Go to the Article: The Ultimate Guide to Charcoal for Grilling
Nice!
If you live somewhere humid, binchotan is very hard to light. The only way I can get it going is to dry it out in the oven for 3 to 4 hours before lighting. But once it gets going..... wow.
Cowboy is a cheap hardwood lumb so atractive to many. In my years of experience I've stopped using it simply because it is mostly hardwood trim/molding, Odd sizes and shapes. Therefor low quality in my opinion. Even found a good bit of trim in a given bag that was not charred and still had some finish on it. You have to pick that stuff out, etc. Good price, high availability, low quality and high waste.
Royal Oak is as easy to find and better quality overall, I use that in a pinch if I'm out of my favorite.
I'm confused a bit by the terminology in the article in terms of faster, longer, slower. In the briquettes section it seems to state both that they burn longer/slower and also that they burn faster: "so they burn longer and slower and are therefore great for low-and-slow barbecue. But, because the briquettes are smaller and packed with sawdust and other binding agents, they also burn through faster."
Can the authors (or commentators) clarify what that's supposed to mean? Or what distinctions they're trying to make by using seemingly contradictory terms? I'm sure I'm just missing something.
Extruded charcoal can also be made out of bamboo, which will burn really, really hot with very little smoke
