Help finding charcoal.....sensible priced....in winter

[power]

over christmas we had heatbeads 10kg bags for $10!
LUMP charcoal 20kg for $26
& 9kg gas bottle refills for 19.95!

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[Lewis]

so whats a 20kg bag of charcoal worth in England???

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It would depend on the charcoal.

British made lumpwood charcoal will be around £2 / kg

You could buy imported lump charcoal for between £1 - £1.50 / kg

And the briquettes will usually be cheaper than that.

[robgunby]

I don't know whether directcharcoal make their own or not, but I know it is prime quality restaurant grade and less than 59p a kilo. Paying £2 a kg for substandard stuff seems crazy!

[Lewis]

Looking at their website I don't think they make anything, it seems they just import it. I would love to know where they are getting lump from so cheap that they can sell it at 59p / kilo. Personally that would worry me.

[robgunby]

Looking at their website I don't think they make anything, it seems they just import it. I would love to know where they are getting lump from so cheap that they can sell it at 59p / kilo. Personally that would worry me.

I can only go on experience - it's better than all the charcoal I've been able to buy in shops, longest, hottest burn I've had, nice clean burn, low smoke.

If you think that the rubbish they sell in B&Q for several times that price, or processed briquettes made from low grade charcoal dust is less worrying, by all means buy it

I'll stick to a company that's over 200 years old that supplies great charcoal cheap as dirt thanks!

[Toby]

Heatbeads will burn far longer than lump, 4kg in a wsm using a pitmasterIQ can easily achieve 20+ hours

[Lewis]

I can only go on experience - it's better than all the charcoal I've been able to buy in shops, longest, hottest burn I've had, nice clean burn, low smoke.

I wasn't suggesting the quality would be poor, only that it is so cheap that someone or something is being exploited.

You can buy 8 pork sausages from Tesco for less than a quid, but there is a reason they are so cheap.

[robgunby]

Heatbeads will burn far longer than lump, 4kg in a wsm using a pitmasterIQ can easily achieve 20+ hours

For sure, but the cost / benefit still favours the lump for me. Last smoke I did 22 hours on 3.5kg lump and still had fuel to burn when I snuffed it (on a UDS).

I can only go on experience - it's better than all the charcoal I've been able to buy in shops, longest, hottest burn I've had, nice clean burn, low smoke.

I wasn't suggesting the quality would be poor, only that it is so cheap that someone or something is being exploited.

You can buy 8 pork sausages from Tesco for less than a quid, but there is a reason they are so cheap.

A possibility, not a definite, but I can't actually remember the last time I saw FSC charcoal. Also, it must be said thata high price is certainly no guarantee that noone is being exploited - you only have to look at the prices of big brand name coffee to see that.

ETA quick look on amazon shows prices for FSC charcoal around £4.50 a kg!

[Lewis]

You are certainly right about it being difficult to buy FSC charcoal! There are a lot of reasons for this though. It costs the woodland owner a lot to have their woodland certified. it also costs whoever buys the wood because they have to be audited as well. Since a lot of wood for (British) charcoal comes from small, under-managed woodlands through coppicing and thinnings, these woodlands don't bother with FSC as it just isn't viable.

It is also worth bearing in mind that here in the UK we have the Forestry Commission which means all felling work in woodlands requires a felling licence. So we already have regulations in place to make sure our woodlands aren't being exploited.

Imported charcoal that isn't FSC regulated often comes from tropical forests or cleared mangrove swamps which does make lovely charcoal, but is not very good for the local environment.

That's why I go for British. You know it will be from a woodland that has been approved for felling work by the Forestry Commission. It helps bring smaller woodlands back into management because they have a market for their hardwood and it hasn't travelled from a different continent.

FSC British Charcoal is nice, but is so much more expensive for no real reason other than having to fork out for the rights to have the FSC logo.

I got a bit carried away there, but I think it is all relevant.

[robgunby]

You may well be right (though aren't tropical forests typically softwood? Also mangrove is a rhizome and thus wouldn't make lumpwood either) but alas it comes down to two things - can I get it easily and can I get it cheaply enough?

Unfortunately, sometimes we have to overlook moral judgements to satisfy our selfish human desires. I drive a car, that's bad. It's a diesel, because it's cheaper to run, but that causes more nitrogen dioxide emissions which cause respiratory diseases in children that live in my city.

It reminds me of when I was a principled youngster and became a militant vegetarian. It took a few years for me to realise that my consumption of dairy products led to the summary executions and burning on pyres of bullocks, due to people's hesitance to buy veal. Eventually, faced with the choice - give up the leather shoes, dairy products, all the other things that kill fluffy animals; continue being a hypocritical vegetarian, or give up vegetarianism.

Guess which I chose?

Same gig here really - I can either stop bbqing or use what I use.

You do raise some interesting, valid points. I will enquire next time I go up as to where the charcoal comes from out of interest, but unless certified charcoal ends up cheap enough I'm sticking with this awesome lump!