First a word about this review. We have made a change to how we present the photos of the contents of the bag.
You should notice the image of a magnifying glass in the lower right hand corner of these photos, indicating
that you can click on the photo to see a larger version of the photo. We have now added larger versions that
are 1700 pixels wide for your viewing pleasure. The larger version will open in a new tab on your browser. Just
close the tab to return to the review.
Now, on to Real Montana Premium Cherry Lump Charcoal. First, since we have been including maps to show you
where various foreign-sourced charcoals come from, we thought we would include a map to show you where Hamilton,
Montana is. You are welcome. (We didn't know where it was until we looked.)
Next, note the word "Premium" in the name of the charcoal.
Real Montana is now selling different types of charcoal denoted as "Premium", "#1" and "#2". The difference is
in the sorting by size. You can see the rough difference between the three grades in this photo which we
shamelessly borrowed (and doctored) from the Real Montana website:
Real Montana describes the three grades like this:
"Generally speaking I state the Premium is around 3-4 inch, #1 is 2-3 inch and #2 is 1-2 inch.
Personal recommendations are Premium for smoking, #1 for fine grilling but may be used for smoking
with shorter burn time and less flavor, #2 I recommend for every day grilling, burgers and dogs etc."
So, the charcoal we are reviewing is their premium grade of cherry lump charcoal.
As you can see in the photo below, the charcoal comes in a box containing
20 pounds of charcoal. The box is approximately 24" x 16" x 10". When we dumped it out for sorting,
we found no scrap, no funny stuff that doesn't belong in charcoal, and no uncarbonized wood. Here's
how the charcoal sorted out into large, medium, small, and chips and dust:
| Large |
3.0 pounds |
14.1% |
| Medium |
10.9 pounds |
52.1% |
| Small |
5.4 pounds |
25.6% |
| Chips/Dust |
1.7 pounds |
8.2% |
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| Total |
21.0 pounds |
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As you can see, we got 21 pounds of charcoal in the box, with only 8.2% chips and dust. This percentage is
low compared to other brands of charcoal. And two-thirds of the box were medium and large pieces of charcoal.
Considering that the charcoal was packed in a box with no additional padding, it did quite well during its
journey from Hamilton, Montana to Raleigh, North Carolina.
In our chimney starter lighting test, Real Montana Premium Cherry was extremely easy to light, taking only
2.5 sheets of newspaper to start. This is very low compared to other brands of charcoal. While the charcoal
was starting in the chimney starter, there was no sparking or popping. The smell of the charcoal as it lights
is rather mild and pleasant.
In our maximum temperature test, Real Montana Premium Cherry burned at 1099 degrees, which is very high
compared to other brands. As the cooker heated up, the fire spread rapidly and there again was no sparking
or popping.
Next, in our burn time test Real Montana Premium Cherry burned a very long time, its burntime being very high
compared to other brands. When lighting the charcoal for the burn test with a MAP-Pro torch, there was almost
no sparking, and no popping whatsoever.
As for the smoke produced while the charcoal is burning, we'll refer back to our reviews of Real Montana Apple lump charcoal
and Real Montana Maple lump charcoal. We found both of these charcoals to put out a fair amount of smoke even after the
fire has settled in to a steady state. This is deliberate in order to have charcoal that gives you smoke flavor without
having to add chunks or chips. Well, with Real Montana Premium Cherry charcoal, the smoke is there all throughout the burn
giving you a nice flavor of cherry smoke. We found it to be quite pleasant. We smoked some lamb ribs and they had just
the right amount of smoke flavor that we personally look for.
And finally, the amount of ash produced by this charcoal was low compared to other brands we have tested.
So, where do you get this great charcoal? You can buy it from a handful of markets in the Northwest (listed on their website) or you
can order online from their website by sending them an email using their contact form. They are also working on getting their
products into a national grocery chain in the future.
Now for the bottom line. Real Montana Premium Cherry lump charcoal has a great distribution of sizes,
easy to light, burns very hot, and it burns a long time with a low amount of ash. On top of all that, it produces a
very pleasing smoke. It would be hard to ask for much more. It gets 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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