Jealous Devil Chunx
XL Lump Charcoal

nakedwhiz.com       Home       Lump Review Index      

Quick Stats
Date Of Review: August, 2022
Purchased From: Home Depot
Date Purchased: June, 2022
Price: $24.98
Advertised Weight: 20 pounds
Type of Wood: Quebracho Blanco
Strange Material: None
Scrap Lumber: None
Smell: South American woods, perfumey
Country of Origin: Paraguay


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

We first reviewed Jealous Devil back in 2016 when you could only buy it in 35-pound bags from their website. Now it's popularity has skyrocketed and you can find it in retail stores like Home Depot. What we are looking at in this review is their 20-pound bag of Jealous Devil Chunx XL Lump Charcoal.

Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco
It should prove interesting to see how today's Jealous Devil compares with that from 6 years ago, so let's get on with the review.

Jealous Devil is made in Paraguay from a South American wood called Quebracho Blanco, a wood we have run into a few times before. If you are wondering about the word "quebracho," it is derived from quiebrahacha, or quebrar hacha, meaning "axe-breaker". As for a description of the wood, we get this from Wikipedia:

"Quebracho blanco wood is uniformly yellow-ochre, without differences between hardwood and sapwood. It is quite heavy (relative density = 0.885 g/cm³) and hard, and responds well to bending and shock. Upon drying it tends to collapse, producing deformations and cracks, so the drying process is slow; the wood must be treated with fungicides. It is easy to work and has many uses in carpentry (carts, wheels, floors, shoes, tool handles, furniture); it is also good for chess pieces, skis, etc. Preserved with creosote it can be used outdoors. In some places it is widely used as coal, since it does not produce sparks or large amounts of ash, and it burns strong and slowly."

So, the first thing we always do is open the bag and empty it onto the ground for sorting. We found no scrap, no funny stuff, and no uncarbonized wood. What immediately strikes you is the size of the pieces. As you can see in the following table, there was a modest amount of large pieces, but nothing huge that needed to be busted up with a hammer. The vast majority of the pieces were medium sized, and the amount of chips and dust was pleasingly small.

Large 2.4 pounds 11.7%
Medium 12.2 pounds 59.9%
Small 4.9 pounds 24.2%
Chips/Dust 0.8 pounds 4.2%



Total 20.3 pounds

We will point out that this size distribution is remarkably similar to that of the 2016 Jealous Devil product. (10.9%, 64.7%,21.3% and 3.1%.) The 4.2% by weight of chips and dust is Very Low () compared to all other brands we have tested. So Chunx really does live up to its name.

The next test we perform is our lighting test. Jealous Devil Chunx took 4 sheets of newspaper to get started in a Weber chimney starter. This is Low () compared to all other brands tested. The smell of the smoke is the typical South American hardwoods smell with a perfumed characteristic to it. Like we said in 2016, it is a very different smell from the oak and hickory charcoal made in the US. You may find you like it or you may find it takes some getting used to. While lighting in the chimney starter, there was very little sparking and no popping whatsoever.

After the lighting test comes the maximum temperature test. In this test Jealous Devil Chunx burned at 997°F, which is Very High () compared to other brands. Again, while the fire was building up to this high heat, there was very little sparking and no popping, and the fire spread fairly rapidly.

Jealous Devil's burn time was High () compared to all other brands we have tested. When we lit the charcoal with a MAP-Pro torch, there was still no sparking or popping. Finally, the amount of ash produced by our test burn was Low () compared to other brands of charcoal.

So, Jealous Devil is a still a great charcoal. All of our key performance indicators get either 4 or 5 stars: very low chips and dust, easy to light, hot burning, long burning and low ash. In addition, there is no sparking or popping to worry about. And on top of all that, the size distribution of the charcoal is about as good as we've ever seen. In fact, Jealous Devil Chunx's performance was virtually identical to the bag we tested in 2016 which speaks highly of their product's consistency. As long as you are not put off by the South American style smoke, it all adds up to a very very good charcoal and a Highly 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

"Pure As Heaven", "Hotter Than Hell", "Pure Hardwood Charcoal", "XL Lump Size", "No Chemicals • No Fillers • No Sparks • Low Ash"

"The Devil's In The Details", "We sweat over every detail of our production process. Our all-natural hardwood is hand-picked, hand-cut and carbonized in custom-built kilns which makes for one hell of a charcoal."

"Ingredients: Hardwood Lump Charcoal (That's it. Yes, really)"

"Made in Paraguay"


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 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

Jealous Devil, LLC
Hermosa Beach, CA  90254

Phone: 661-532-8767

Email: info@jealousdevil.com
Web: www.jealousdevil.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jealousdevilcharcoal/


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.

  

This review is protected by Copyright and may not be reproduced in part or as a whole in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. You can use the "Email The Whiz" link at the bottom of any of our webpages to contact us about using material from this review.


nakedwhiz.com       Home       Lump Review Index       Search Our Site       Email The Whiz       Listen To Whizcast       Buy Whiz Gear       Privacy Policy
All Contents ©2001, 2023 The Naked Whiz

You can support this website by shopping at The Naked Whiz Website Store and Amazon.com