Drumbecue Big K 15Kg Restaurant Grade Lumbwood Charcoal

Having purchased a Komodo egg this summer, and I purchased this restaurant grade charcoal to get the most out of the product. Works really well as the larger charcoal pieces burn for much longer, at a hot but not fierce temperature, without the need to top up regularly. Reasonable value for money.

I've never liked lumpwood charcoal apart from quick cooking because it seems to burn hot for 20 minutes and then fizzle out, making it hard to cook chicken etc. So have always opted for briquettes. However, this lumpwood charcoal comes with larger pieces, some the size of my fist or bigger, giving you a longer lasting high heat. In addition to briquettes to increase the temperature of a slow cooking set up like belly pork, or a very high heat to cook fish ribs or burgers, think this charcoal is the perfect addition to anybody who enjoys cooking with a barbecue and would highly recommend this product. P.s. The 14kg bag is massive.

The product has a really good burn time and produces clean smoke. My only drawback is that towards the end of the bag (in the final quarter), most of the charcoal is broken and small, which makes that last part of the bag less efficient. Overall, though, it's very good.

I regularly use this charcoal - it's utterly brilliant and great value for money. Sadly, this seller despatched it via Evri. I used my work address, as always, and my account preferences clearly say deliveries must be between 08:30 and 17:30. None of that mattered to Evri who allegedly tried to deliver it at 20:30, 19:30, and the last time at 18:00, when I got a 'sorry we missed you' notification. Except, I was still at work, and my external CCTV clearly shows no-one visiting. Next day I get a message from Evri to say my consignment has been damaged to returned to the sender. Amazon issued a full refund. So a plea to this seller, please don't use Evri, they're the most incompetant of logistics companies out there.

No problem with size of charcoal pieces in the bag that I received (Some reviewers have commented that charcoal pieces were on the small size). My bag arrived in 24 hours from ordering and smallest pieces so far are around 10x10cm. As other reviewers have said, the larger pieces burn longer and therefore retain heat for longer and cook for longer. I use two chimney starters - 3 Tiger Tim small fuel sachets in each, held in place by scrunched up newspaper. The charcoal blocks took the initial flames well and burnt with excellent ferocity, and hardly any fat flare ups (maybe as the larger pieces burnt so fiercely that the fat incinerated on contact?). So whilst standard (smaller) charcoal pieces will lose their cooking heat within 20-30mins, however the Big K pieces kept a strong cooking heat for over an hour without need to top up. Another trick I used this weekend was to dump 3kg of lava rock in to the bbq tray before adding the charcoal (note: lava rocks are usually placed on gas bbq's to distribute the gas flame and impart some flavour to the meats). By using the lava rocks as a base, the charcoal was brought a few centimetres closer to the grill, and the lava rocks retain and distribute heat more evenly. The lava rocks are easily retrieved from the bbq ash tray as they do not burn, and can be re-used.

Found the pieces to be of good size and last fairly well

I've used a couple of bags of this now and I think it's pretty good. Nice big chunks of charcoal that burn well, and you don't need to use huge amounts to get a long cooking time I.e. 4 to 5 hours. Yes there's smaller pieces and some dust at the bottom of the bag, but that's got to be expected.

Very Good charcoal, some of the chunks are a little large and some are a little small, but generally a good all purpose hot lump wood charcoal, and very good value.