Why Cheap Charcoal Ruins Your BBQ (And What to Buy Instead)

Most people put serious thought into choosing their meat, their rub, and their BBQ — then grab a bag of whatever charcoal is on offer at the petrol station. That is like putting budget tyres on a sports car. The fuel you cook with has an enormous impact on flavour, heat consistency, burn time, and even the amount of ash you have to clean up. Here is what you need to know.

A Brief History of Charcoal

Humans have been making charcoal for thousands of years. The process is simple in principle: heat wood in a low-oxygen environment so that water and volatile compounds are driven off, leaving behind almost pure carbon. The result burns hotter, cleaner, and more consistently than raw wood. Ancient civilisations used charcoal for smelting metals and cooking alike. Today, it remains the fuel of choice for outdoor cooking — provided you choose the right type.

Briquettes vs Lump Charcoal

Briquettes: The Cheap Sausages of Charcoal

Briquettes are to charcoal what cheap sausages are to butchery — a processed product made from whatever is available. Standard briquettes are manufactured from a mixture of charcoal dust, sawdust, coal dust, starch binders, and sometimes limestone or sodium nitrate to aid ignition. They are pressed into uniform pillow shapes and sold cheaply in large bags.

On the surface, briquettes seem convenient: they are uniform in size, readily available, and inexpensive. But the downsides are significant. The binders and additives produce acrid smoke during the first 10–15 minutes of burning, which can taint the flavour of your food. They also generate substantially more ash than pure charcoal, clogging airflow and making temperature control harder.

Brown coal briquettes are even worse. These are made from lignite (brown coal), a low-grade fossil fuel. They produce sulphurous fumes, leave behind enormous amounts of ash, and impart a distinctly unpleasant chemical flavour to anything cooked over them. Avoid them entirely.

Lump Charcoal: The Real Deal

Lump charcoal (sometimes called restaurant-grade or hardwood charcoal) is charcoal in its purest form — whole pieces of carbonised wood with no binders, fillers, or additives. Good lump charcoal is made from dense hardwoods such as oak, beech, hickory, or quebracho. You can see the original grain of the wood in each piece.

The advantages are clear:

• Higher heat: Lump charcoal burns hotter than briquettes, reaching temperatures ideal for searing steaks and getting a proper crust.
• Cleaner burn: No binders means no chemical off-gassing. The smoke produced is pure wood smoke that enhances flavour.
• Less ash: Dramatically less ash production means better airflow through your KLAUWE BBQ & Smoker Drum and easier clean-up.
• Faster lighting: Lump charcoal responds more quickly to airflow, making it faster to light and easier to control.

Why Cheap Charcoal Fails

That bargain bag from the petrol station or supermarket is almost always low-quality charcoal made from softwoods, offcuts, or a blend of unknown materials. Here is what you get:

• Tiny, irregular pieces: Small fragments burn too fast and fall through grate openings. You end up using twice as much.
• Burns out quickly: Softwood charcoal produces less energy per kilogram. A bag that should last one session barely makes it through the main course.
• Excessive ash: Cheap charcoal produces mountains of ash that smother the coals and reduce heat output.
• Off-flavours: Unidentified wood species, recycled timber, or construction waste can introduce chemicals and unpleasant tastes.

What to Look For When Buying Charcoal

Choose lump charcoal made from named hardwood species. The bag should state the wood type (oak, beech, etc.) and ideally the country of origin. Look for large, solid pieces — if you can feel the bag and it seems full of small chips and dust, move on.

Good charcoal is available from BBQ specialists, garden centres, and online retailers. Yes, it costs more per bag than the petrol station option. But because it burns longer, hotter, and produces less waste, you actually use less of it per session. The cost per cook is comparable — and the flavour improvement is dramatic.

Our Recommendation

Invest in proper hardwood lump charcoal. It is one of the easiest and most impactful upgrades you can make to your outdoor cooking. Pair it with a quality BBQ like the KLAUWE smoker drum, and you have the foundation for consistently outstanding results. Leave the petrol station bags for someone else.