ISO help w/some charcoals that got crumbled after heating them

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SEEING-TO-BELIEVE

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i've used a weber chimney for the heating, and when i poured them into the grill they got into crumbles.


i don't know why.


the is a photo of the sack of coals.....


what can be the reason?


the price of a 6 kilo sack is 30 USD BTW
 

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oh dear . . .

I am veddy fond of Cowboy brand - but have (after emails with the company) learned the following:

- it is produced/packaged in Mexico - and consists of huge chunks of ? wood
- it is also produced/packaged in USA - which is hardwood cut-offs/scraps from the furniture industry.

I do not buy the Mexico product - just trying to fit the chunks into a chimney starter is an exercise requiring a big axe. per their email info from years ago, Cowboy was 'working' on size issues - but my recent experience in USA indicates they have done nothing about it.

started in a chimney, the charcoal will ash and reduce in size. that's quite normal - so it sounds like you've got the 'good stuff' and the chunks are doing what they're suppose to do.... if the charcoal looks like black chunks of tree roots, that's Mexican. if the charcoal chunks look like square/rectangular chunk of cut wood, that's the USA product.

so far as grilling (heat from the bottom) the smaller the chunks, the more even/consistent the coal bed and consequently the heat distribution.
 
If I'm not mistaken, those are briquettes, not lump charcoal. Sorry, I can't explain why they crumbled.
 
I have a bag of Cowboy and its lump not briquettes. Its a very big bag as well.
My issue is there lots of small pieces that fall through the grates. Other than that they get extremely hot, but they burn quickly unlike briquettes.
To use them I will take another grate I have and put it on and rotate it until I have small holes. Then tie it down with steel tie wire.
 
I used to use Cowboy brand but I started to find too much foreign stuff in it, like rocks and nails. It also went from some consistency to either huge pieces I needed to break down or dust in the bag. Finally I found the smell was off when burning.

I am back to Royal Oak lump I get at HD. It isn't as cheap as the large bags of Cowboy but I've been happier with the consistency and smell, and rarely do I find a rock.

Some of the problem with any brand as far as small pieces can be handling. At times the bags are tossed or dropped, kicked and sat on. This doesn't help the consistency. I tend to turn a bag upside down and listen, some movement is ok, but when it sounds like a flood of pebbles I set it aside and get a different bag to test.
 
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I used to use Cowboy brand but I started to find too much foreign stuff in it, like rocks and nails. It also went from some consistency to either huge pieces I needed to break down or dust in the bag. Finally I found the smell was off when burning.

I am back to Royal Oak lump I get at HD. It isn't as cheap as the large bags of Cowboy but I've been happier with the consistency and smell, and rarely do I find a rock.

Some of the problem with any brand as far as small pieces can be handling. At times the bags are tossed or dropped, kicked and sat on. This doesn't help the consistency. I tend to turn a bag upside down and listen, some movement is ok, but when it sounds like a flood of pebbles I set it aside and get a different bag to test.

The Cowboy lump was a gift from my wife. Never used lump before. But always wanted to.
I have yet to find any foreign objects yet. But I'm only half way down the bag.
Yes, the lumps are not very consistent. And it burns twice as fast as briquettes.
Like I said above I had to take another grate from my old Weber and tie it down to the grate in my new Weber to prevent the smaller pieces from falling through. But it burns hotter it seems to me.
Since the bag says it made with hickory and oak I assumed this would be better than what the briquettes are made of. There is no ingredient list on the Kingsford bag so I have no idea as to what they use.
 
Cowboy is lump, not briquettes.

Also, it sucks.

It may be “falling apart” just because it disintegrates

Does it retain heat? That’s all you should be worried about.
 
...not....
that was my impression, but Cowboy does make briquettes....
 
The Cowboy lump was a gift from my wife. Never used lump before. But always wanted to.
I have yet to find any foreign objects yet. But I'm only half way down the bag.
Yes, the lumps are not very consistent. And it burns twice as fast as briquettes.
Like I said above I had to take another grate from my old Weber and tie it down to the grate in my new Weber to prevent the smaller pieces from falling through. But it burns hotter it seems to me.
Since the bag says it made with hickory and oak I assumed this would be better than what the briquettes are made of. There is no ingredient list on the Kingsford bag so I have no idea as to what they use.

In general lump burns hotter and faster than briquettes. It also burns a little less predictably which isn't always an issue but you need to know a bag might not burn the same as the last bag but it may.
 
In general lump burns hotter and faster than briquettes. It also burns a little less predictably which isn't always an issue but you need to know a bag might not burn the same as the last bag but it may.

It sure does Frank. I was cooking a whole chicken and I was using the offset method (indirect).
I started the coals in my chimney starter and they were ashed over in half the time it take briquettes. I poured the coals in and put in the chicken.
I checked it after 1 hour and it was almost burned. I had never used lump before.
I am using it still and its great for high heat quick sear. But you better have a cool side! Yes it burns very hot and that is an advantage in some instances.
 
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