Lumpwood charcoal. Ah yes; these black pieces of carbonised wonder are very close to our heart at Big K. On the surface, charcoal is simplistic and unassuming. A carbon dense fuel that heats up your barbecue. However, see beyond the dark opacity and a dynamic world opens up. Lumpwood charcoal is an ingredient, determining everything from the taste and texture of your food, to the look on the plate. Each piece is primeval in a sense, as our neanderthal ancestors burned charcoal 30,000 years ago. Finally charcoal is the catalyst for the BBQ experience itself. Friends and families come together to eat, chat and have fun – all thanks to lumpwood charcoal.
How is Lumpwood Charcoal Made?
There’s no mysterious alchemy or voodoo here people. The process is actually very simple – just a bit of good old-fashioned combustion. Basically, lumpwood charcoal is produced by burning and carbonising, pieces of hardwood. What’s carbonising? Well carbonising is a basic process where we burn wood slowly over an extended period of time. This methodology removes moisture and chemical impurities from the wood, leaving behind a carbon dense fuel.
What Are The Properties of Lumpwood Charcoal?
Obviously there’s a plethora of different lovely lumpwood out there. But speaking in general terms, lumpwood charcoal is easy to light, burns for 1-3 hours and produces high heat. Lumpwoods are very versatile, however as they burn quicker than briquettes, many people use lumpwood for the barbecue basics like steaks, burgers and sausages.
Looking for a cleaner cooking adventure? Look no further than lumpwood. The majority of lumpwood charcoal is 100% natural with no chemical nasties or accelerants – meaning a delicious smoky flavour for your food. Plus lumpwood coal burns with minimal ash making clean up a breeze. Oh, and just so you know, all of our lumpwood charcoal is 100% natural, derived from dense hardwoods. Had to throw in a selfless-plug there!
Which Wood is Best to Produce Lumpwood Charcoal?
Wood species is the main player in the lumpwood charcoal performance equation. We’re after dense hardwoods. This is because the denser the hardwood, the more carbonised material is left for burning. And this means longer and hotter burns all around! Think applewood, oak, maple and birch, or more exotic examples such as Marabu or White Quebracho. Every hardwood has its own properties and characteristics. This ‘personality’ is reflected in the final charcoal product.
Lumpwood Charcoal Piece Size
While briquette production creates uniformly shaped charcoal with a uniform density, the lumpwood production process is more of a natural thing – think less overall human intervention. Once the lumpwood charcoal is carbonised, we are left with a variety of piece sizes with differing densities. We then grade the pieces by size. As already mentioned the size of the pieces is important as it determines burn time and temperature. At Big K, we only use the larger graded pieces in our restaurant grade lumpwood charcoal, so you’ll get a dependable, consistent lumpwood that goes the distance.
A Quick Word on Charcoal Briquettes
But as we have touched on briquettes, allow us to fill in the knowledge gap a touch. Briquettes are a more ‘manufactured’ type of charcoal. In other words, the production process is more hands on. Essentially we take a mixture of carbonised biomass materials – such as sawdust and other forms of wood waste – and place this into a mould. Then everything is compressed at extremely high pressures in a specialised machine. This creates uniformly shaped charcoal briquettes. And each briquette has approximately the same density – meaning a more consistent and predictable burn. These super handy briquettes come in a wide range of shapes, from the conventional ‘pillow’ shape, to hexagonal ‘tube’ forms. The latter have a central airhole to enhance airflow and improve the overall burn from the briquette. We could go on and dive into the nuance, however we need to stay on topic. Check out this blog if you want to know more about briquettes, or read up on the comparisons between lumpwood and briquettes here.
Big K Lumpwood Brings Flavour & Performance To Any BBQ
As you can tell, we are defo a little crazy about lumpwood. You don’t spend over half a decade in the charcoal game if you don’t have that burning passion. We’ve taken all that love and focus and poured it into creating a super-diverse and super-awesome range of lumpwood charcoal for the Big K Family! Check out the main players below.
