(California) Hot Wood Mesquite Charcoal nakedwhiz.com       Home       Lump Review Index       Select A Charcoal From This List To Read A Review:    A-Fire Coconut Charcoal    America's Choice Lump Charcoal    Atlanta Grill Company Lump Charcoal    B&B Char-Logs    B&B Expert's Choice Premium Charcoal (2004)    B&B Hickory Lump Charcoal    B&B Mesquite Lump Charcoal    B&B Oak Lump Charcoal (2004)    B&B Oak Lump Charcoal (2021)    B&B Texas Size XL Lump Charcoal    BBQ King Lump Charcoal    BBQ-Pro Lump Charcoal    Barbeque Wood Flavors Lump Charcoal    Barbeque's Galore Lump Charcoal    Basque Sugar Maple Lump Charcoal    Best Choice Natural Wood Charcoal    Best Of The West Mesquite Charcoal    Better Wood Products Lump Charcoal    Big Green Egg Canadian Maple Lump Charcoal    Big Green Egg Brazilian Lump Charcoal    Big Green Egg Lump Charcoal (2002)    Big Green Egg Lump Charcoal (2021)    Billy Bones B.B.Q.Lump Charcoal    Black Diamond Charwood    Blackwood Canyon Mesquite Lump Charcoal    Blackwood Canyon Lump Charcoal    Blazing Coco Extruded Coconut Charcoal    Blues Hog Premium Lump Charcoal    Braseiro Lump Charcoal    Carbon del Sur Lump Charcoal    Carolina Cookwood Lump Charcoal    Char-Broil Center Cut Lump Charcoal    Charcos Coconut Charcoal    Chef Wagon Lump Charcoal    Cherokee Chief Lump Charcoal    Chigger Creek Lump Charcoal    Cleveland Charcoal Supply Lump Charcoal    Coshell Coconut Briquettes    Cowboy Mixed Hardwood (Mexico) (2022)    Cowboy Oak and Hickory Lump (USA) (2022)    Cowboy Lump Charcoal (2007)    Cowboy Lump Charcoal (2013)    Dragon Breath Mexican Lump Charcoal    Dragon Breath Lump Charcoal    Duraflame Hardwood Charcoal    El Gallito Mesquite Charcoal    Expert Grill Lump Charcoal    FOGO Coconut Charcoal Briquettes    FOGO Eucalyptus Lump Charcoal    FOGO Premium Hardwood Charcoal (2013)    FOGO Premium Lump Charcoal (2021)    FOGO Super Premium Lump Charcoal    Fire And Flavor Lump Charcoal    Fire King Lump Charcoal    Forestlumps Lump Charcoal    Freds Music and BBQ Restaurant Lump Charcoal    Fresh Market Lump Charcoal    Frontier Hardwood Lump Charcoal (2023)    Frontier Hardwood Lump Charcoal    Frontier USA Lump Charcoal    Frontier XL Lump Charcoal    Full Circle Lump Charcoal    GATA Lump Charcoal    Genuswine Lump Charcoal    GrillHunx Lump Charcoal    Grove Lump Charcoal    Halls Hill Lump Charcoal    HardCoals Lump Charcoal (2004)    HardCoals Lump Charcoal (2008)    Harder Charcoal    Harris Teeter Hardwood Charcoal    Hasty Bake Lump Charcoal (2002)    Hasty Bake Lump Charcoal (2017)    Hawgeyes Cherry Lump And Chunk    Hot Wood (California) Mesquite Lump Charcoal    Humphrey Lump Charcoal    JURK Competition Lump Charcoal    Jealous Devil Lump Charcoal (2016)    Jealous Devil Chunx Lump Charcoal (2022)    Jealous Devil Onyx Binchotan Charcoal    Kamado 2002 Tamarind Lump Charcoal    Kamado 2003 Philippine Coconut Briquettes    Kamado 2006 Thailand Coconut Briquettes    Kamado 2007 Indonesian Coconut Briquettes    Kamado 2007 T.I.Y. Coconut Briquettes    Kamado 2007 Tamarind Lump Charcoal    Kamado 2009 Coconut Briquettes    Kamado Joe Big Block Lump Charcoal    Kebroak Mayan Lump Charcoal    Kingsford Charwood    Kingsford Charwood    Komodo Kamado Coco Char Charcoal (2022)    Komodo Sustainable Coconut Charcoal (2011)    Kothur Extruded Coconut Charcoal    Lazzari Mesquite Charcoal    Louisiana Grills Lump Charcoal    Lumber Jack Lump Charcoal    Mali Gourmet Lump Charcoal (Argentina)    Mali Gourmet Lump Charcoal (US)    Maple Leaf Lump Charcoal    Martha Stewart Chunk Charwood    Masterbuilt Lump Charcoal    Meat Head Lump Charcoal    Milazzo Qik Joe Lump Charcoal    NamibFire CamelthornLump Charcoal    Nature's Grilling Hardwood Lump Charcoal    Nature's Hardwood Charcoal    Nature's Mesquite Charcoal    Nature's Own Basque Hardwood Lump    Nature's Own Chunk Charwood    Nature-Glo Natural Wood Charcoal    New Braunfels Mesquite Charcoal    Olde Good Times Lump Charcoal    Ono Lump Charcoal    Ooni Premium Lumpwood Charcoal    Original Charcoal Company Lump    Original Natural Charcoal Lump Charcoal    Ozark Oak Lump Charcoal    Papa's Hardwood Lump Charcoal    Peoples Woods Generic Charcoal    Picnic Hardwood Charcoal    Picnic Mixed Grill Charcoal    Primo Lump Charcoal    Publix GreenWise Wood Charcoal    Real Flavor Lump Charcoal    Real Montana Apple Lump Charcoal    Real Montana Maple Lump Charcoal    Real Montana Premium Cherry Lump Charcoal    Rockwood Lump Charcoal    Royal Oak Argentinian Lump Charcoal    Royal Oak Brazilian Lump    Royal Oak Paraguay Lump Charcoal    Royal Oak Steakhouse Lump Charcoal    Royal Oak Lump Charcoal (2007)    Royal Oak Lump Charcoal (2022)    Saruma Lump Charcoal    