The Betterwood lump charcoal review is our first review of a charcoal. We will attempt to hit everything that matters to you with this post. Feel free to hit us up in the comments if we miss anything. This product is 100% natural and is sold in 8.8 lb. bags, can be found online or at select retailers for as low as $9 a bag.
As soon as you open the bag of Betterwood lump charcoal you can see that it’s different. Most lump charcoal is made from wood scraps that are all flat. In this bag you can actually see round pieces like parts of branches. Additionally the bag is full of larger and mid-sized pieces that I haven’t seen with other brands. Included in this bag is a sample pack of Fatwood firestarters.
So what make this charcoal different than other lump charcoal?
Actually there are a couple of things: They use a mix of Oak and Ebano woods (Ebano is a Mexican hardwood) which in itself is different than anything I have seen before. Betterwood also keeps itself sustainable Not only by utilizing only scrap wood never cutting down a tree for the exclusive use in their charcoal or Fatwood firestarters. For every stump the use they plant 3 pine saplings to replenish the crop. That’s pretty cool.
Lighting the coals was simple with the use of the included Fatwood firestarters. We began with a charcoal chimneys worth of coals just placed on our lower grates. With all of the larger pieces it did take slightly longer for the coals to ash over completely. That is to be expected though and soon our charcoal was ready to grill on.
Not knowing what to expect flavor wise we just grilled up some burgers and dogs. I set the vents of our kettle wide open and grilled with the lid off the entire time.
This made for one very hot sustained fire. So hot in fact I grilled the burgers on the edges of the coals so they didn’t burn. What this means is that you can use a lot less charcoal for these short cooks. The fire maintained it’s maximum temp for around an hour and a half. Longer than other lump charcoals I use by quite a bit. But again larger pieces will do that.
The most important art of the Betterwood Lump Charcoal Review: The Flavor.
In short this was love at first bite for me. I like lump charcoal over briquettes because of the milder flavor and wood chips can be added for a bolder flavor profile. This lump has a different taste to it, I don’t know how to describe it other than to say that those were some excellent burgers. The smoke flavor is still mild just slightly different than what I have become accustom to. It has to be that Ebano wood.
The ash pile was very small when the cook was complete with just 2 pieces that didn’t burn completely down. This is another reason I prefer lump.
The Bottom Line:
The Betterwood lump charcoal is everything you would expect from a bag of charcoal and more. The way it flavored our burgers was fantastic. We also love the sustainability of the product that Betterwood is going for. I usually try to nitpick something I didn’t like about the product here, I just can’t find anything along those line about this one. I highly recommend you pick up a bag the next time you need charcoal.
It’s much less expensive if you can find it in store or you can purchase it on Amazon here.
Full discloser: Betterwood products sent us a sample to test. The manufacturer has had NO influence or editorial say in this article. We did refer to them for some addition facts before writing it.
Mike
aka Sultan of Sizzle
I have been blogging about and selling grilling tool for over 12 years. A Certified Food Safety Professional, KCBS member, award winning writer and have over 10 years experience in the food service industry.
“I have experienced some of the best food this country has to offer and nothing is better than the food that comes off my own grill!”
