BBQ-Pro Lump Charcoal nakedwhiz.com       Home       Lump Review Index       Quick Stats Date Of Review: June, 2007 Purchased From: Kmart Date Purchased: June, 2006 Price: $7.99 Weight: 10 pounds Burn Time: Ash Production: Type of Wood: Unknown, see review. Strange Material?: A few small rocks. Scrap Lumber Pieces?: None. Smell: Mild, pleasant. Country of Origin: Brazil Quick Links Other Information: Click Here Unusual Or Unique Statements: Click Here Statements From The Bag: Click Here Lighting Instructions: 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 fear we have let our readers down because it has been exactly one year since we purchased this charcoal and we have only now finally produced a review. Last we looked, Kmart no longer carried this brand of charcoal, and it appears this was a very good charcoal! But, for what it's worth, here goes in case it ever shows up again. Upon opening the bag and feeling some of the pieces of charcoal, we were immediately struck by the fact that some of the pieces felt just like a piece of styrofoam. Very undense. (This is the second time we have used this word on this website. The first time was reviewing Billy Bones charcoal. If we didn't know this came from Brazil and Billy Bones comes from up where Billy Bones lives, we'd have thought they could be the same or similar woods.) We don't know what kind of wood was used to make this charcoal, but we wonder if perhaps it isn't eucalyptus due to the long burntime that you see in a minute. As you can see from the following table, the size distribution was fairly good, though we'd like to see a little less of the small stuff. The amount of chips and dust was the third lowest we have ever seen. Large 1.0 pounds 10.3% Medium 4.0 pounds 39.4% Small 4.6 pounds 45.7% Chips/Dust 0.4 pounds 4.6% Total 10.0 pounds We found a few small rocks and a few small pieces of uncarbonized wood in the bag, but nothing significant. The charcoal was very easy to light, taking only 2.5 sheets of newspaper in our chimney starter test. There was no sparking or popping while the charcoal burned in the chimney starter. (When we later started some of the charcoal with a MAPP torch there was only mild sparking and popping.) The charcoal burns with mild to moderate pleasant smoke. In our maximum temperature burn test, the charcoal got up to 810 degrees which is plenty hot for any grilling you might wish to do, and is average compared to other charcoals tested. In our burntime test, we noticed that the fire will spread very quickly and get hot fast! And it burns for a long long time, registering the third longest burn time we have recorded so far. So much for the "dense" = "long burning" theory, eh? And as far as ash production goes, the amount produced was low compared to other charcoals we have tested. One other thing we noticed which we haven't noticed before is that there seemed to be the pleasant smokey smell in the air during the entired burn test. Normally, we don't recall smelling much smoke after we are hours into the test. We wonder how much this smokiness will translate to the food, and something to keep in mind if you aren't the biggest fan of smoke flavor. So this charcoal seems to be a winner in most of the important categories. It's easy to light, burns forever, produces little ash and has little waste in the bag. We give it our Highly Recommended rating. Editor's note: We apologize for the lack of a photo of the sorted contents of the bag. Mea Culpa, we just forgot! What were we thinking? 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. Unusual or Unique Statements None. Statements From The Bag "Chemical Free", "Nothing Cooks Like A Pro", "All Natural Hardwood Lump Charcoal", "Professional Grade", "Longer Lasting", "Cleaner Burning", "Better Grilled Flavor" "COOKING TIPS Begin with food at room temperature. Arrange food accordingly on cooking grill. Cover grill to keep in heat and to cook food more evenly. Rotate food to prevent burning. For cooking roasts, arrange charcoal around outer edge of lower grill. Place roast on center of cooking grill. Follow instructions above." "GRILL SAFETY Use outside only. Keep away from children and pets. Place grill on flat surface in open, well ventilated area. Do Not leave unattended." Lighting Instructions "USING CHIMNEY STARTER 1. Fill top section of chimney with BBQ-Pro All Natural Hardwood Lump Charcoal. 2. Stuff bottom section of chimney with newspaper. 3. Set chimney on lower grill and light paper. 4. After approximately 15 mintues, when charcoal is ashed over, spread charcoal evenly onto lower grill. 5. Position cooking grill and arrange food accordingly. NEWSPAPER LIGHTING OPTIONS 1. Tightly roll 3 sheets of newspaper. 2. Place roll on top of lower grill. 3. Pile BBQ-Pro All Natural Hardwood Lump Charcoal on the top of newspaper roll. Light both ends of newspaper. Wait 10-15 minutes. Spread charcoal evently and begin cooking. USING LIGHER FLUID: 1. Follow lighting instructions on lighter fluid can. 2. Fanning charcoal will be helpful to spread flame and speed ashing. 3. After approximately 15 minutes, when charcoal is ashed over, spread charcoal evenly onto lower grill. 4. Position cooking grill and arrange food accordingly." Photos Of Contents This is the contents of the bag. Those are 1 inch squares on the measuring bar. Here is a closer view. Here are the larger pieces we found in the bag. Here are the rocks (left) and uncarbonized pieces (right) we found in the bag. Other Photos None. Photo of UPC Code Here is a photo of the UPC code on the bag: Contact Information Kmart Corporation Troy, MI 48084 www.kmart.com