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Carbon del Sur charcoal was recommended to us for review by a friend. It's taken a while, but we finally got around to obtaining
samples and doing a review. In our communications with Carbon del Sur, we found out they had made some recent changes which required
us to perform some of our testing a second time. However, the wait was worth it and now we have a final review for your reading pleasure.
Carbon del Sur charcoal is made in Colombia, South America, the first country you come to as you head southeast out of Panama. See
our handy dandy map to the right. The charcoal is made from three different types of wood: Aromo, Trupillo and Quebracho Colorado. First, let's take
you through a description of each wood:
Aromo
The first type of wood used in Carbon del Sur is Aromo. We'll paraphrase from Wikipedia:
"Aromo is the common name that is known to several tree species
belonging to the genus Acacia of the legume family (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae). They are characterized by small bright yellow flowers arranged in heads or clusters, and very fragrant."
Many of the species of Aromo are commonly referred to as "mimosa".
Trupillo
The next type of wood used is Trupillo. From Wikipedia:
"...a shrub or
small tree in the family Fabaceae, a kind of mesquite. It is native to Mexico, South America and the Caribbean.
Its uses include forage, wood and environmental management. The plant possesses an unusual amount of the flavanol mesquitol in its heartwood."
Flavinoids are compounds in plants which provide pigments for coloration, UV filtration, nitrogen fixation and floral coloration. They do cool things like
help rhizobia living in the soil infext legumes. (Wow!) They are also used in plants to fight other organisms that cause plant diseases. Apparently, mesquitol
in particular is useful in tanning.
Quebracho
And finally, the last type of wood used is Quebracho Colorado, a wood we have run into before, not to be confused with Quebracho blanco, which
we have also run into before. You may remember that the word "quebracho" is derived from "quiebrahacha", or "quebrar hacha", meaning "axe-breaker"
due to the hardness of the wood. This time we'll turn to encyclopedia.com for a little information:
Quebracho is the "name for a tanning substance and for the trees from which it comes, chiefly the red quebracho, or quebracho
colorado (Schinopsis lorentzii), of the family Anacardiaceae (sumac family). This hardwood tree, native to the Paraguayan subtropics,
supplies one of the most durable and heavy of timbers. It also provides much of the vegetable tannin for the leather industry although
the populations are being depleted. The heartwood, stripped of its bark and subjected to extraction processes, is about 30% tannin.
Quebracho is obtained chiefly from wild trees of the forests of the Gran Chaco of Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia."
Now on to the results of our testing. First of all, Carbon del Sur charcoal comes in a woven plastic bag, ensuring fewer
punctures and less mess. When we poured it out onto the ground for sorting and photographing, we found no scrap, no uncarbonized
wood, and nothing that shouldn't belong in a bag of charcoal. As you can see in the following table, there was a good distribution
of sizes. The amount of chips and dust was low compared to other brands of charcoal we have tested.
| Large |
2.9 pounds |
16.1% |
| Medium |
6.1 pounds |
33.3% |
| Small |
8.0 pounds |
44.3% |
| Chips/Dust |
1.1 pounds |
6.3% |
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| Total |
18.1 pounds |
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In our chimney starting test, Carbon del Sur charcoal took 4 sheets of newspaper to start which is average compared to other charcoals. The smoke during lighting was
moderately strong, but pleasant. There were no sparks and no popping while the charcoal was getting started in the chimney.
Carbon del Sur charcoal burns hot! In our maximum temperature test, it burned at 1022°F, which is very high compared to other brands of charcoal we have tested. Again there
was no sparking and no popping while the charcoal was getting up to temperature. The fire spread at a moderate speed.
In our burn time test, Carbon del Sur burned a very long time compared to other brands of charcoal. And finally, the amount of ash produced by this charcoal was low compared
to other brands of charcoal.
So, in summary, the size distribution of Carbon del Sur was very good. It's a little hard to start, but it burns at a very high temperature for a very long time and produces a relatively
low amount of ash. We give it our Highly Recommended rating.
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To the left is the rating that our readers have given this charcoal. If you have used this charcoal and would like to rate it and leave your comments, Click Here
To view reader ratings of all brands, Click Here.
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