Spring and summer days are the most common days to pick up the phone and meet friends and family for a communal meal. Indeed, it is normal for a barbecue to be prepared that day to take advantage of the good weather and a meal that is not made every day. But, an essential element in all of them is barbecue charcoal.
Have you ever wondered if you really use the most suitable or the best? Do you know that there are many products on the market and some are better than others? Find out now and hit the coal. It’s possible that your food will come out richer and you’ll need much less time to enjoy sitting at the table with your loved ones.
Contents
Top 1. Best BBQ Charcoal
advantages
- Full embers in 15 minutes.
- Suitable for short barbecues.
- Easy to light.
the inconvenients
- Small pieces of charcoal.
- a lot of smoke
Selection of charcoal for barbecue
Does this first choice not serve you? Don’t worry, here are some others that might interest you.
Charcoal Briquettes | 3kg container
It is ideal for barbecues, grills and roasts. It has a high calorific value, leaves little ash and does not generate smoke.
LotusGrill charcoal 2.5 kg in bag
It is made of 100% beech wood and has a high calorific value. In addition, it will offer you an autonomy of between 50 and 60 minutes.
Ecological product from deforestation. It does not contain chemicals and is durable and stable.
It maintains stable heat for up to 4 hours. It produces no smoke or odor and will further preserve the flavor of the grill.
FERRETERIA LEPANTO Premium Vegetable Charcoal 9kg
With a perfect and fast combustion, it is produced in Extremadura.
The good thing about it is that you will get 3 bags of 3 kg each, a total of 9, so you can handle it with less weight. It has a high calorific value and generates little smoke or ash.
Weber 17594 – 8 kg bag of briquettes
This is an 8 kilo bag of Weber brand charcoal briquettes. There isn’t much more information about him.
BBQ Charcoal Buying Guide
In case you didn’t know, barbecue charcoal can influence the food and duration of your barbecue. For example, if to eat at two o’clock you have to start fighting with the barbecue at one o’clock because otherwise at that time it is not hot, then you have a problem with the coal. Or if it’s too smoky and you don’t want to smoke the meat too.
There are many types of barbecue charcoal in the market and choosing the best one is not easy, we have already told you. But if you know what is there and what you can do with it, things change. And that’s what we decided to do next, to show you which features can help you make the right purchase. And these are:
Kind
It could be said that the types of barbecue charcoal are the main key to a good barbecue. And it is that in the market there are several kinds, but if we condense them into groups you will find:
- Charcoal. It is the most used for a barbecue and is easily found on the market. Some are of poor quality (those sold in supermarkets, service stations, etc.), but there are good quality ones, which affects the heat they give off and their lifespan. that there will be little ash and the smoke will also give a special flavor to the food.
- Mineral carbon. It is the least recommended because it is polluting and generates a lot of smoke that harms the environment and the taste of food.
- Charcoal briquettes. It is an intermediate solution, because it will last less than charcoal and also the smoke that comes out of it is not flavoring for food, quite the contrary.
Another classification can leave us natural smokeless coals, of different types of components…
Price
As for its price, the truth is that it will depend a lot on the quality of the coal, since for one euro you can already find it in the supermarkets. But of good quality they will be around 15-20 euros.
What type of charcoal is used for a barbecue?
If it were necessary to recommend a charcoal among all the types that exist then there would be no doubt: the oak. It’s one of the best for barbecues and it’s also very easy to find, but it’s hard to make quality and most importantly it respects the fact that it’s oak.
In supermarkets, department stores and stores, it is easy to find this type of charcoal, but sometimes it is not of good quality. How do you know if this is the case? Thanks to its grain size. In other words, the larger the pieces of charcoal, the better the quality.
In the bag you must check that it is well written that it is oak (and not 25, 40, 60%, 100%). And then take a look at the size of the coins in the bag. If they feel fat, that’s fine.
Others are of the opinion that the best is charcoal (in general) because it helps not to pollute the environment and is environmentally friendly. Or charcoal, ideal for red meats.
In these you will have a guaranteed quality barbecue.
What is the best charcoal for barbecues?
As we have already mentioned, charcoal for vegetable barbecues is one of the best. But there are many types. So which of them should we choose?
Our recommendation is holm oak, as we have already said, but as long as it is of good quality. Others that are also very good for barbecues are white and marabou quebracho, which are high quality with oak.
Or buy?
Now that you know a little more about charcoal for barbecues, the next thing you should ask yourself is where are you going to buy it. Here, it’s not so much a problem about where but about the quality you can find. This is why we provide you with several stores.
Amazon
This is where you have more variety and ease in finding quality charcoal. But in terms of price, these may not be the most suitable and cost more. So the best thing is that when you know the one you want to buy, compare with other external stores to find out where it will be cheaper (without losing quality).
Crossroads
Something similar to Amazon happens at Carrefour: they have many types of charcoal for barbecues, many of them through external sellers. Therefore, you need to check that the prices are adequate and that you don’t have to pay more.
Mercadona
In Mercadona it’s not that they have a lot of variety, because it’s not like that. But they are cheap, which makes them one of the most consumed. As for its quality, it is not high, rather low or average.
Leroy Merlin
At Leroy Merlin they also don’t have many items to choose from, although they have different prices, brands and qualities. Some of them are very good, although the price is high compared to others.
lidl
Something similar happens at Lidl as with Mercadona barbecue charcoal: its price is quite affordable but it is of low or average quality. It will work well on barbecues, but not as well as the best charcoals.
Have you already chosen the charcoal you are going to use from now on?