Seven Oaks Lump Charcoal    Sierra Madre Natural Charcoal    South Of The Border Lump Charcoal    The Good Charcoal Company    The Good-One Lump Charcoal    Timber Lump Charcoal    True 'Cue Lump Charcoal    Vision Professional Blend Lump Charcoal    WGC Competition Blend Lump Charcoal    WGC Weekend WarriorBlend (2005)    WGC Weekend WarriorBlend (2021)    Wegmans Lump Charcoal    Western Charcoal    Whole Foods Lump Charcoal    Xylo-Carbone Signature Charcoal Lumps Quick Stats Date Of Review: November, 2005 Purchased From: Barbecues Galore Date Purchased: November, 2005 Price: $4.99 Weight: 7 pounds Burn Time: Ash Production: Type of Wood: Mesquite Strange Material?: None Scrap Lumber Pieces?: None Smell: Normal mesquite smell Country of Origin: Mexico 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 NOTE: This is an update, or re-review, to our original review which was done in July of 2002. Since that time we have started performing more testing on each brand, and since we had the opportunity to get our hands on some of this charcoal again, we decided to conduct a new review using our current standards and methods. We also have a lot more brands of charcoal for comparison now, placing many of the observations in clearer context. This charcoal used to be known as "California Hot Wood Mesquite Charcoal". They have sinced dropped the "California" from the name and now call it Hot Wood. It's an appropriate name as we shall see. The bag was lined with plastic, a good thing since it helps to keep the charcoal dust in the bag and off of you. When we sorted it we found no scrap, rocks or funny stuff. We did find one large piece of uncarbonized wood and several smaller pieces, as you can see in the photo below. As the table below shows, there was a good distribution of sizes, except for the large amount of chips and dust. Average is around 10-12%. Large 2.5 pounds 33.9% Medium 1.7 pounds 22.5% Small 1.8 pounds 24.6% Chips/Dust 1.4 pounds 19.0% Total 7.4 pounds It took 3 sheets of newspaper to get this charcoal started in our chimney starter test. This is just a tad higher than normal for mesquite charcoal. While burning in the starter there was moderate sparking but no popping. We were able to get this charcoal up to 1020 degrees, which is the hottest charcoal we have tested so far. We suspect it would have gone higher but we stopped the test not wanting to damage our thermometer. Hot Wood, indeed! The burn time on this charcoal was very low, while the ash production was high. That, coupled with almost 20% of the bag being unusable, this charcoal gets our Below Average rating. However, it is worth noting, if you want a hot fire for grilling steaks, this might be a good choice for those occasions. Reader's Score: 3.00  (52 votes)   5 - Best Ever  10  (19%)   4 - Good Stuff  15  (29%)   3 - So So  8  (15%)   2 - Pretty Bad  3  (6%)   1 - Worst Ever  16  (31%) To the left is the rating that our readers have given this charcoal. Now that you have read our review, 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 "All Natural 100% Mesquite Charcoal", "No Chemicals", "No additives", "Product of Mexico" "Hot Wood Mesquite, a hardwood shrub indigenous to the southwest United States and Mexico, sends a root system into the arid soil in search of moisture, often to depths exceeding forty feet, while its trunk and branch structure may exceed forty feet in height. The density of its wood fibers makes mesquite an extremely hard wood. This hardness causes mesquite to burn at temperatures higher than most other hardwoods, exceeding 1000 degrees, sealing in natural juices. That's why executive chefs from fine steak and seafood restaurants prefer Hot Wood Mesquite. For hundreds of years, mesquite has been used as a fuel for heating and cooking. You use less and can often reuse it by putting the closed lid over your kettle when done cooking. Hot Wood Mesquite is 100% natural charcoal, no waste or petroleum additives to spoil the flavor of your food. Lighting Instructions "Easy To Use Instructions 1) Arrange Mesquite Charcoal in a loosely stacked pyramid, as shown. 2) Starts easily and naturally with kindling, paper, electric starter, or charcoal starter fuel. Place desired starter between mesquite chunks, then ignite. 3) Allow Mesquite Charcoal to get red hot. Then rearrange charcoal evenly over the grill and begin barbequing. DO NOT POUR LIGHTER FLUID ON BURNING CHARCOAL AND NEVER USE GASOLINE!" 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 uncarbonized pieces of wood 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 Here is a photo of the UPC code on the bag: Contact Information California Hot Wood, Inc. 5920 E. Live Oak Road Lodi, CA   95240 www.hotwood.com