British BBQ Society Forums

anyone used charcoal from softwood sources-particularly pine ?
I have done a local company search and they produce pinewood cabins etc etc so presumably loads of excess pine offcuts (and on a softwood estate) so although i'm only presuming its a good bet id say.
can get it for £1.00 a kilo ?

Anyway, has anyone tried it ? particularly interested in temps achieved,burn times etc

Are you talking about charcoaling pine or just burning pine in your smoker.

The former I don't know anything about but I wouldn't expect softwoods to make good charcoal.

If you're talking about the latter, then don't do it. softwoods give off some nasties when burned that will taint your food and potentially make you sick.

I've come across pine charcoal being used for smelting and metalworking. No knowledge on whether it is suitable for food, except that it does burn hot and fast, which suggests it might not be best for BBQ, even ignoring the possible issue of resins etc.