcoal. At first glance, you might balk at the high price, but when you look at the price per hour of burntime, BGE Canadian Maple Lump Charcoal is comparable to and even below many other premium brands of charcoal. Add to that the excellent size distribution, the ease of lighting, its ability to burn very hot and its low ash production, we give this charcoal our highest rating, Highly Recommended.

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% Premium Lump Charcoal", "All Natural", "Made in Canada", "Experience Natural Maple Difference", "Lights Fast", "Burns Clean", "Natural Canadian Maple", "Top Choice of Chefs Around the World — The Secret Ingredient for the Unmatched Flavor of Food Cooked on an Egg!"

"Big Green Egg Natural Lump Charoal is an ultra-premium, natural product made only from select hardwoods. Unlike some other popular charcoals and briquettes, this 100% natural product contains no fillers, nitrates, chemicals, coal, limestone, treated wood or petroleum products of any kind. Demand the best for your Big Green Egg — and for the Ultimate Cooking Experience!® You will definitely taste the difference!"


Lighting Instructions

"Lighting instructions for the Big Green Egg

"Open dome lid, metal top and lower draft door completely. Fill fire box with charcoal.

"Place one or two Big Green Egg SpeediLight® Natural Charcoal Starters into the charcoal and light carefully. After approximately 10 minutes, or when several coals are burning, close the dome, leaving the top vent cap and lower draft door opened. If using an electric or butane charcoal starter, follow the manufacturer's directions then remove the lighter and close the dome, leaving the top vent cap and lower draft door opened.

"When the external temperature gauge indicates the desired cooking temperature, reduce the airflow by adjusting the top vent cap and the lower draft door.

"For lighting instructions, recipes and more visit BigGreenEgg.com"


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 the one piece of uncarbonized bark that we found. The lines are ¼-inch apart.


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

Big Green Egg
3786 DeKalb Technology Parkway
Atlanta, GA  30340

Phone: 800-793-2292

Email: Customer-Support@BigGreenEgg.com
Web: www.biggreenegg.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigGreenEgg


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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