sorry in adavance for the rant lol !

[beercan]

My pet rant lol and you guys are probably the only people that will listen !

Why is it we cannot get really good quality charcoal easily. I know we can get restaurant grade etc. but you have to source it or bulk buy it, you can't just go to the local garage on a weekend and pick up a bag of quality coals. Im sure we have all been there and had to buy a bag and half of its dust lol.

Was even lucky enough to be in Mexico recently and they even sell seriously good quality mesquite lumpwood on the street
you just say how much you want and they bag it up.Having cooked with this stuff it really is that good.

Hmmm maybe its a conspiracy to cut down smoking in the UK. better not give them ideas though or it will be pictures all over the bags showing cows and pigs saying smoking was bad for their health!

Damn I feel better now and for those that listened thank you the wife wont any more lol.

[PeanutZA]

Agree 100% I have taken to standing on street corners asking people for a makro card.

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[beercan]

Lol you be careful standing on street corners I'm not sure the reply "Honest Officer I'm only trying to buy some coals " is going to work !

[keith157]

It's quite an easy answer sadly. The cr@p most people sell is ideal for burning sausages & crisping chicken standard UK fare. Our style of well cooked, hot & fast or low & slow BBQ is a rarity and will be for a few years yet . Granted there are loads of us on here, but spread us out to our local areas we are only a few, a happy few a band of brothers & sisters . Untill stockists realise the demand is there they have no incentive to stock a better quality product. The exception being Heat Beads they seem to be gaining in popularity and rightly so.

[Del A]

Have to agree with Kieth157,most of the charcoal freely available is npt worth lighting.
Changed to Heat Beads several years ago and used nothing else since.Every bag is consistant in quality, more than can be said for petrol station etc offerings,just my opinion.

[Steve]

You know what, I think sometimes we're a bit harsh.

We get into this hobby and at first we wonder why our temps are inconsistent and we tend to blame sub standard charcoal.

The standard of lump we get is particularly poor unless buying commercial grade, I'll concede on that point.

However when it comes to briquettes, heat beads are far superior to anything I've tried but equally the likes of CPL and Big K do perfectly useable biriquettes. With proper fire control on a WSM, a single load will happily cook a full comp load so should be ok for most backyard cooking.

[Mj2k]

Great to read this, as have used Big K & was worried I would be missing out as I move from my smokenator to WSM this weekend!

Matt

You know what, I think sometimes we're a bit harsh.

We get into this hobby and at first we wonder why our temps are inconsistent and we tend to blame sub standard charcoal.

The standard of lump we get is particularly poor unless buying commercial grade, I'll concede on that point.

However when it comes to briquettes, heat beads are far superior to anything I've tried but equally the likes of CPL and Big K do perfectly useable biriquettes. With proper fire control on a WSM, a single load will happily cook a full comp load so should be ok for most backyard cooking.

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[beercan]

Totally agree with the heat beads they are in a different league and big k are useable which kind of hits the nail on the head. Ive probably been spoilt by too many regular vists to the states where I can just wander in anywhere and buy a huge bag of Kingsford for peanuts compared to what we pay. But like everything its supply and demand lol and I appreciate that.

Its like would I string my Les Paul with cheap strings, no I dont have to because I can get good strings anywhere.
Because the choice is there
mind you would be nice to blame bum notes on duff strings lol